# Let's Build an Infill Shoulder Plane!



## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

*The beginnings*

Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!

*Introduction*

Let me first say that this is not my own design. I took a lot of ideas, inspiration, etc. from Jeff Wittrock at SMC. His great thread is here. This is my first infill plane, my first for a lot of things, so don't think that my way is perfect. I try to sprinkle in the lessons learned along the way for your edification.

Now, I wanted to build something on the cheap if at all possible, so keep in mind that that governed a lot of my decisions. Also, I am pretty terrible at taking pictures in the middle of a project, but I did make a concerted effort to take more. Finally, I will try to include tools used and lessons learned in each part along with time estimates. So without further ado:

*Materials*

I tried to stick to very low cost materials (more on that later), so here is a quick break down of what it cost me (approximately) and where I got the materials.

3/16"x2"x36" Hot Rolled Steel (HRS) flat bar ($11 BORG)
1/4"x1"x36" HRS flat bar ($7 BORG)
1/8"x36" Cold Rolled Steel rod ($3 BORG)
Rabbet plane blade ($5 Lee Valley, here)
Super glue
sandpaper

*Tools* (for this installment)

Hack saw
jig saw with metal cutting blade
bench grinder
belt sander
chunk of granite
drill press and bits
hammer
machinist vise (I mean this very loosely, as mine is as cheap as they come, $3 from a thrift store and worth about that much)
reamer
ruler
square
flat bastard file
scratch awl
center punch

Dimensioning the Pieces

First, I cut the pieces to rough dimensions. I decided I wanted this to be about 6" long, so I cut the following pieces:

2 - 3/16"x2"x6" (sides)
1 - 1/4"x1"x6" (sole, trimmed to 5/8" wide)
2 - 1/4"x1"x2 3/4" (blade ramp and lever cap, trimmed to 5/8" wide)
1 - 1/4"x1"x1 1/2" (lever cap pivot piece)

*Lesson Learned!!*

Now, one thing to keep in mind (and I learned this the hard way): the sides of the HRS are very much NOT SQUARE. So before you trim the 1" wide pieces to 5/8" (to get a 1" overall width for the blade listed above), you must grind and then belt sand one side flat and roughly square (doesn't have to be exact at this point).

To cut to length, I used the jigsaw with metal cutting blade. This is not fast going, but faster than a hack saw. Don't force the saw in the cut, just take your time. You may go through one or two blades doing this.

*Lesson Learned!!*

I cut everything to length, then trimmed the width. This very hard with the shorter pieces, and it had to be done with a hack saw. Cut one longer piece, then trim to width, then cut individual lengths, it will save you a lot of time and muscle ache. Also, when using the hack saw, let the saw do the work, you don't have to bear down on it super hard.

Here is what we have so far:










Time Elapsed to this point: ~1.5 hrs

*Lapping the pieces*

Now comes a very important, yet extremely time-consuming step (if using HRS): lapping. The cross section of the steel is kind of rainbow shaped. Here I spend a good three or four hours with 100 grit paper on the granite. What I did was to lap the critical surfaces flat first. These include the insides of the sides, both sides of the sole, both sides of the blade ramp, both sides of the pivot piece, and one side of the lever cap. Why both sides of the blade ramp and pivot piece? Because one side of each will show and the other side will butt up against the infill, and we want them to fit with as few gaps as possible. As you can see below, the 2" wide sides had significant hollows on the side I chose to be inside. I ended up descaling the last bit of the hollows with my hand just because I would have taken forever to get a truly flat surface across the whole inside face. Yes, I cheated. You can see a little trick I came up with for lapping these thin pieces, double stick tape them to some MDF. Believe me, your arms will thank you. I did the same thing for the smaller pieces, you just have to be very careful not to rock the pieces and end up sanding one side more than the other. It's a bear to straighten out.



















This HRS stuff is not fun, here is my sole that has one edge rounded over as it came from the factory, this took a lot of lapping just to get to this point. Took even more to get rid of it.










Next comes the task of making sure sides are good and square. This does not apply to the side pieces, just the sole, blade ramp, and pivot piece. Pick one side of each piece to be your reference side, and use a square (I used a small machinist square) to see what needs to be adjusted. Take a few strokes, and check again. This was actually surprisingly easy to get nicely done. I did try using a guide block, but it didn't work as well as I had hoped.

