Thought I’d post some pics of an infill plane that I’ve just finished. No highly polished surfaces on this piece. I made this plane with the intention of it being a daily user. The sole is 1/4″ bronze, the sides are 1/8″ brass, the lever cap was fabricated from 1/2″ bronze, and the lever cap screw is stainless steel with 3/8-16 threads. The infill is walnut with a padded on garnet shellac finish. It is as Malcolm might say “Quite Staunch”. I haven’t weighed it yet but I’m thinking somewhere between 5 or 6 lbs. The iron is 3/16 thick A2, the iron and the chipbreaker is from Hock tools. The lines of the plane remind me of an early 30s Ford Coupe hence the nickname “Coupe de Plane.” You will notice that the sides are not dovetailed to the sole, in fact they are attached with a system of threaded rivets, if done properly the heads of these rivets disappear. I ended up with a throat of about .010, the advantage of the rivet systems is that you can set the throat at assembly and not have to file it out later. My next plane project is a smaller version of the Coupe, I think I may call it “Mini Couper”.
Ron
Replies
Thats a sweet plane, one of these days I would like to take the plunge and try to make a metal plane. For now I am limited to wooden ones.
Take care
Ron,
Superb plane; looks like it takes nice thin shaving, too. Classic lines!
A question: what kind of bronze did you use for the sole?
Again, great job!
James
James,
Bearing bronze precision ground. It is quite flat, It took all of about 5 minutes to flattening the sole on a glass platen with 150 grit sandpaper. Thanks for the compliment.Ron
Edited 4/28/2006 4:23 pm ET by Ronaway
Ron,
I was wondering, because I have been considering doing the same thing that you have with your plane.
I was going to use sheet or plate manganese bronze for the sole (I figured if it was good enough for LN, it was certainly good enough for me; actually, I wanted it for its abrasion-resistance qualities and for its weight.), but, after calling/emailing all over the country, it appears that sheet/plate manganese bronze is not available; silicon and a couple of other types...yes, but manganese...no.
So, I have been debating which of the other types of bronze available in sheets or plates I should use. When it comes down to it, for my purposes (a plane sole), I suspect that there really is negligible practical difference between the various flavours of the bronzes, but I could be wrong here.
Anyway, thanks for the information. Again, I think your plane turned out very nicely.
James
James, I think you're right about any bronze being perfectly OK for a plane sole.
It will wear a bit faster, and maybe mark-up a bit easier, than steel, and in my limited experience, hard steels like stainless do retain their pristine new condition a bit longer than mild bright steels. But in practical terms, with the sort of use that a bespoke smoother or shoulder plane gets, it's not much of a consideration.
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
James,I could only find manganese bronze in casting nuggets. I bought the precision ground bar because the thickness tolerance is + or - .002, and the flatness tolerance is quite tight also, this makes for a more accurate assembly and a lot less work during the process of flattening the sole. Ron
Ron,
Very nice looking plane and it looks to be a good functioning tool as well.
Would you mind sharing your assembly procedure with the threaded rivets? How many did you use? what size? And how is it done right so they disappear? That's an interesting concept.
-Chuck
A picture is worth a thousand words as "they say" (who is they?) So instead of starting into a documentary on the design and use of threaded rivets I will try to post some pics while I'm in the process of assembling the body on the "Mini Couper".Ron
Very good, Ron. I'll be looking forward to your postings.
