Another infill

[Leigh Betsch]

Here is another infill I just finished. It is a gift to my nephew on his HS graduation. He's going to attend a furniture making school after graduation so I figured he could use something like this.
The tote is walnut (thanks to Richard Kee). The base is Durabar (cast iron) one piece with a 3/8" sole. The mouth is adjustable, when fully closed it has a .005 opening, set this way so you can push it closed and still not nick the blade. The frog is mild steel. The blade is from Lee Valley.
This is the second of this basic design, the first I posted a while back with an open tote. I have one more to finish up, thinking about either a bit different full tote or maybe something completely different.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I absolutely love it, I like it much more than the previous one, it's so elegant and balanced! I would buy that if it were for sale and I had the money, no hesitation, I that's not a feeling you get about just anything. well done, your nephew is very fortunate!

[george wilson]

Leigh,if you would like any input from me,let me know.

[Leigh Betsch]

Thanks Matthew.
George, I love some constructive input. I can only get better at this sport by listening to the folks that can teach. I see three or four things I think that could be improved, but when I look at it for so long I kind of loose perspective and don't know how serious the flaws are. I'd like your thoughts. I would have liked to take it to the hand tool event next weekend in Iowa to see if I could get Ron or someone to critique it, but I gave it away today. So any input you or anyone else can give based on the pics will be appreciated.

[george wilson]

Hi,Leigh. You are doing a good job of machining the components. I am sure the plane works well. There are some aesthetic points,though:

The handle is not sculpted round enough. It looks more as if the corners have been rounded off. When you commit to sculpt something round,make it round on the edges,like the handles of a Stanley plane,for example. I'd find a way to avoid putting a screw right in the middle of the gripping area. These 2 points are also comfort issues.

The brass cap is too far away from the blade,resulting in a large separation at its top end. Drill the pivot pin closer to the iron so that there is not such a severe angle under the brass cap at the top. It might be less easy to clear stuck chips out of the throat with the brass cap leaning so far forward.

The front knob is too small. It needs to be about twice the size that it is. Reducing the angle that the cap sticks out will give you more room for a larger,more balanced bun.

The iron body has a very long flat along the top,with a rather vague dip in it at the rear,atop the large scallop. You need to make the top edge flow in nice curves. Don't use vague curves. Make them bold as if you really intended to make the curve. You could have a flat spot perhaps 2" long at the most,like a Bedrock plane,but the rest should look more "stacked up" into interesting curves. Look at old planes; except under the tote,and perhaps under the front bun,you'll only see nice,decisive,flowing curves,to make the body tall enough in the middle area,to receive the pivot pin for the cap.

I'd get rid of the horizontal grooves. With the flat top and the long grooves,the body looks as if you made it from a broken off piece of metal counter top edging(except the edging would be aluminum or stainless). I hope you see what I mean. Groves can be done,as they are done on the fancy block plane that LV has put out(the NX-60?) I have one. But they pulled it off perfectly.

The basic shape of the tote is good. It just needs more commitment to being rounded over. The adjustable mouth is well done and thoughtfully executed so it can't be jammed into the blade.

It would be easy to damage the top of the handle while tapping the iron as close as they are to each other. Try to get them farther apart. I copied,among others, an 18th.C. jack plane made the same way,but I didn't like that design feature.

I'd encourage you to make the brass cap screw thicker. Are you making your own knurls? If so,make one with a larger tap to hob it,so you can make the cap screw more substantial looking. I do mine with a somewhat wider knurl,but I elevate the central area of the cap screw to make it taller. Some just make the knurl wider. That works too,but I like to "stack up" the central area. I don't hate the flatter cap screws,I just like to make them more interesting.

I'd avoid fancy little touches like the edges of the cap. Somehow,they just don't belong.

I know you have the means to machine these parts any way you want. That hunk of Dura Bar must set you back a little!! I don't see why it is so costly,but it is.

Your planes are still designed better than some of those I've seen. Some are totally bizarre!! Some sort of like Steam Punk meets Art Noveau. Some like I don't even know what!!!! I'm not urging you to conform to traditional designs. You can be different and still be good,but it takes time,study,and continuing to develop a sense of design to get there.

The pictures: In the smooth plane seen in pic.#1,on the left,I made this plane a LONG time ago. I made the knurling(which was really hand filed) quite wide. I made the center area of the brass cap screw rather flat,though it has nice curves. I would not make this cap screw the same way today. I'd prefer to make them like the small plane seen on the right. Nothing wrong with the brass caps themselves. I made the small plane later,and did a better job of rounding the edges of the brass cap,and of designing the cap screw. Nothing wrong with the curves of the body on the large plane. It is o.k.,to have a flat,tapering area under the handle,since there its no room for anything else. Same in the small plane. The curves in the shoulder plane are my favorite. I made it later yet.

