Jointer Infill Plane

We must to admit, British style Infill planes are really beauties, solid and strong performers.

So, my friend Vittorio and I, we have decided of joining our passion for planes and having a try to build one.

Unfortunately, we never have had an occasion for a meeting but, even if we live in North (Vittorio) and South (I) of Italy,

we carried out the job staying in touch by mail and postage for plane parts exchange. 

Vittorio did the job on metallic parts, I on wooden infills, assembling and tuning up the plane.

Apart a bench drill for accurate boring and a bandsaw for rough shaping the wooden stocks, all parts are handmade.

Our inspiration was the Norris A1 jointer. The plane is 20 1/2" long, with a 2 1/2" parallel blade, bedded at 47,5°. It weights 4,75 Kg.

However, we enjoyed to make a short video about this plane and its first shavings.

 

Ciao

Vittorio e Giuliano

The right tool for the job

Some time ago, while surfing ebay for tool shopping, I purchased a rebate plane with a convex bottom. What use could it have for me?
Tools not for a daily use for a carpenter or cabinet maker, these planes were in the past may be more used by coach makers and wheelwrights, transportation in which curved elements did not lack.
As in other compass planes, the sole has not a regular curvature ray, rather it decreases toward the toe in order to facilitate the work on curves with a slightly variable ray.
 

The wood is mahogany and it seems a self-builded plane, although very best made and with a very nice rear side.  
Here is the occasion for using it: a first try for building a plane bun with a couple of curved rabbets.

The marked part has to be cut away, but the bottom line is not stright, rather curved. Of course, most of wood is cut away by a saw....

......but a little part of the waste remains:

By using the higher nose curvature and after a short learning curve for the right movement, the job can be completed in less than a minute and with a very good finish.

The dark side of this plane, for me, is the wood of which it is made.
Mahogany wood wears rapidly and is not the best for a plane in which often only a portion of sole is used.
From the image is evident that the wear will be rapid and not uniform.
I am thinking of add a new sole with a harder wood.

Scrub Plane

Some years ago I found several 34 mm plane blades as new old stock. Too many narrow for a jack or smoother plane, perfect for making scrub planes (just I had to round the cutting edge). 
This is a four pieces plane (two lateral, two central). The woods are beech for the body and wild olive (from Puglia, Italy) for the sole.

Pinch dogs

In the pic above (1933), an odd double nail is described and intended for joining wood elements for which a classic clamp would be inapropriate. Its name is pinch dog. They have a squared section and a shape with two parallel tips; each tip has a chisel shape, the bevel being toward the internal side. When the pinch dog is driven in the wood, across two parts to be joined, the opposite bevels push them one against the other.    
The dark side are the holes they leave on the wood, so can be better used on surfaces not shown or those to be painted.The pinch dogs are available on online sites and their price is around 3-4 $ each (depending on dimensions)
 So, I tried to build some home made pinch dog, using iron fence staples I took (for free) at my hardware store.
Differently from pinch dogs these nails had not parallel sides, but they work.
The first job was to cut the tips and grind two new inner bevels by a file for obtaining the shape you can  see in the pic above on the right. 
A dozen of home made pinch dogs required half an hour ca.

I had my first try for gluing up a panel.
It will be painted, so no matter for holes.
Being its thickness only 10 mm, this is a case where metal clamps do not work well: the grip surface on the edges is restricted and it is easy to cause distorsions when the clamps are tight; sometimes the panel needs a new flattening job when the glue dries.



One main advantage of pinch dogs is that the elements to be glued, stay simply on the bench; it offers a solid and flat surface for a good gluing up (only you have to protect the bench with papers).

A necessary condition to permit to the nails of working properly is to have perfectly jointed edges, so the planing job must be done carefully. In this case I used my type 7 Stanley #8 (1893-1899), a fast and accurate workhorse.

 Glue up.

When the "pinch dogs" are nailed across two panel elements, the glue squeeze out is evident.

The result is definitely great, the job really easy.















When the glue dries, remove our home made "pinch dogs".

The panel is ready for the next steps.

Chamfer Planes

Our friend Stewie (from Australia) us surprises with another wooden tool realization. This time is not a back saw but a wonderful set of chamfer planes.
These planes are designed to cut a chamfer with a 45° angle in respect to the sides. The model is that typical of English tradition, with a single iron, a mobile sole and a brass depth stop on the left side.

The mobile sole has a particular shape: only the bottom has a sole function while the upper part is carved and designed to help shaving expulsion. The sole will wear out easily, so better to make it with hard woods or, as in this example, to add a metal (brass is usual) plate.
The wedge and the stop screw fasten all in place.
The plane body has the bottom "V" shaped (the angle is 90°) so it can be used as e fence during the cut. The wedge is Jarrah (a tipycal Australian wood), while the body and the mobile sole are Merbau, very nice and wear resistant.
Some pics of building:

 

Very well done Stewie, a real planemaker realization!