*Lesson Learned!!*

I am a very frugal person, but buying precision ground tool steel stock like O1 would totally be worth it. I spent about $20 on the steel for this. The same amount in O1 would be around $75 shipped. Totally worth every penny if you ask me. I didn't think it would be so before I did this, but for the next ones I do (this one is just practice for a matched set), I am totally buying the good stuff and saving myself like 5 hours of work.

Time Elapsed to this point: ~5 hrs.
*
Cutting the Blade Ramp Bevel*

Next up was cutting the blade ramp bevel. I decided that since this is a shoulder plane, I should have a lower cutting angle. Since this is going to be bevel down, I chose 40 degrees so that it slices through end grain easier. So first I used a protractor to mark it on the piece with a scratch awl, put the piece in my vise, and made a very rough cut with the hack saw.










Then, I cut a piece of MDF on the miter saw to 50 degrees (since 40 + 50 = 90) and used that to help me get the angle right on the belt sander.










Now, my belt sander is not terribly exact, so I fine tuned on the granite block using another MDF piece.










Time Elapsed to this point: ~6 hrs.

*Preview*

So here is what the innards of this thing are going to look like. The idea is that a lever cap will pivot on the rounded end of the pivot piece (imagine that!).

*USEFUL TIPS!!*

With all the metal dust being made, please wear a respirator. I forgot once or twice and it is miserable. Also, to clean up the shavings, I stuck a rare earth magnet in a plastic bag, dragged it around the bench and emptied into the garbage can. Also works to clean up the sandpaper to get some extra life out of it.










*Drilling*

Now comes a part that feels like progress, drilling the holes for the rivets. I marked the center line of the sole, blade ramp, and pivot piece. At first I center punched the holes and drilled them in the pivot piece, like so:










This turned out to be a bad idea, as the mushrooming out on the other side made it so that I had to file it off, which put my square edge in jeopardy. So then I super glued the sole, blade ramp, and pivot piece to one of the sides. I left a small overhang of the side past the sole so that I could get a really nice flat surface for the sole later.

*Lessons Learned!!*

Center punching a piece of metal super glued to another piece will knock it loose. I ended up just using a center drill. This was still mildly problematic. The way it should be done is to center punch the pieces, then glue them to the side piece.

Progress shot:










I also decided to round over the back edge of the lever cap just for fun:









*
Fitting the Infills*

Having the pieces glued to one side presents an opportune moment to get the angles for the infills cut so as to minimize gaps. So I found some walnut (doesn't need to be much).










*Drilling for Rivets, Continued*

Okay, so with the innards super glued to one side, I drilled for the 1/8" steel rivets. I drilled slowly so as not to overheat the glue and loosen it. I started by drilling two holes through each piece and through the side so that if one did come loose, I could just use some locating pins and drill the rest. This proved a very good idea, as each piece ended up coming loose at some point. This is where my first oopsie happened. The HRS had a rounded part on the outside of my side piece, and the downward pressure of the drill bit caused it to rock, so the hole was drilled out of square. Couple that to a hole off the center line, and you get this:










A closer look:










I don't think this is a deal breaker, but it might make for a noticeable blemish. We will just have to see what happens.

*Lesson Learned!!*

Take it slow and frequently clear the chips! If not, they will bind, which is terrible. Heat, catching, etc. On the very last hole, it caught, and peeled the side of my pinky pretty good. Luckily, no doctors required, but plenty of blood. If you have a drill press vise, I recommend it.

So here is what it looks like with all the holes drilled.










Finally, I re-glued the pieces to the side (since they had all popped off). Remember to re-clean the pieces before doing this.

Time Elapsed to this point: ~9hrs
*
Final Rivet Hole Drilling and Reaming*

Next, I superglued on the other side and drilled all the holes through that. Expect the super glue to come apart at some point, so drill two holes for each piece first, then do the remainder. Again, you can use locating pins when they come loose.

To ream the holes, I used one of the tapered reamers shown below. I got mine at Harbor Freight for all of $5.










To ream the holes, I used firm to hard pressure and gave it four or five good twists for each hole. I maybe did a little too much on a couple of holes. You can always ream more if you need to.

Time Elapsed to this point: ~11 hrs

That's it for now, next time will be peining!


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## tsangell (Jan 10, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


Sweet. Thanks for sharing!


