INFILL PLANE

[GEPPETTO]

I wish trying to make a dovetailed steel junction to do, in future, an infill smooth plane :shock: .
I had not understood if it is possible to use the iron of the same kind of that which is used in construction buildings :? .
I think this steel kind has only few amount of carbon in its composition. I do not know if the steel to build an infill plane would be of high or low carbon rate. Can anyone help me ??
Thanks.

 

[Chris Knight]

Gepetto,
Never made a plane but I reckon mild steel would be fine as mentioned here http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~alf/en/antique-tool-faq.txt

high carbon steel doesn't get hard until it is hardened by heat/quenching/tempering etc and may be usable but it would be worth checking on the work hardening characteristics of whatever you use as the peening of the dovetails could be problematic if the material work-hardened significantly.

 

[bugbear]

Here's some good info

http://www.xmission.com/~jry/

BugBear

 

[GEPPETTO]

Can anyone help me ??
Thanks.

Thanks to everybody, I am going to studying.....

 

[GEPPETTO]

Sorry, but in My web travelling I have seen that a good material for infill plane is "gunmetal". I think that it should be "brass", but I don't know because it isn't called thus.
Is it a particular kind of brass?
Can you help me???

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Gepetto,

I know Karl Holtey uses Naval brass in his planes, and he isn't too bad at making them!
If I recall when I visited his workshop, he told me naval brass has a higher zinc content so is a harder alloy than standard brass and less succeptible to 'dings' and scratches etc.

Andy

 

[Alf]

Yep, gunmetal has different proportions of this and that to brass. A technical specification comparing it to various brasses here. And a bit more here.

Cheers, Alf

Edit: Debate on origins of the name

 

[GEPPETTO]

Many thanks everybody