The cap screw in picture #4 is the first I made after a LONG absence from making cap screws. It is too "fat" in the middle. The cap screw I made after"getting back into it",in pic. #3 is MUCH better. I found that the coarse knurl I used left a coarse surface from displacing the brass too much. I had to file the knurling smoother with a triangular needle file. I started using a finer pitch knurl after these 2 practice pieces. Should have annealed the half hard brass rod to make coarse knurls.

Note the rounding of the handle in the last picture. Hard to see,I suppose,but the radius of the rounding is continuous all the way around. I like to leave a definite line where the rounding ends. Some smooth the whole thing over. I have on earlier work,but I think a definite line gives a better sculpture.

[Charlie Stanford]

Here is another infill I just finished. It is a gift to my nephew on his HS graduation. He's going to attend a furniture making school after graduation so I figured he could use something like this.
The tote is walnut (thanks to Richard Kee). The base is Durabar (cast iron) one piece with a 3/8" sole. The mouth is adjustable, when fully closed it has a .005 opening, set this way so you can push it closed and still not nick the blade. The frog is mild steel. The blade is from Lee Valley.
This is the second of this basic design, the first I posted a while back with an open tote. I have one more to finish up, thinking about either a bit different full tote or maybe something completely different.

Looks good to me. That's one wildly grained table it's sitting on, though.

[Pat Barry]

Lee, that is a beautiful plane. Your nephew should enjoy that for a long long time.. I like the personalization you did too. I think your style and uniqueness are important with this piece. Is it adjusted by tapping on it as George describes? If so, is the cap screw just to lock the blade in place?

[don wilwol]

It looks great. I like the beefy look it has.

[Leigh Betsch]

First off George I want to sincerely thank you for the response. I hope everyone understands the value that this brings to not only me but everyone else with a desire to improve their eye toward aesthetics.

I have a few responses and follow up questions:
Agreed, the handle isn't round enough. I compromised a bit too quick here. I knew it when I was working on it but after looking at it for so long I couldn't tell if it was a subtle issue or a big one. So I compromised and stopped carving. The next one will be better. I stole the handle shape from the Stanly transitional, I like the smaller size.
I have a question though:
How do you establish a nice crisp line between the flat and the round? Do you shape the tangent of the round a bit steeper here? Or use a larger radius than the tote thickness? I use a 1/2" radius on a 1" tote, which leaves more of a washed out line than I would like. Then I steepen the transition to cut a sharper line. I know this isn't the cause of the flats on this tote but it is something I would also like to improve. I see great examples on your and
Klaus's dovetail saw handles.
Yeah, The screw thru the tote isn't great. I wanted to anchor the rear on the tote nice and solid and I wanted to avoid cross pins so I used the screw. In my last plane I filed the screw to match the tote shape but if the wood ever shrinks so the screw needs to be tightened, the screw will need to be reshaped. So I didn't like that solution either. The screw in the tote really doesn't cause discomfort but it does give the impression of poor design. I don't show it but there is a brass tenon dovetailed to the sole that this screw is tapped into. I think I should bring a screw in from the side rather than the end to anchor the tote to this bras tenon next time.
Agreed, the brass cap is too vertical. I planned to use a 1/4 blade but at the last minute decided to go with a Lee Valley iron, which are 3/16, it caused the cap to rotate more vertical than planned. The chips clear fine but it is not as aesthetically pleasing as it could be.
I'm not sue that the front knob should be twice as big but I do agree than something is wrong here. I didn't think the plane was big enough to put a sculpted bun on it so I went with a simple bun and small knob. I went with a knob rather than just a bun because I could also use the knob to house the screw that holds the mouth insert. I like this better than my earlier design of just a bun and screw, but I need something different yet. Maybe a bigger knob is best.
If you notice I made this from round stock and all in the solid. This gives nice thick cheeks for strength and mass. I didn't want to machine all this mass away so I left the iron body with a long flat along the top. I really don't like the look of the Noris style sides so I went with more subtle curves but maybe I should rethink that and increase the size of the small curves 2 or 3 x.
I flatted the plane sides so it could also be used on a shooting board. This caused the sides to look a little slab sided so I added the grooves for detail. I like them but maybe they shouldn't run horizontally? I'll have to look at the LV block plane for ideas.
You don't miss much, the blade is too close to the handle! I did put a ding in it while tapping it.
The cap screw should be thicker as you say. It sticks out like a sore thumb now that you pointed it out. I totally missed that. I used a 10x32 knurl. Do you think I should go to a 1/4x28?
I added the concave scallop to the cap because I thought it was to plain, and I had a ball end mill to do the scallop. I don't have a radius corner knocker to put a convex radius, and I'm not so good with files. Seems like most plane makers like to engrave or stamp their names on the cap iron. I think it looks a bit cheesy. Maybe there is something more tasteful that can be done here.
i lucked out and got the Dura Bar for $.50 / lb at the surplus store!

