Scottish Infill Smoother Restoration

[jimi43]

Hello fellow whittlers.....

As the next phase of the UKW infill project....namely the actual woodie bits...approaches, I thought it might be a good idea if I practised on a less important one first...just to get my hands refined again....

It's been a while since I last did any infill.

So...I searched around my favourite auction site for some candidates where upon I found this advertised as "Buy-it-Now" for £40....

The auction had this good photograph....every angle to make a decision to buy...and a fairly accurate description to confirm the risk was small...particularly the lack of damage to the main casting.

As can be seen...the infills are so bad that there would be no question of destroying "originality"...something I always end up juggling with.....

The front handle is badly made out of softwood...it doesn't even fit let alone have the stuffing correctly over the casting...and the rear handle made of oak looks to be user-made too...and not particularly well but probably original....

This was made of three parts...one horribly shaped centre handle and two nicely made wings...all screwed together with four brass screws inside....(in the wrong places as will be seen!)

But firstly and most importantly.....the screws came out (phew) and secondly how beautiful is that gunmetal lever cap casting!!!

But before doing anything....I found a screw and an iron...just to test out the smoother on some wood...

....and even though it doesn't look particularly pretty with this oversized knob (correct thread) and Sorby iron/cap iron fitted...it cut beautifully right out of the box!

But check out the angle the lever cap sets to!!

....and this is why....

A bit of over-zealous tightening there in the past methinks or have I missed something here?

Gunmetal is fairly soft...but I have had no experience in straightening it...so does anyone have any idea if this will go back cold or will this need heating to straighten it? Richard? I think I might need your advice here!

So...with all the screws removed...the infills simply lift out, along with decades of old sawdust to reveal a very clean and crack free casting indeed!

The old infills will act as a fairly rough template...handy for the overstuffing particularly but on both sides the rear fixing screws for the body actually line up with the brass screws holding the wings together...so run alongside them! The fact that the inside ones are brass probably made it easier to get the screws out...quite by luck!

...but the front one is straight in the bin....

I fear it was a "temporary" fix for the original which ended up being more permanent that was planned!

This is small enough for burr oak offcuts to be used....so it will make a great test bed for Richard's panel project...and a great partner afterwards!

More later

Jimi

 

[bugbear]

I fear it was a "temporary" fix for the original which ended up being more permanent that was planned!

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php? ... 83#message

(2003!! Doesn't time fly...)

BugBear

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I might be all wrong with this, but does the lever cap have to be something like that shape in order to clear the cap-iron nut reliably?

To bend a casting that much (if it is bent) would need more force than could be applied by a puny lever cap screw turned by even a strong-fingered user; you'd need a stillson or similar on the capscrew, at least. Bending would also show distress marks on the surface of the casting, and I don't see any evidence for such in the pictures.

I'd leave well alone, I think.

 

[AndyT]

I agree with CC that it seems unlikely to have been bent in use, but I have never seen one that shape.

Maybe the original combination of cutting iron and cap iron was thicker than normal. (There could have been a very thick cutting iron or a bigger than usual hump on the cap iron, or both.) That would have had the effect of moving the bottom edge of the lever cap towards the front of the plane, bringing the upper part more nearly parallel to the cutting iron.

So, what if you reverse all that - undo the screw a bit, so the top of the cap iron is nearly parallel to the cutting iron (which would put the screw at something closer to a right-angle to the cutting iron's surface.) How much space does that leave you down at the plane's mouth?

I expect you have plenty of old irons and cap irons to experiment with, but if you need any more, so say; I may have a spare or two somewhere...

 

[jimi43]

I know...I thought it would be a stretch to bend it too but even using that I.Sorby iron with a thick cap iron only gets it to where it is now...and that only just clears the mouth...just...

I will have to play around with the geometry to see what works without bending it back straight to see...also do a bit more research later...

I received the gauge steel today...3/16", 5/32 and 3mm (they didn't have 1/8")....so I can make some irons and caps and see what works best.

Got to go to work now sadly...again!!

Cheers

Jim

 

[Paul Chapman]

I reckon that lever cap was from a different plane :-k Why not make a new one?

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[jimi43]

I reckon that lever cap was from a different plane :-k Why not make a new one?