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## Deycart (Mar 21, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


I really like what you're doing, but a shoulder plane has quite a low bed angle around 12-20 degrees. Your plane will work great for cross and with grain planing, but will bog down trying to square up a shoulder. Just FYI. Don't give up!


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## JulianLech (Jan 13, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


This is great stuff. If you continue making planes it might be worth getting a milling machine.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


I Bought o1 steel for my last #4 size infill from mccmaster carr and it wasn't that much.

very good blog.


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


good job


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


Deycart, I am doing bevel down at 40 degrees, which should be about the same as a 25 degree bevel up iron on a 15 degree bed. If it fails, this one is just practice anyway.

Don, the price I listed was for 36" lengths of the two sizes. I plan to do a matched set for myself after this one, a shoulder and a bullnose rabbet (always wanted one, even though I don't really know why!). Was your O1 flat and square? That is what I imagine precision ground stock to be.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


mine was flat, but not necessarily square.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


Well, square is much easier to take care of, if you ask me, so that is definitely the way I'm going next time.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


Awesome stuff Rip. I'm really enjoying all this infill action.

Couple of questions. For the next build isn't there some mind steel you could you use? O1 is high carbon tool steel which is still hard to work. Would some precisions ground mild(low carbon) steel be better? I don't know, just asking in case you find out, it would be good to know how to order that stuff.

Also, why have a steel bedding surface for the blade? Is that how it's usually done? Wouldn't wood make a better surface?

Great info man! I'm off to read the next installment .


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


Thanks, Maur! Precision ground mild steel does exist, but it is actually more expensive than O1. I plan to get O1 in the annealed state which hopefully shouldn't be much harder to work.

As far as the bedding surface, that is how the example I found did it. I emailed the guy and he said he did it just because. You can be on my next one that I won't, I just already had the piece cut, etc. etc. When I make my real ones, I will just do a wood bedding surface. Should be much easier, use less material, etc.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


I just posted this on my infill blog. I think the O1 is much harder than it needs to be.

the O1 is used straight out of the box. I think its already harder than it needs to be. Next time i'll use a low carbon steel, and save the O1 for the chip breaker. If I made my own irons, it would need to be hardened on the sharp end.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


Yeah, just saw that Don. Looks like Rip actually looked into that and it was more expensive. Seems odd though you would think it would be cheaper.

Don, since you have the big belt sander though you might be able to get away with using the stuff HD sells. It wouldn't take you as long to grind it flat.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


precision ground standard is more than milled O1, but less than precision ground O1.

I could use HD stuff, and will try it, but most likely it will be Tractor Supply, they have a better selection.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


I actually found some stuff at Enco that is precision ground mild that is about the cost of O1. Don, I have been looking at onlinemetals.com, they are cheaper than McMaster, but I have never used them, so I can't vouch for anything yet.

I will have to see if there is a tractor supply around here, as I have been disappointed with the selection from Lowes and HD.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The beginnings*
> 
> Alright, so I planned on doing a multi-part series on building an infill shoulder plane, but then got going on the project, so there won't be as many parts as I would like, though each part is likely to be long. So get out your notebooks and popcorn, and let's start this thing!
> 
> ...


I'll check out onlinemetals.com.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

*Peining Time*

Alright, so I always thought of peining as some sort of long, hard process. After all, you are smooshing metal all over the place. Well, as you will see by the number of pictures and elapsed time counter, this was actually easy as could be.

*Tools Used*

Drill press and bit
machinist vise
ball pein hammer
hack saw

So first things first, cut all of your rivets. I had them stick out about 1/8" each side, perhaps a little more. How much will depend on how much taper you put on your holes and how much you want to hammer. I just cut these with a hack saw and cleaned up the ends on the belt sander so that they wouldn't catch. Also, after tapering there was a small burr left inside each hole, so ran the drill bit through them real quick to clean them out. I slid two pins in to each piece just to keep things from jostling out.

Now for the actual whacking. I gave 3-4 good solid raps on one end of a pin, flipped the plane, recentered the pin, and gave another 3-4 solid raps on the other side. I did this 3-4 times each side. The point of doing this is to begin the pin flaring so that you can then really get to peining. After checking with my fingers that I couldn't slide the pin back and forth, I would then give 3-4 good pounds on each side. Then I had at it with the flat side for a little while (6-8 good hits each side).