Thanks George, I don't really want to make planes that emulate traditional designs, note the solid design from round stock, but I do appreciate the old designs.

Overall I would have sum up this plane as to be hunting for a style. It's not really traditional but it's not really deviated significantly enough to not be compared to the traditional smothers. Some features are old style and others are quite different.

I have most if the metal parts made for another one already so I won't be able to make many changes but I am thinking about getting a bit more audacious. Maybe even more anarchy!

. There are some aesthetic points,though:

The handle is not sculpted round enough. It looks more as if the corners have been rounded off. When you commit to sculpt something round,make it round on the edges,like the handles of a Stanley plane,pfor example. I'd find a way to avoid putting a screw right in the middle of the gripping area. These 2 points are also comfort issues.

The brass cap is too far away from the blade,resulting in a large separation at its top end. Drill the pivot pin closer to the iron so that there is not such a severe angle under the brass cap at the top. It might be less easy to clear stuck chips out of the throat with the brass cap leaning so far forward.

The front knob is too small. It needs to be about twice the size that it is. Reducing the angle that the cap sticks out will give you more room for a larger,more balanced bun.

The iron body has a very long flat along the top,with a rather vague dip in it at the rear,atop the large scallop. You need to make the top edge flow in nice curves. Don't use vague curves. Make them bold as if you really intended to make the curve. You could have a flat spot perhaps 2" long at the most,like a Bedrock plane,but the rest should look more "stacked up" into interesting curves. Look at old planes; except under the tote,and perhaps under the front bun,you'll only see nice,decisive,flowing curves,to make the body tall enough in the middle area,to receive the pivot pin for the cap.

I'd get rid of the horizontal grooves. With the flat top and the long grooves,the body looks as if you made it from a broken off piece of metal counter top edging(except the edging would be aluminum or stainless). I hope you see what I mean. Groves can be done,as they are done on the fancy block plane that LV has put out(the NX-60?) I have one. But they pulled it off perfectly.


It would be easy to damage the top of the handle while tapping the iron as close as they are to each other. Try to get them farther apart.

I'd encourage you to make the brass cap screw thicker.

I'd avoid fancy little touches like the edges of the cap. Somehow,they just don't belong.
That hunk of Dura Bar must set you back a little!!!
I'm not urging you to conform to traditional designs.
.

[george wilson]

Larger knob is what I meant. I wonder if you are twisting the knob to tighten the sliding part of the sole. If so,a screw in the middle of the knob would be better.

You do not have to copy traditional designs to make something good. Indeed,the LV NX 60 is not a copy of any plane. I like it very much. The only problem I have with mine is it's slippery,and I'm afraid i may drop it on the concrete floor!

You are certainly putting in a lot of work milling that out of round bar!!

I make my sharp lines by careful sculpting,but you could achieve the same effect by making the handle a little too thick on each side,and sanding off the extra thickness when you are done,to leave the crisp line. As I mentioned,some like the line and some do not. I know it is better sculpture since I've been trained in that field. It gives a nice "calligraphed" effect,especially on saw handles. See the handles below. Notice how the sharp line gives this calligraphed effect.

A 1/4 28 tap would make a nice knurl,a bit larger for you.

Sometimes old makers would come up through the bottom with a flat head screw and file it flush,removing the slot in the process to hold the handle on. But,you'd see a difference in the steel of the screw head against the cast iron. In a case like that,it is better to just go the honest approach: mill away a portion of the sole just under the rear of the tote,put in a neat screw and leave it. Usually the extended portion of the sole fits the shape of the tote.

Some old makers simply glued the infill in. You could do this with epoxy and it would be quite permanent.

[Leigh Betsch]

There is a screw dead center of the knob that holds the mouth tight. The brass medallion is actually silver soldered to it. The screw has a milled flat and the knob mortised so it will drive the screw. Rotate the knob to loosen or tighten the mouth. I don't think I took a pic. I like the sharp lines. I'll continue to work toward it.

[Leigh Betsch]

That's one wildly grained table it's sitting on, though.

Yeah, plastic though! My daughters college furniture, residing in my sunroom now.
Pat, the cap screw holds the blade tight, the blade is tapped with a hammer to adjust it. I also gave my nephew a bronze hammer head like this one. Figured he should have one too.

[Leigh Betsch]

If anyone is ineterested, I posted some video links of the machining of this plane in the metalworking forum. Not much neandering going on though.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ding-an-infill

[Jim Matthews]

Man is that cool.

I should have picked a handier family, when I was born.
My old man just reached for a bigger hammer when tools got dull.

This thing looks fast, just sitting still.

Bravo.