Bash my cross pin - this is how I make them

[Matthew N. Masail]

I've been wondering about how strong my cross-pins are, and in light of the recent discussion on this I thought I'd share how I make them and let you kick me till I'm out.


I start with a very strong wood, here using Ipe. I cut out a piece so that is has parallel grain.
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Then I drill the hole. shape it and glue it a brass rod using Gorilla glue. useally the rod sticks out about 1\4 inch on each side. on this plane it's a little less at 5mm because the plane sides are 5.5mm, but the plane is out of a very hard wood too.

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In the past I didn't glue the rod, and installed it AFTER the plane was glued up. how much stronger do you think gluing the rod in makes it?

[Steve Voigt]

Hi Matt,
As you know, I've been critical of the pin, but I do think the half-round design looks superior to a rectangular pin. It seems like shaving ejection would be improved, and the bottom of the throat would be easier to get into with your fingers. Have you found this to be true?
It seems to me that the pin could be thinner (that is, the measurement perpendicular to the flat side), since the brass pin should prevent the wood from breaking. I would think there could be as little as 1/8" in thickness measured from the flat to the near side of the hole. But I wouldn't necessarily reduce the width of the pin, so I guess I'm suggesting that the shape be more half-oval than half-round. Have you tried anything like this?
I don't think gluing the brass in will improve strength in any measurable way. It seems like not gluing has an advantage though: if the pin is damaged. it would be a simple matter to knock the brass all the way through and just lift out the wood part.

[Pat Barry]

Thanks for showing this. I have a back burner plan to make something similar. With regard to strength, I don't think the glue adds very much at all though. The weakest point is likely the hole in the plane that the pin fits into

[Matthew N. Masail]

I have found that if you shape it right, shaving won't even slow a bit the say Hi. I have shaped them with longer front edges, so that the ramp is about 90degrees to the sole, that way shaving will NEVER get pushed back. but I find more than about 15mm contact surface is too much. the wood is slightly less then 1\8 of an inch on each side of the pin, I would like the whole thing to be thinner but I hesitate to do that.


I'm very interested in hearing more thoughts on the gluing of the pin, this is the first I'm gluing, as I hope it will make things stronger (not that I've needed that). it is very convenient to be able to simply replace the pin in time of need or if it's not working well, but I doubt the Ipe will break.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Matt, would you please post a photo or two of a completed plane with this pin setup.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Matt, would you please post a photo or two of a completed plane with this pin setup.

Sure.

First here's a picture of the best design I've come up with as far as shavings getting out goes; the one on the right is the best, on the left the most recent one.
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here is a plane with a pin like the one on the left but not as rounded, the front edge is slightly flat, which gave very slight issues, which is why I want to try a round one. if it had a pin like the one above nothing would ever get caught because of it, but I prefer the look of a symmetrical pin shape.

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On this plane the pin was placed way too far forward, a wedge that is no more than 6-7mm under the pin is ideal IMO.
the feeding was OK, but combined with a steep front bed the shavings would crinkle.

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I have also made notched metal pins out of 1\2 inch copper or brass, it works very well but I don't like the look of a large pin on the side of the body. it also takes 1-2 hours to make with a grinder, a hacksaw, a file and sandpaper lapping. The advantage of this is that it is no where close to being in the way of anything, and will never break. I took a side picture so you can see the notch, I would have turned it but I need pliers for that, it is very tight in it's hole, but still not too tight that the wedge can't more it. contact surface is about 10-11mm.

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you can see the nasty yallow Ipe oils in the plane... . :(

Edit: note to anyone who wants to use this method, the holes should be tight, just tight enough that you can almost push it in but need a few hammer taps.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Thanks Matt