Small bevel up infill smoother

[Derek Cohen]

At least 15 years ago ... possibly 20 ... I purchased a brass casting of a small block plane that someone had started but then abandoned. I think that the idea was that it would eventually resemble something like this ...



... but the casting was rough as guts and the parts all needed machining. It looked like a LOT of work, and I was not that inspired at the time, and so it went onto a shelf for a later time.

Every now-and-then I would think of the project and pick it up, and then put it back. A few days ago I decided that it was time. Also, by this stage, I had something simple in mind .... it helps to let ideas percolate for a few decades I have enough block planes. What could be useful is a small bevel up high angle smoother ... which is really a block plane with a high angle bevel

So here we have it ...







The mouth was originally designed to be adjustable. This seemed unnecessary, and it was just made reasonable tight.



Set up with a 60-degree cutting angle (Hock O1 blade), it planes Pine effortlessly. That is to be expected ...



It does the same with Jarrah, and here it is into the grain ...



In the hand this is comfortable.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tom Bender]

Derek you've left a few corners slightly rough that could have easily been smoothed and polished. It's a nice look and expresses the wood well.

[Derek Cohen]

Tom, I saw that in the photo, and it is now sorted (the wood is Ebony, and it is tricky to file).

Incidentally, the plane is 5 1/4" long.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Derek,
You must remember that what you tell the wife applies here. "I told you I'd take care of it, you don't need to remind me every 6 months."

[Derek Cohen]

Dave, you can't really call a delay of 20 years "procrastination", can you? ... or can you? ... I'll get back to you on that ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kevin Jenness]

I know a guy who lived like a gypsy with his family for years, building and living in unfinished houses until they sold and moving to the next project. He's been in a house inherited from his parents for over 20 years now, remodeling and living until recently in what I consider fairly rough conditions (and this is from a guy who lives in a 37 y/o unfinished house). I said to my son that the fellow's wife has the patience of a saint and he replied, "She's not patient- she's resigned".

[Jim Koepke]

Looks great Derek.

you can't really call a delay of 20 years "procrastination", can you? ... or can you?

It sounds better than "dithering or dilly-dallying."

jtk

[William Fretwell]

Getting around to something is inspirational. For two years the rods for my Veritas combination plane have been in the bottom of my travel tool bag along with the instructions to a machinist to mill a 3mm flat on each one. Perhaps then the knobs will have a chance of holding and the plane will be usable. In my defence one quote for the job was more than the original cost due to ‘set up’ costs. I remain curious if I will ever get it to work.

Small planes always seem to get a lot of use, perhaps because they are so handy!

[Derek Cohen]

William, I agree about using small planes. One can do most things with large planes, but small work is more pleasant and omfortable with a plane sized for it.

Incidentally, with regards the rods for the combo plane, why not just mark the section, and then use a couple of files to create the flats?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[William Fretwell]

To use the whole width of the rods the flats have to be full length. Very hard to file a true flat by hand.
The bottom end of the knobs screw end may need a little work, a small hollow in the middle also.

[Derek Cohen]

It should not be difficult to make a jig to aid here.

What I would do is clamp the rod tightly between two lengths of wood, with the rod peeping above at the height you wish to remove. This will prevent the rod moving and also create a depth gauge for filing. Then go at it with coarse and fine files. Both could be done in about 1 hour.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tom Bender]

Tom, I saw that in the photo, and it is now sorted (the wood is Ebony, and it is tricky to file).

Incidentally, the plane is 5 1/4" long.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I share your compulsion to smooth and polish all, but are we missing the opportunity to say "this is wood"?

[Derek Cohen]

I share your compulsion to smooth and polish all, but are we missing the opportunity to say "this is wood"?

Actually Tom, here in Oz we tend to use the term "timber".

Here are more details ...

The sole is steel. This was sweated on by the previous owner (who then gave up on the build). He did not do a perfect job, and there is a smidgeon (really tiny tiny smidgeon) of a gap at the front ... you can see if if you squint.

You know, a few months ago I was thinking about sending the "kit" to you, then decided that was wimping out

Anyway, here are more detailed photos ... if anyone wants to use the design ...



I assume all this will be self-explanatory ....





Here you can see the steel rod used to secure the lever cap. Also the angle of the lever cap screw. This was tapped into the Ebony ...



The bed is also Ebony. The bed angle is 15 degrees (the original bed angle was 12 degrees). The adjustable mouth was epoxied in after bevelling the edge against the blade ...



And a last shot of the plane smoothing some really nasty, interlocked Jarrah. Cutting angle is 60 degrees.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Christopher Charles]

Tight works as usual. Has great race-car lines and I'm sure is a joy to use. A wee smoother would be great to have in my kit.

Best,
Chris

[Mike Allen1010]

Derek, beautiful and functional as usual!

I'm sure this is naïve question but: with 15 degree bed angle, does that mean you used a 25 degree primary bevel and 30 degree secondary bevel on the iron to achieve the 60 degree cutting angle? I'm sure there must be a "mathy" way to figure this out, but I'd rather just take your word for it. Also any particular reason for choice of O1 blade, or was it just most convenient at the time?

Thanks for sharing- very inspirational!

Cheer, Mike