Infill Plane Kit Pics

[Mike Allen1010]

Hello Creekers,

I haven't had a chance to visit in a while (I've been super busy with work which is truly a blessing after the last several years of contraction in my industry), but recently completed project I thought somewhat fellow neanders might be interested in.

When I started sliding down the hand tool slope as a college student, I built a number of my own hand tools because quite frankly I couldn't afford to buy them. Over the years I've come to really enjoy working with hand tools I built myself. I don't always enjoy the tool building process – particularly the metalworking part (seems like it always turns out to be sweatier and dirtier than I anticipated). However, once the tool is built– somehow using a shop built backsaw or wooden plane that really performs well gives me a lot more satisfaction than using a slick "shop built" jig for a table saw.

Below are some pics of a infill smoother I recently completed. I purchased the cast plane body, cap Iron and screw from Sturnella toolworks, which I stumbled across on the Internet somewhere – they were also offering a compatible blade from Ron Hock. The bed angle is 47 1/2°, with a 32° primary bevel on the iron. The infill is a dense, tropical wood whose name I can't remember (from Tropical Exotic Hardwoods of Latin America in Carlsbad, CA – they have an extensive collection of tropical woods they sell on the Internet. No relationship, just a satisfied local customer).



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I probably overdid it with the polish on the metal parts, but the finished plane works very well. It's a simple design and not nearly as impressive as the built from scratch infills I've seen here from Leigh and other fellow Neanders. Here's a picture next to a Stanley #4 1/2 smoother to give you an idea of the size. It has a real solid feel and a lot of mass. As you can see, the mouth opening is quite small (I may end up enlarging it a little bit over time)and it works well on reversing/difficult grain, yielding a nice smooth final finish. Here are the obligatory shavings pics on a challenging piece of walnut and some maple.


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Thanks for looking.

All the best, Mike

[David Weaver]

Looks good, Mike. Sturnella sounds familiar, is that the guy who is casting bodies for the plane project Joel spearheaded (Work magazine or something).

If I could, I would make nothing but tools. Unfortunately, the Mrs. doesn't agree with that.

[Michael Hammers]

Beauty of a plane there!
Did you have any difficulty with the build? Or is it pretty straight forward? Does the kit come with any instruction?
I had not heard of this company before either, but they have a pretty affordable price on the casting kit it seems.
Another "bucket-list" project.

M

[Chuck Nickerson]

Sturnella is the firm associated the the TFWW/Work magazine build.

It's not a kit, just the casting; that's why it's price is reasonable.
There is an extensive build thread on another ww forum.

Tropical Exotic Hardwoods is a wonderful and financially dangerous place.
It's about 20 minutes from my parents' place and I stop by far too often.

[Leigh Betsch]

Looks nice Mike. Plane making can be addicting. I keep telling my self just one more then I will get back to woodworking. I haven't completed much true woodworking, if you don't count totes, in two years. And SWMBO reminded me of it this weekend!
Keep them coming.

[Brian Kerley]

Looks good! I've got my kit sitting on a shelf, waiting for the right piece of wood.

(Also have a dovetail plane kit sitting next to it waiting for another right piece of wood)

[Chris Griggs]

Very nice Mike. Man you sure learn how to do things well quickly!

[george wilson]

You just barely made it without running out of thread on the cap screw. Was the cap already drilled and threaded so you had no choice?

[Mike Allen1010]

You just barely made it without running out of thread on the cap screw. Was the cap already drilled and threaded so you had no choice?

No George, the mistake here was entirely mine.

I drilled the lever cap and the plane body for the anchor/pivot holes (1/4" diameter steel rod from the BORG). This was a "white knuckle" job for me and I should have gone with David and Leigh's recommendation to groove the top of the lever cap and not drill a through hole; this would have been much easier to line up correctly and avoid the problem you mentioned.

I found the margin for error to be small in laying out the holes in the plane body to accomplish my goal of getting the apex of the lever cap 1/4" from the mouth opening, while still ending up in the middle of the screw travel. As You can see I barely avoided totally messing it up and ending up with a "plane shaped objection" that didn't allow me to tighten the blade sufficiently. After all the work I put in to get to that point, that would have certainly resulted in some colorful language and flying objects in the shop! I really just got lucky -thankfully God must look out for fools like me!

All the best, Mike

[Frederick Skelly]

Thats beautiful Mike!
Fred

[george wilson]

You might think about an iron with a chip breaker to get the cap screw more properly situated,if it would fit. You could put a shoe on the bottom of the screw,too,to elevate the threads as well.

[Steve Voigt]

Hey Mike, very nice job!
I left San Diego on 2003, and I still have some short pieces of cocobolo and real lignum vitae from Tropical Exotics. You don't realize how fortunate you are, living near that place, til you move away.