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This little plane is only 4" long,made from dovetailed steel body with decorative finish. It is stuffed with rosewood.
The inspiration for this plane was a very rare 19th.C. salesman's sample that I liked. Cost a fortune,so I just made one.The scew on the cap is freehand turned and the "knurling is actualy free hand filed in. This plane had the sacrifical screw on the front. This is what you would tap on to adjust the plane,so the actual plane body would not be hurt.
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Another beauty George, the way the steel is finished gives it a really neat look too. How did you get that look?
Steve
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It is made of very rare curly steel. Actually,you wrap a piece of 600 grit around a file,and present one edge to the metal,moving back and forth,and sideways at the same time.
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Originally Posted by george wilson
Thanks for the laugh!
The plane is a work of art! The level of detail is amazing.
Dominic Greco
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Nifty!! I love the lever cap...
BENCHCRAFTED.COM
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That's really nice, George! One of these days I'm going to hunt down the tutorials on how to dovetail metal!
I picked up a rusty old plane recently, a Stanley 18, and when I removed the rust, I discovered it had been made out of birds eye steel.
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You use the edge of an 8" bastard file to start with,first sawing cuts to almost the depth of the dovetails pretty close together. Then,with the file on edge,for small dovetails,file away the bulk of each dovetail. Then,use a triangular file,then needle files to sharpen the corners. The curved dovetails are the hardest to fit. Start with a straight sided plane. The curved dovetails on the front of the small plane should be attempted after practice generates skill. Finally,the dovetails are peened to fill out any spaces,because those dovetails along the bottom of the planes are dovetailed in BOTH directions,so must be spread with a cross pein.
Actually,these planes are made of "black iron",a very low carbon steel that we used in the museum for various maintenance work in the sheet metal shop. It was available in the shop up to 3/16" thick. The small plane is 1/16" thick,and the full size smooth is 1/8" thick.
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I hope you appreciate all the time I wasted trying to figure out what Birds Eye Steel was.Now I'm the only nitwit with that on my google search history.
Beautiful plane by the way!
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George,
Thanks for posting the pictures of the drill and the planes. This was a most interesting look at some of your tool making pursuits that yielded some beautiful tools with some very interesting features. I thought the pattern in the steel on the side of the small plane was quite inspired, I may try that myself at some point if you don't mind.
The drill was just an awesome piece of work. Some of the small finial details were quite exquisite. Got any more pics of your tool making? I'd sure be interested in seeing them.
Once again, thanks for posting,
Ron Brese
Brese Plane
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No!!! You MAY NOT copy my curly steel,and don't let me catch you doing it!!!
Actually,these are the kinds of tools I wish I HAD been able to make in Williamsburg as toolmaker. But,the zenith of toolmaking was yet to come,in the 19th.C.. I am glad I didn't work in the Tudor era,as the tools from the Mary Rose,Henry VIII's ship,had tools that were like new(except the iron was gone),but the wood was buried in silt,and was still as new. However, CRUDE !!!. Henry the eighth even had to import armor makers from flanders to start armor making in England. The king of Austria,Maxmillian,sent him an incredibly elaborate suit of armor-even had steel eyeglasses! Probably to show Henry how far behind England was in the arts.They were always the last to learn arts,like making harpsichords,which started in Italy.Migrated across Europe untill it reached the last outpost,England. Elizabeth I's virginals were Italian pentagonal spinets.
Other countries did have some metallic planes,even in the 1500's.
Last edited by george wilson; 03-25-2009 at 9:36 PM.
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Jameel,I don't know how you make your caps. I just saw them out of 1/2" brass plate,and file them to shape. The small plane is 3/8" thick brass plate.
Ron,I'd be pleased if someone used these tools as models,and any decorative surface techniques,too. I'll have more pictures when I figure out how to scan 8"X10" photos into the computer,and especially when I can get my slides put onto a disc. I've only just unpacked a lot of slides. The pictures and slides are actually much better work.
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Was that Curly Steel before or after Joe? Personally, I think once Curly left it was all downhill.
Seriously, that is a good looking piece George!
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Well,Eric,maybe there'll be Moe of it!
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That was good!
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George - I'm stunned with all of these posts. I knew of your work at W-Burg, but these designs add a new level of fascination. It's always great to see what the great tool reproducer LIKES to make for himself, on his own dime.
It's a tour-de-force. Thank you for sharing these photos - and more are always welcome!
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