some questions about old infill rabbet planes

[justin sherriff]

I want to make a infill plane and I like the way this old Spiers No.3 looks for a first try.
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1. Where the blades tapered or not in these planes?
2. what is the bed angel? from that pic I came up with 25 degrees
3. If some one has a 1/2 inch one handy could I get the dimensions of the thickness of the steel for the sides and bottom.

[Joel Moskowitz]

1 - No (never)
2 - yes - shoulder planes are bedded at a lower angle than rebate planes but 25 for a rebate is reasonably common
3 - yes - but not this second - I need to get it out of my tool box at home

[justin sherriff]

How do you get the blade out if the mouth is so tight? Does it rotate and and slide it out the top?

[Joel Moskowitz]

How do you get the blade out if the mouth is so tight? Does it rotate and and slide it out the top?

Yes,
All English rebate and shoulder planes work that way. The best ones have minuscule mouths so the bevel up blade is supported nearly to the edge (an advantage over a cast body) and it also means if you go over a corner and the plane isn't perfectly riding on the wood the corner won't drop into the mouth and you get a splintered heavy cut. But that does mean the plane is mostly good for very fine work, not bulk removal. However historically wooden rebates were common for general work. A metal rebate would really be only wanted for very fine tricky wood

[Joel Moskowitz]

1/2" Spiers rebate plane
overall:6" x 1 3/4" x 1/2"
front edge of mouth 2 3/16" from front edge. width of mouth (without iron): a hair over 1/32"

sole plate: 3/16"
side plates: 3/32"

bedding angle 25 degrees

[justin sherriff]

1/2" Spiers rebate plane
overall:6" x 1 3/4" x 1/2"
front edge of mouth 2 3/16" from front edge. width of mouth (without iron): a hair over 1/32"

sole plate: 3/16"
side plates: 3/32"

bedding angle 25 degrees
the sole and sides are a bit thinner then I was guessing.
Thank you for getting that for me.

[Mike Cornwall]

Bill Carter’s YouTube is a lot of fun

[justin sherriff]

I am just about done just needs a coat of finish.
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It looks cool but there are some problems with it so I did not clean it up that much.
Next one I will start with better flatter steel, try out using dovetails, and will be a small smoother.