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Thanks, Cc, that's just the sort of response I'm searching for. There's no doubt in my mind that low-angle, bevel-up planes when properly constructed, have a solidity about them that shows up when cutting across the grain (as in trimming mitres!), but as anyone who has tried planing cranky...

Yes Andy, I admit I've just been dithering & stalling, but I would still like to hear what the brains trust has to say about what mitre planes can do for me. :) One reason is so I can choose a good size to make. The old ones I've seen pics of were mostly in the 9-10 inches long range, and...

Which is: "What are their special attributes?" Or the corollary - what particular tasks were they used for? I guess the obvious answer would be. "If you don't know, then you obviously don't need one!" But I'm curious - I've done lots of searching, & reading what I can find on the topic, and...

Yes, that could have been a way of doing it more neatly than having that chunky block screwed to the side. I would still have needed the recess to sit the nicker in, to bring it flush with the edge of the blade. As I said, a little more thought before acting might have induced me to do...

I think your plane is not only well-executed, it shows much thought & ingenuity, rxh. I reckon putting the nickers across the front like that was a small stroke of genius - it's always a bit of a conundrum where to put the darn things so they're not in the way. Can't see why they shouldn't...

As I said before, Hattori, you've come a long way quickly! Doing a bit of background reading probably helped, but I reckon you've displayed a lot of natural talent & a capacity to learn quickly. If you keep up this pace you really will be in the Holtey class before long... :D Interestingly...

Hattori, you are over-thinking & over-complicating matters. :? The heads of the screws become simple stub-axles, they go all the way through the side and abut the LC. The screws don't need to bear on the sides at all; once both screws are in, the lever-cap is effectively captured. This...

Hattori, you're cranking these things out so fast I can't keep up! :o It seems strange to me now, but the lever cap was my biggest worry when I was thinking about making my first infill, I was only half as worried about peening the pins & tails. I was stuck on the idea that all the LCs I...

Not exactly, Hattori, what I was referring to is a distinct notch, with very little, if any bevel (the distortion caused by peening will give the impression of a bevel). You probably need to register to see pictures, but this old thread on the 'Ubeaut' forum had an excellent article on making a...

Just looking at the pictures, the gaps don't look too horrendous, Hattori, but they are big by the standards of a separate-sided plane where you can cut the dovetails so they are a tight fit. You had to end up with a wide gap at the tops of the tails because the only way to assemble was to push...

Yes, I first saw the 'open' dovetails on Bill's work, too, but am in the "don't like" camp. They look a bit too contrived and precious to my eye, but beauty is in the eye of beholders, and we are all different (thank goodness), so all power to you for the courage to follow your own tastes and...

Thanks Hattori, yep, it's functioning pretty well now, but I think it will be a teeny bit better after I spend a bit more time lapping that huge area of sole. It's a job to tackle in small doses hen the mood strikes. To get rid of the 1/3rd hole on the edge of the brass, I sharpened an old...

Well, just for interest, I contacted Lee Valley & asked them if there was any reason I couldn't grind a bit off a PM-V11 blade. Their reply was to the effect that there is no problem at all as long as I observe sensible practice & don't cook it. Unfortunately, they didn't directly address...

No, what I read implied it could wreck the steel. In my ignorance of things metallurgical, I couldn't see why that should be, but if alloying components start migrating at various temps, it starts to make some sense. I can see how you could alter things drastically either side of the cut...

In all the chit-chat, the implication of the original post doesn't seem to have been addressed, which is, that the earlier, narrow 5 1/2 takes a 2 1/4" blade and 2 3/8" blades simply will not fit through the throat. I discovered this many years ago when I inherited my dad's circa 1918 5 1/2...

After the LC was sorted, I glued in the front bun and put brass rivets through the body to hold the stuffing. The epoxy would probably suffice, at least for a few years, but the rivets give long-term insurance. When setting the rivets, I was a bit clumsier than usual, and made a couple of...

Know the feeling well! My very first attempt at making dovetails was fitting the front piece on a shoulder plane I was making. I was even more ignorant of metallurgy then & didn't even know there were different grades - I thought brass was brass. The alloy I used was not good for peening &...

I forgot to cover this part of the metal work, so fwiw, here is a quick run-down. Judging by what I’ve read in various threads on making planes, many aspiring makers are intimidated by the idea of making lever caps, imagining it to be a very difficult task. In fact, it’s one of the easier (&...

Before starting on the woodwork, I spent some time filing & sanding the tops of the sides, making chamfers & some lamb’s tongues with files, then smoothing them with various grades of W&D wrapped round paddles and bits of dowel & several grades of W&D to tidy them up. This was followed by some...

Right then, on to the next bit: I made a “peening block” from scrap hardwood to hold everything in place & keep the sides square to the sole while I bash away at those pins & tails. For my first few planes I made elaborate peening blocks with cut-outs for the sides to support them when...