To all,I've been working on assembling the body of my small smoother (Mini Couper) and have been taking pictures along the way during the riveting process. I'm waiting for the epoxy on the threads to set, and then I will be able to complete the body and get the pictures of the final stages of this process. I hope to post them tomorrow.Ron
To all,Here's the threaded rivet process.mc1 Shows the two parts of the sole and one side. The back section of the sole is cut at the 50 degree bed angle the front parts at 22.5 deg. mc2 The back part of the sole and the side clamped and fastened to an assembly block ready for drilling.mc3 One hole drilled.mc4 While still clamped in the drilled position remove the drill and put in the countersink and slightly countersink the hole enough to provide a grip for the rivet head.mc5 While in the same position remove countersink and install the tap. Using slight downward pressure with the drill press handle turn the chuck by hand to tap the hole.mc6 Screw installed. mc7 One side with all screws installed.mc8 Finished side.General notes:(1) Rivets are 6-32 x .5 screws. To get an idea of spacing, the back part of the sole is 3.875 long and received 5 rivets. The front part received 3 rivets spaced even closer than on the rear section.(2) The holes must be deeper than the length of the screws and a bottom tap should be used. The screw centers are just slightly high of the centerline of the .250 thick bronze sole material.(3) At final assembly the screws should be installed using a drop of industrial metal epoxy in each hole to lock the screw in place.( you really don't want it to loosen) Loctite or regular 5 minute epoxy would also work.(4) Work the screw heads down with a coarse file but before you get it worked all the way down peen the edges with a punch to make sure the metal fills the countersink quite tightly.
Edited 5/4/2006 7:09 pm ET by Ronaway
Screwed tight, glued and gap-fill-peened, this ought to be just about as sound as a dovetailed join, perhaps even better.
About how long would it take, a second time, Ron?
BTW, your set-up and work methods look very smart ... isn't it a shame we're spread all around the world, and can't just call in for some benchmark collaboration, us few planemakers?
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
Malcolm,To do this plane again I think I could fasten the sides and soles in 3 hours. Every hole takes 3 tool changes. The peening is just a precaution to make sure that all the screw heads disappear, if left without peening 1 out of 4 or 5 might show slightly. It is a good idea to do the peening in a clockwise tightening pattern even though I've not had one loosen yet.When I started this project I really had 2 engineering goals in mind. One was to create a well functioning infill plane, the other goal was to do that using processes that could be accomplished using tooling already available in most moderately outfitted woodworking shops. I have a metalworking background, in fact I managed the engineering department of a contract sheet metal company, however none of the processes used there are available in my shop. So I have had to figure out how to make tools that I have already serve these purposes. I am however reluctant to use some of my better woodworking machines to cut up metal so a lot of hand work comes into play.All the preceding to say this, If the plane makers among us could get together not only would it be wonderfully enjoyable, the trading of processes and design ideas/concepts could prove to be very helpful to everyone pursuing this craft. Ron
Ron,
Thanks for the photos and narrative. It appears that you have developed a process that is mechanically sound yet fairly quick to accomplish. While the dovetailed joints certainly add a touch of artistry, I think you've developed a sound alternative that makes a great looking tool to boot.
I can see the need to have the sides of the bottom plate dead square with the bottom to eliminate any caster or camber from the sides. It is also easy to see, as you pointed out, the advantage of being able to establish the bevels of the mouth before hand and set the mouth opening at assembly. Nice.
Where do get your material (brass and bronze)? Do you have a local supplier or do you mailorder it?
I must admit you threw me a bit when you said you used threaded rivets. The threaded rivets I am familiar with are the fasteners that are installed with a special tool and provide a threaded hole in thin material such as a sheetmetal panel. I couldn't imagine how you had adapted them to this application.
Anyway, good job and thanks again for sharing your ideas.
-Chuck
Chuck,I've purchased most of my materials from online industrial suppliers like McMaster Carr. They have a warehouse in Atlanta I get next day service thru UPS in some instances. You're right the precision ground bar really helps out, however you do have to been pretty anal about how everything lines up in order to come up with an assembly that is accurate enough to becomes a good functioning tool. There are a lot of factors that have to come together to make one of these tools perform really exceptionally. A lot of this information can be gained from a study of the tried and proven tools of the past.Ron
For the record Ron, very nice job (readers - Ron and I have been exchanging advice and opinions, and photographs, off-line).
Isn't it interesting how the extended discussion that's gone on here at Knots (and elsewhere) over the past few months is stimulating an interest in shop-made tools?
Ron has proven - yet again - that it is possible to make cool-looking tools, that work, that please, and that don't cost the earth. Without a lot of expensive gear, and using a variety of techniques and configurations.
Good photos, too.
Well done Ron.
Malcolm
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