Cheers :wink:

Paul

HA! Nice one Paul...this is like one never-ending nightmare! :mrgreen:

I'll have a think about it when I've had a tinker...I think I will begin by making two sets of irons and cap irons for both this and and the panel plane and then work from there...I need them anyway now for all sorts of measurements.

Cheers

Jim

 

[matthewwh]

Any chance that the lever cap was pilfered from a plane with a higher cutting angle?

Since you are changing the wood anyway you could compensate for it there, use the existing lever cap unaltered, and end up with a high angle smoother.

 

[jimi43]

Any chance that the lever cap was pilfered from a plane with a higher cutting angle?

Since you are changing the wood anyway you could compensate for it there, use the existing lever cap unaltered, and end up with a high angle smoother.

I'm not sure that would work Matthew...if you adjust the top part of a straight iron to a higher angle the bottom automatically moves back doesn't it?

A tapered iron would make the error less...perhaps that is what was originally used but since that is a fairly acutely tapered iron I am using to test...I don't think that would be a solution either.

I can see stress rings in this shot...

...just to the rear of the main body where it joins the stem...but that may be a red herring.

Say I wanted to make it straight again...would heating it locally to red heat at the transition and then gently hitting it straight work?

Jim

 

[Richard T]

When I first saw this plane in the other thread, I thought that the angle of the wood had been changed ... possibly the infiller had thought that he wanted a higher angle, made the wood to fit, then found the frog was steeper, so inserted a wedge to compensate. ???

Re the lever; I would not try to bend it cold, nor would I get it too hot. A rosy glow under a blow lamp should be easily enough (in the neck) to persuade it. We don't know what it is so we don't want to melt it. Just in the vice, got hot enough to bend with gentle taps should do. With the bend reversed it should be a user. And other wise, what Matthew says.

Too drunk now to contribute properly - drat Hotels.

 

[matthewwh]

I'm not sure that would work Matthew...if you adjust the top part of a straight iron to a higher angle the bottom automatically moves back doesn't it?

Depends where the pivot point is, in this case the cutting edge kinda has to be where it is, so the bottom portion of the iron would move forward too. It does look like one helluva bend though...even if you can only flatten it out a bit it would surely help.

 

[GazPal]

Nice find Jim

I've an infill smoother who's lever cap is profiled in precisely the same manner and think the kick relates to the plane being made to accept parallel irons, whilst remaining perfectly capable of seeing use with tapered irons.

 

[jimi43]

Although RichardT is not precisely correct...I think you have something mate....

Taking your suggestion and then looking at the infill...I believe that has been cut down.

And the reason I believe this is it would need to be a VERY thin cap iron screw to fit in the channel...mine doesn't even come close....and they tended to be chunkier than even the one I have used as a test so I think the whole thing has been reworked...which is no problem....I will just do some test fills to see what angle suits and go from there.

I would rather not try to bend the lever cap if it isn't meant to be bent....mmmm

Yes Gazza...it sure was a bargain...and what a lovely looking sole casting...the important bit after all...!

Jim

 

[Richard T]

Looking again ..... There is tremendous compression evidence on the underside of the pivot holes. Is the underside of the lever hollow? Could it possibly have been bent in use after all - or was it made like that to clear the cap iron thread lump and has been over tightened in use to compensate ...

 

[jimi43]

Looking again ..... There is tremendous compression evidence on the underside of the pivot holes. Is the underside of the lever hollow? Could it possibly have been bent in use after all - or was it made like that to clear the cap iron thread lump and has been over tightened in use to compensate ...

There is Richard...and there are crinkles between the body and the neck indicating bending forces.

The lever cap is cast hollow...I'm off to Newmarket with my mother now but will photograph later to show you more angles.

Cheers

Jim

 

[GazPal]

I'd honestly approach with extreme caution the topic of straightening any bends, as I've a feeling the sway in the lever cap is "as cast" - as with the example I possess - and not the result of over zealous tightening during use. The reason being the absence of physical distortion on the upper surface of the cap at or either side of the point of transition between the two plains. There is a pronounced over-sweep/camber opposite the transition point on my lever cap and this would tend to negate the possibility of buckling.

