A No. 3 infill in African blackwood

[Juan Hovey]

A client gave me a rather large cant of African blackwood some weeks back with instructions to use it in a No. 4.5 infill - and out of a caution spawned by the trouble I recently had making an infill out of snakewood (noted in my last posting), I figured I ought to get in some practice with the African blackwood before I set about trying to satisfy the client.

Here's the result:

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I don't consider this an entirely successful plane; the cyma curve drops down too close to the sides of the plane for comfort, and the iron crowds up against the curve, the result being that tapping the iron with a hammer to adjust it becomes a risky proposition. Still, the plane cuts a mean shaving, and the blackwood - finished simply with hand-rubbed coats of Tried and True Danish oil - is gorgeous.

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I will have this plane with me this weekend at the Lie-Nielsen hand tool event in Mesa, Arizona, following which I will set about making the No. 4.5 for my client.

[Chris Hachet]

Beautiful!

[Pat Barry]

Gorgeous work Juan. Very well done. With all the discussions we have about plane irons, do you make your own from scratch or use commercial plane irons and modify them as needed? Also, I can't really see with enough detail - is this a double iron plane (ie: with a chipbreaker / cap iron)? If so, do you do anything special with regard to the cap iron fit to the plane blade such as espoused by many, or do you leave all that up to the customer / user?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Juan

Your metal work looks excellent and the infill design is interesting. I like that you are creative and individualistic. One factor does concern me, however, enough to want to draw your attention to it. This is the section that you refer to as the "cyma curve" (I believe - the curved section at the front of the handle). In photos of other planes this section is quite thin and all cross grain, which is a recipe for potential fracture. How strong is it in reality, and have you had any failure in this area?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Patrick Chase]

Hi Juan

Your metal work looks excellent and the infill design is interesting. I like that you are creative and individualistic. One factor does concern me, however, enough to want to draw your attention to it. This is the section that you refer to as the "cyma curve" (I believe - the curved section at the front of the handle). In photos of other planes this section is quite thin and all cross grain, which is a recipe for potential fracture. How strong is it in reality, and have you had any failure in this area?

Regards from Perth

Derek

What Derek said - If I'm reading the second picture correctly the grain is horizontally oriented, which means that feature is one huge lever 'o short grain.

Beautiful plane!

[Juan Hovey]

Pat - I make my own irons at the moment, in large part because I am still experimenting with widths and lengths. But I pretend to no expertise in such matters and intend to ask Ron Hock, from whom I got my blades in the early going as regards my plane making, to make them for me once I do settle on widthS and lengths.

The iron you see is 1/4 inch thick A2 tool steel, and there is a chipbreaker of mild steel, which I fit to each blade.

[Juan Hovey]

Derek and Pat - You are right to express concern about the thin dimension and grain direction of - what shall we call it, the neck? - as I share the worry. I have broken one or two myself while working on them, but so far none of my clients has reported any such mishap.

I'm toying with the idea of stabilizing them with a hardwood dowel or maybe a steel rod, though as I haven't yet settled on - or rather found - the right ratios for the cyma curve that gives rise to the problem, I haven't tested this idea. I'm open to suggestions and ideas, for sure, so don't hesitate to let fly.

Meanwhile, many thanks for the kind words.

Derek - I made my first plane four years ago this month - a shameless copy of one of yours - and I was so taken with the process that I have been making the things pretty much non-stop ever since. So your interest in my work is greatly appreciated.

[george wilson]

Juan,the real solution to your weak areas is to stop making them so thin,plain and simple. I can guarantee you that a load of broken handle planes will be coming back to you in the future.

Also,re design your handles so they do not hit the blade.

The handle itself is so thin that it may break off. The top of the handle is terribly thin and delicate. First mishap and it will get broken off.

I have mentioned all of these things before,so I urge you to redesign your handles to be stronger,and not in the way of the blade.