*USEFUL TIP*

You could probably get by with a claw hammer, but I got a cheap ball pein hammer at Harbor Freight for $5. Let me tell you, this makes a world of difference, and here is why. When peining, you want to smoosh the rivet into the taper you made. This will make it invisible after sanding it down and keep everything locked together (without the taper and a good peining, the thing would come apart). The ball pein end concentrates the force in the center, making it so that you can really work the metal around where you need it. I found that tapping around the edge and then tapping the center a few times got it smooshed out fastest and most regularly. I also found that this helped lock all the pieces in more firmly than just a claw hammer.

One thing to keep in mind. After your good hits mentioned above, flip the hammer to the ball pein side. From here on out, you won't be hitting hard, you will really just be tapping, but not like a sissy. Work around the edges of the rive, then in the center until it gets smooshed down really well. I found I got better and better as I went along. Here is what a decently smooshed rivet looks like:










This is not all that hard, though it can be painful. I can now understand why every representation I've ever seen of a black smith has humongous arms. All that hammer work is fatiguing for the forearm and shoulder.

Just keep going until all your rivets are in. Using the ball pein side of the hammer you are guaranteed to get a few hits on the body. That's okay, we'll sand them out later. Here is where we sit for tonight:










Time elapsed to this point: ~12.5 hrs


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *Peining Time*
> 
> Alright, so I always thought of peining as some sort of long, hard process. After all, you are smooshing metal all over the place. Well, as you will see by the number of pictures and elapsed time counter, this was actually easy as could be.
> 
> ...


coming along well


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Ripthorn said:


> *Peining Time*
> 
> Alright, so I always thought of peining as some sort of long, hard process. After all, you are smooshing metal all over the place. Well, as you will see by the number of pictures and elapsed time counter, this was actually easy as could be.
> 
> ...


So cool man, that plane is going to be amazing. what kind of wood are you planning on using for the infill?


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *Peining Time*
> 
> Alright, so I always thought of peining as some sort of long, hard process. After all, you are smooshing metal all over the place. Well, as you will see by the number of pictures and elapsed time counter, this was actually easy as could be.
> 
> ...


I will be using some scrap walnut I had laying around. It was actually from a guitar neck that met the router the wrong way


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## JulianLech (Jan 13, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Peining Time*
> 
> Alright, so I always thought of peining as some sort of long, hard process. After all, you are smooshing metal all over the place. Well, as you will see by the number of pictures and elapsed time counter, this was actually easy as could be.
> 
> ...


Very interesting. Looking forward to more of your posts. This is something I need to add to my "to do" list.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Peining Time*
> 
> Alright, so I always thought of peining as some sort of long, hard process. After all, you are smooshing metal all over the place. Well, as you will see by the number of pictures and elapsed time counter, this was actually easy as could be.
> 
> ...


starting to look like something now.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

*Rough Shaping*

Alright, I took a little time off from the infill to do some stuff around the house and such, but here we are with another brief installment.

Tools Used:

Belt Sander
Hack Saw
Drill press and bits
Round File
Flat Bastard File
Needle Files
Dremel with cutoff discs and aluminum oxide grinding stones (not the nasty grey ones)
Sandpaper
Square
Scratch Awl
Hammer
Nail Set

So you remember the nasty hunk of metal that we had after all the peining. Now it is time to start making it look nice. The first order of business was to sand down the rivets. I took this to work and sanded it on the big honkin' Wilton. Funny side story: whoever last used the sander (in the sheet metal shop, mind you) sanded wood with it. Therefore, there was sawdust in the chute. Well, one time I pressed fairly hard, got a couple of sparks, and set the dust smoldering. I used a scrap of aluminum to get the dust out the chute, stomped it out, and all was safe, but I was really curious as to why the machine was smoking for a couple of seconds. But nothing happened, the old Eagle scout training took care of it. Anyway, so here is what it looks like:










Now, I don't have pictures for the next part, but I drew out what I wanted it to look like and marked the side with a protractor and scratch awl. Then, I marked out the escapement (AKA the most annoying part of the whole project thus far). I chain drilled around the perimeter, then used the dremel with the non-reinforced wheels to cut between the holes. Then I used a hammer and nail set to knock out the piece of metal.



















Now that it is roughed out, one of the suckiest things came about: having to get the sides to meed up with the metal ramp. I used the hack saw to cut the slant in the sole to roughly match the blade bed then used a triangle file, round file, and needle files to get it all flushed up.