My bronze lever cap also displays distortion at the threaded pivot holes and I feel this is a natural enough occurrence considering the forces encountered constantly with double irons securely captive between bed and cap. Perhaps a threaded steel insert would have been better employed at this location, but doing so would then tend to telegraph potential stresses through the neck of the cap and on to the adjustment bolt.

 

[jimi43]

I've put the lever cap to one side for a moment as I have decided to practice on this plane in preparation for doing the infills proper on the UKW Infill Project.

I seem to be accumulating handles on my bench lately!!!

This is good...the more I do the more I will get practice in for the big one!

Noel has said that the rasp should be ready by the end of the week (thanks Noel)...and it will be most welcome.

So..to the Scottish Infill Smoother....

I decided to use the "rejected" boxwood for this one...I love boxwood and I know my dear friend Klaus in Germany does too...so this one should please you mate.

I have a template....the old handle....

....but there needs to be some modification after I have worked from the original to get the line-up correct.

Stupidly...I should have thicknessed the block before I cut out the first angles! You live and learn.

So..it was out with the trusty HUNTLEY OAK Japanese saw....

This was perhaps the best purchase I have ever made for where backsaws will not go...just see how easy and perfect this thing cuts this hard wood...

....one single cut...effortless...

I bet you could cut veneers with this saw if you were careful - it is that good!

So...now it's the right thickness (homer) ....I used the old cheeks to test whether my eye was right...

...about 2mm out....

The 300mm disc sander comes in handy here to get it flat and reduce by such a small amount.

The next thing to look into is getting the small back bevel on the mouth right...it seems about 47 degrees and rather crudely done..

I want to get it in line with the angle of the handle which acts as part of the bed and I think there has been some crude tinkering by the previous owner on the original....

The old one goes from 45 to 47 degrees in an arc...presumably cut roughly by chisel to fit a deeper cap iron screw but absolutely no good for support...so I have made it flat at 47 degrees...

...or thereabouts! :mrgreen:

I have also elongated the hole and made it more oval...the original was too cramped for my hand at least!

Ok...so something I have learned by experience...TEST TEST TEST at each stage....so I assembled the new handle with the old cheeks and bun and fitted the lever cap and iron and cap iron and tested it out....

The difference was immediately noticeable.

Even though the cheeks are not even supporting the iron (yet!)....

....the action was really smooth and it just felt much more rigid with no chatter and a lovely finish to the wood.

I haven't even tuned the iron yet!

Anyone who knows the nature of boxwood in the raw will be able to see how this is going to turn out....

Boxwood has little distinction between heart and sapwood until linseed oil is used on it and then the true natural beauty of the wood is revealed.

The knots are also blackened to accentuate the grain...

Just one look at this piece and we can see all three elements. I can hardly wait to finish this off and put some oil to it!

So...cheeks next and then bun. This is going to be one beautiful plane indeed!

Jim

 

[Vann]

A bit of over-zealous tightening there in the past methinks or have I missed something here?

Gunmetal is fairly soft...but I have had no experience in straightening it...so does anyone have any idea if this will go back cold or will this need heating to straighten it? Richard? I think I might need your advice here!

Lovely Jimi.

IMHO that is NOT bent. It's two flat(tish) surfaces intersecting - there's not sufficient radius on the back to indicate a bend of that nature. Possibly someone bent it and then filed it back to look like that - but I doubt it. I wondered about making up a wedged shape piece to go under the bottom end (from mouth to pivot) and soldering it to the underside of the lever-cap? But you may come up with a better solution.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Klaus Kretschmar]

Jim

Hey Jim, that will become more than just a beauty for sure! Boxwood together with steel, well that's just about the best to my eyes. The subtle grain and the unique colour of the wood make it to look very noble. This dense wood deserves it to get sanded up to high grits... then one will be rewarded with a wood own shimmer that only boxwood and ebony can produce. At least I don't know another wood that can produce such a glance after being just oiled. I'm more than curious on the progress of the plane.

Cheers
Klaus

 

[MickCheese]

Jim

Really interesting.

I have no plans to try something like this, neither the skill nor the patience but mostly the lack of skill, but still enjoying the thread.

Mick