Handmade infill plane (woodwork)

[Hattori-hanzo]

With the blade finished I could start working on the wedge.

I had a piece of padauk that had a small amount of contrasting sapwood which I thought would look nice in the wedge.

I cut the wedge out and started shaping it with a coping saw and files.

With the wedge partially formed I added a small cupids bow detail to the end.

After test fitting the wedge to make sure it was seating uniformly with the blade I cut a small piece of matching padauk for the front infill of the plane body.

I then glued the front infill and bed into the body using strong epoxy.

I cut some small wedges to hold them in position while the glue cured.

Once the epoxy had cured I used my makeshift sander to blend the padauk infill to the body.

And finished the curved end to the wedge.

I was now ready to start flattening the sole of the plane. I masked up the padauk to prevent it getting dirty while lapping the sole.

I started on a piece of sheet glass with 180 grit wet and dry paper, then moved up through the grits to a 400 grit diamond stone.

I went up to 1000 grit diamond stone, the sole was starting to get a nice flat sheen.

Lastly I gave the sole a quick polish with a strop and some metal polish compound.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

With the body of the plane complete I could move onto finishing the infills and wedge.
I used masking tape to cover the brass to prevent the finish going onto it.

I then pulled out my finest Douwe Egberts French polish. A mix of blonde shellac flakes and denatured alcohol.

I applied the French polish with a simple rubber to the wedge, building several coats.

I used a small piece of cotton pad to polish the infills as the rubber was too large.

I kept building the layers of shellac, around ten or so, then left it to harden

before finally spiriting off with a higher ration alcohol to shellac

The plane was now nearing completion, I took a picture of it next to my record block plane for comparison.

 

[Hattori-hanzo]

With the plane nearly done I was eager to take a shaving.


I was pleased to see it make a cut but the mouth needed some refinement, I used a barrette file to ease it slightly.

With that done I could move onto the box.

I mitred some piece of oak and used masking tape to pull it all together to check the joins.

Once I was happy I then mitred the top and bot of the box

Again using masking tape to pull it all together while the glue dried.

I made the padauk liner in a similar fashion but no need for the top and bottom on this one. Once the glue had dried I polished the seen area leaving a part unfished to be glued to the inside of the oak box.

With the oak box glued together I could cut it in half at the desired angle and begin to polish it.

Next I started to make the retainer for the plane, I removed most of the waste with a forstner bit

Then removed the rest on the band saw before cleaning up with hand files and adding a rebate around the outside.

I could then assemble the box and fully French polish it.

I finished the retainer in black paint and added black card to the top and bottom of the box to finish it,

and finally the plane and box were complete.

I really enjoyed making this one, the curved shape and small size threw up quite a lot of challenges but it was very satisfying thinking of ways to overcome them and to see the plane progress how I had envisioned it.


I couldn't get any video of making the plane but I've done a short clip of it in use if you're interested to see.

Cheers, Dan.