Renovation of a Spiers infill smoother

[Derek Cohen]

Dear friends

The link below will take you to a project of mine that has now come to an end. I'm sure that some of you will find it as interesting as I did. The link is to the discussion and contrubutions that was made on the Old Tools forum. This is still ongoing , and the article is constantly updated.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/restore/inFillSmoother/index.asp

The short story is that I won a derelict infill smoother on eBay for little money. My plan was to use it as the basis for a project. It looked craftsman-made, in other words nothing special or precious. However, it turned out to be made by Spiers, who is up there with Norris as the doyen of classic infill makers.

This is the story of discovery and the work I have done. It is not a restoration, for that would suggest that I returned the plane to its original state. What I have instead done is use a little Artist's Licence to create something to which I hope Stewart Spiers would give his nod of approval. All I really had was the original Spiers dovetailed steel body and lever cap. I constructed a new level cap screw and new infills, and added a 3/16" parallel Sorby iron (reduced from 2 1/4" to 2"). The bed is 47 degrees.

This is the original plane:

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Restoration/P1010015.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

Then along came this Spiers example to act as a model for my work.

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Restoration/finch_spiers.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

So here is what I came up with: Australians hardwoods - Tasmanian Blackwood for the infills and Jarrah for the tote.

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Restoration/Finalplane1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

And a few more pictures for perspective:

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Restoration/Finalplane-combo.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

Thanks for looking.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

Sharp looking plane, Derek!! Looks like it would be comfortable in the hand, too.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Excellent job Derek. I have absolutely no doubt that Stewart Spiers would approve. You have made it look like a #7. Who knows, it might have been a #7 originally and someone "rehabbed" it before you with the blocky aft end. Stranger things have happened.

[Mark Stutz]

Derek,
Beautiful job! Thanks for posting it...I think:D You are making it even more difficult to avoid this litle side slope! I picked up 3 or 4 infills when I was at the LFOD ..Tony Murland had a beautiful Nooris...but managed to put them all back down!

Mark

[Steve Clardy]

Looks really nice!!

[Tyler Howell]

Well done Derek,:cool:
Beautiful work.
Great web site too.

[Alan DuBoff]

Very nicely done, as usual Derek. I don't think there's anything else I can say to emphasize that more!;)

[Corvin Alstot]

Nicely done!
Pretty wild looking tote.
How does it perform?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Corvin

Perhaps I did get a little carried away with the tote ... :)

Here is a picture of shavings on Cherry.

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Restoration/PlaningCherry1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

And here is a picture of planing Jarrah <I>against </I> the grain.

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Restoration/Planingagainstthegrain2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

After all that I have recognised that the iron is not good enough as it stands. It gets very sharp, but it will not hold an edge. After a few passes I can feel a burr where the edge is starting to fold over. So either I must heat-treat it, or replace it.

Advice on heat treating a 3/16" thick laminated iron?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark Singer]

Derek,
Ohh.......Nice ! That is a keeper!