Making a lever cap - need advice

[Matthew N. Masail]

Hi guys! I've been busy lately trying to work out a good plane design - and thanks to your help in my previous post on this subject, I have done some experimenting, and came up with something that, I think, is very promising. it's based on the classics, "infill like" looking so I would be real nice to make a lever cap for it. (blade is a 4 1\2 inch long Hock with chipbreaker)


* the cross pin is 5mm diameter stainless steel. Ideally the lever cap should match.


1. do I stand a chance it the world working with stainless, using a belt + disk sander and files..? do I need a special tap?


2. how can I cut a half round into the top of the levercap to fit into the cross pin? I was thinking of looking for a router bit with the right diameter and going only
about 0.5mm or less deep at a time... could this work with stainless? any other ideas of doing the accurately?


3. if stainless is a problem to work... can mild steel or something like that be good enough? my only concert would be rust and the point on contact with the blade.


4. the lever cap will need to be about 10mm thick... as I had originally made the plane blank for a krenov smoother with a wedge, so at 10mm thick I could make a lever cap out of wood, the sole is Ipe so an Ipe cap would look ok, but do you think this would hold as well as a metal one?


*I'd rather not use brass because it doesn't really go well with the wood I have used.




Thanks again

P.S
Derek if you read this, I was wondering how the LN tool event went? I didn't see a post about it.

[David Weaver]

Get yourself some 1/2" thick brass bar stock. It's not cheap, but it's what you want to use. Depending on how perfect you need the groove to be, you can file it. You can work it with hacksaw and files without worrying about hardening, etc.

If you make something out of steel, you'll have to lacquer it, and it will be harder working than brass.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Hi David, there is a place almost walking distance from me that has a large raw metal warehouse, they will cut me any piece to any size and charge by wight, and the prices are not high thank G-D, so price isn't the concern, it will look better with stainless, are you basically saying working with stainless would be a PITA?

[David Weaver]

What little I've done with it, yes. Brass works nicely, and as you'd expect with files and saws, especially if you get one of the brass alloys designed to be machined.

[Matthew N. Masail]

mmmmm..... will a 5mm brass rod be strong enough to hold the tension?
what do you think about a wooden levercap ?

[David Weaver]

should be plenty strong. I think I used 1/4" mild steel, but there is very little distance between the lever cap and the side of the plane, and that size brass should be fine.

Not a fan of wood unless it's a wedge.

[Matthew N. Masail]

can I use somthing like this for the slot http://www.toolstoday.com/p-4969-cor...uter-bits.aspx ?

I can use it with brass right? what about if I give it a try with stainless, would I ruin the bit?

[David Weaver]

You'll ruin the bit with brass. I wouldn't touch steel with it. I don't know if you could get it to make a ragged cut if you used it in a Drill press with some kind of home-made lateral vise with the knowledge you were going to trash it.

What I would do (i've filed that slot before with a round file) is probably make a saw cut with a hack saw, open it a little bit with a taper saw file and then finish the cut with a round file. The hacksaw should cut right where you want the slot to be, and the taper saw file will give the round file something more stable to ride in, and then file it slowly with a priority on accuracy, or it will be shaped like a bow tie and wider at the ends than the middle.

[Matthew N. Masail]

got it. metal is no friendly material to work... thank you one last question, if I used a white bronze or somthing instead of brass? brass color dosen't go with brown wood so much... I don't feel right about it.

[David Weaver]

bronze would be fine. Ask them for something that machines or files easily.

[Dave Beauchesne]

can I use somthing like this for the slot http://www.toolstoday.com/p-4969-cor...uter-bits.aspx ?

I can use it with brass right? what about if I give it a try with stainless, would I ruin the bit?

Matthew:

While not a machinist, I work at a Pulp and Paper Mill where there is SS everywhere, and I have to use it for many clamps, brackets etc.
that I need as part of my job.

As for the groove you want to mill - you would need it done with the right tooling - a router bit WOULD NOT work IMHO. Why not file the groove??? SS plugs up files easily, so be aware of that and card your files often to keep things cutting well.

SS is a different animal - I like it for its non- corrosive tendencies, I hate it because it galls threads easily, it is tough on drill bits, hacksaw blades, hole saws etc. We almost exclusively use type 316, which is non-magnetic ( we got a bunch of off shore elbows last year that were magnetic - heaven knows what was in them ) and quite corrosion resistant with some of the nasty chemicals at the Mill; there are other alloys, but I have had little experience with them and I doubt they are too much different for purposes you wish.
The machinists at work tell me when drilling SS, to use slow speed, plenty of pressure, and lots of cutting fluid - that has worked for me- oh yes - sharp tooling as well.

To sum it up from my perspective - SS probably isn't something you want to cut your teeth on on a project like this - make one in regular steel ( still have to have the groove milled or filed ) or follow David W's advice and make one in brass - plenty strong and nice to work.

Don't discount files to do a lot of the work for you - a file is a wonderful tool if wielded properly, and total control is you and you alone, something that can't always be said when working something like a lever cap with power tools.

Good luck and show us what you come up with!

Dave Beauchesne

[Matthew N. Masail]

sorry for bieng like a kid jumping up with ideas... what about aluminium?

[David Weaver]

Tasteless and gross looking. I've never filed it, but it cuts easily. It will get dinged up, and oxidize and look like structural material.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Ok thanks guys! Dave and David I will try to get some white colored bronze and ask them for stuff that work well. in the meanwhile I have a brass screw in the mockup wooden levercap to see if it grows on me. have a great weekend!

[george wilson]

I agree 100% that brass is your best choice. If you have a decent bandsaw you can saw the shape out using a used wood blade. I have cut 1/2" brass with as 1/4" 6 tip blade many times before I ever had a metal cutting bandsaw.

Stainless will be infinitely more work in every thing you try to do with it. Difficult too tap,too,unless you are experienced. White bronze is o.k.,too,but some bronzes are VERY TOUGH. Consult with the metal merchants.