Hand made Infill plane (woodwork)

Nice! I like the pyramid detail and is that mother of pearl I spot on the round parts? no idea what they are called.

I've a love hate relationship with wenge, it's dense but the open grain can make it frustrating to work and the splinters are dreadful! if you don't get them out immediately they can quickly fester.
 
famas said:
Nice! I like the pyramid detail and is that mother of pearl I spot on the round parts? no idea what they are called.

I've a love hate relationship with wenge, it's dense but the open grain can make it frustrating to work and the splinters are dreadful! if you don't get them out immediately they can quickly fester.
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I've heard so many times that wenge splinters get infected but been lucky enough to avoid it so far.

Thanks! The pyramid bridge design is about 100 years old but I tried my hand at it. Early ones were often made of ivory if you can believe it. And yep - abalone which is a big open shelled oyster type creature. The bridge pins with the dots are manufactured and bought though.
 
Oh nice, this is looking great now with the wenge added, although it is giving me coffin vibes :D.

What steel did you go for this time? I have been looking into getting some decent chisels and all the different steels are confusing. I think I have settled on o1 as I don't mind sharpening more often if it means getting a super polished edge. Also have you found a good place to buy your metal from? I'm going to start a few projects soon and will be needing some steel.
 
{SAS}TB said:
Wow, fantastic skills. Just seen this thread and read it all the way through, seriously impressive - well done sir and thanks for sharing !
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Thank you :)

@Mark A
I went with 01 tool steel again. I believe it's slightly easier to harden correctly with a DIY approach than other steels, it's also readily available and cheaper than A-2, D-2 steel.

I got this piece from Zoro tools uk, I've also used JKGmetalsupplies on E-bay, GWR fasterns, Conventry Grinders and sdnonferrous.co.uk for brass and gauge plate.
 
I've made a start on the blade. It's tedious work, endless hours of flattening and sanding.

Just to make life even harder for me I've made it a snecked blade, this just means it has a "tang" on the heel end to aid in adjustment once fitted to the plane.

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Still a lot more filing and sanding to do.

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Managed to get the etching done on the blade today.
This blade is narrower than the last so I asked my friend if he could laser me some new stencils which he kindly did.

I wasn't sure how well it would turn out as the stencil was half the size of the last one but thankfully it came out really well again so I'm pleased with that.

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And again for any one interested part 4 has just gone up.
 
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The logo looks really professional, looks awesome against the brushed steel. I bet these will be worth a fortune in years to come! You got me interested in looking into mitre planes as I'd never heard of them before and they cost loads to buy now, well out of my price range.
 
Cheers mark.

You wouldn't get a traditional mitre plane new now from any of the major brands. Lie nielsen and Veritas make their own modernised versions of them as well as Quangsheng

If you want a "new" traditional mitre plane you would need to go to a bespoke maker and like you say the cost is high.

You can pick up old mitre planes second hand but most of them have been abused, normally with the mouths being widened and the wedges/blades replaced.

Good condition ones go for hundreds and some into the thousands. I recall seeing a rare Norris mitre plane on sale for £20,000 recently.

Mitre planes are a bit obsolete now, block planes have taken their place and where they would have been used with a shooting board, jack planes and chop saws have taken over.
There's nothing like a well tuned plane and shooting board combo for fine mitre work though.

I'm toying with the idea of making one more and putting it up for sale but I doubt I'd see a worth while return for the work involved.
 
The plane is starting to take shape now. I've been busy with my daughter over the last few weeks, she's finally learnt how to crawl so is keeping me busy!

The body of the plane is pretty much complete other than a final bit of finishing, I've added a bevel to the top edge to make it a little more comfortable to hold.

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And both infills are made and dry fitted, I won't be fixing them permanently until near the end of the build.

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And part 5 has just gone up

 
Part 7 has just gone up.

I start making the wooden infills and wedge in this part.


I've also made a start on the box for the plane.
I wanted to go quite traditional with this one so it's going to be a simple dovetailed box with a lift off lid.

Fitting the first dovetails.

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