*LESSON LEARNED!!*

Next time I do one (which should be just after I'm done with this one) I am going to avoid the metal blade bed and I will also cut the escapement before peining. Additionally, I will cut the sole to the right angle before peining. This will make like much easier (I think).

It's not 100% perfect, but it's pretty darned good. We ended that evening with this:










I then used the hack saw to cut the initial mouth opening. So we then have










Next step is to open up the mouth, but in order to do this, we need the blade. Problem is, the head on the blade I bought from Lee Valley is too long. Using a reinforced abrasive wheel in the dremel, I cut it down to size to fit, like so:










Then I drilled and tapped for a 1/4×20 screw in the lever cap and filed a little round area where the pivot piece contacts it. I determined this by putting the blade in and sliding the lever cap in until it ended where I wanted it to (about 1/8" from the end of the blade). I then used the scratch awl to mark the two sides of the pivot piece and used a round file. I had a short hex bolt on hand that I used for testing, and this is what we have so far (there is a lot of shaping left for this guy):










Here is a close up of the escapement before cutting the relief at the front edge:










I then filed the mouth opening until the blade just slipped in and laid flat on the bed ramp. Here is a look at the mouth at that point:










Then I used a hack saw to cut an angled relief at the front of the escapement. A little more work with the dremel and grinding stone.

*USEFUL TIP!!*

Use the tan aluminum oxide grinding stones for the dremel and not the grey ones. The grey ones wear too fast and don't work very well. After a while the aluminum oxide stones will get clogged with the mild steel and not be as effective. I used a star wheel dresser from my bench grinder to true them and refresh the surface. I went through 2 entire stones just to get the escapement the way I wanted

Alright, got the escapement shaped. That allowed me to then open up the mouth so that there is just a small slit of light between the blade and the front of the escapement when the blade is at cutting depth. I didn't measure it, but it is likely just a couple thousandths opening. Take it slow when filing this and make sure it is straight and square. With the mouth opened a little, it was time for a test drive, baby!










I then used the hack saw some more just to get rid of the sharp corners. A drill bit helped with the inside curve near the lever cap screw, and here is the very definition of rough shaping (and where we end tonight's installment):










EDIT: I forgot,

Time Elapsed to this point: ~17.5 hrs


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *Rough Shaping*
> 
> Alright, I took a little time off from the infill to do some stuff around the house and such, but here we are with another brief installment.
> 
> ...


nice work


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Rough Shaping*
> 
> Alright, I took a little time off from the infill to do some stuff around the house and such, but here we are with another brief installment.
> 
> ...


thanks for the tips. I'm not sure why I never thought of dressing the dremel stones. Duh!!!

what are you are using for a lever cap screw?


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *Rough Shaping*
> 
> Alright, I took a little time off from the infill to do some stuff around the house and such, but here we are with another brief installment.
> 
> ...


Don, that up there is just a spare bolt I had laying around. I have not decided for sure what I want to do. I have a brass 1/4×20 bolt that I am thinking of making a thumb screw with, but I think I would rather stick with all steel. I'm going to poke around and see what is available. If necessary I will make something myself (which is likely how it will go down). I figure I will cross that bridge after the final shaping of the body and lever cap.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Ripthorn said:


> *Rough Shaping*
> 
> Alright, I took a little time off from the infill to do some stuff around the house and such, but here we are with another brief installment.
> 
> ...


Great tips, its going to look amazing man.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

*Final Shaping*

Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!

Tools used:

Belt sander
dremel with aluminum oxide grinding stones (see tips in last episode)
spindle sander
needle files
triangle file
flat mill bastard file
sandpaper
granite plate
block plane

So first things first, I went to work to use the beefy belt sander again. I used it to shape all the convex curves. This made it much faster. A big strong belt sander sure helps. I bet a handheld belt sander would also work well, as those things have boatloads of torque. My belt sander is just my ridgid combo belt/spindle sander and the belt attachment doesn't let you really bear down on it. Anyway, after another fire-free episode at work, we have something like so:










With this taken care of, I got the infills down to width. This was a more time consuming process than I had anticipated. I think that this will be another benefit of precision ground stock: you can use the planer to get the stock to just thicker than the width of the sole piece. Then when it comes time to fit, a hand plane can take just a couple shavings to final fit. I ended up trimming on the table saw and using a block plane to final fit. I put them in and used an awl to trace the shape and rough trimmed on the band saw to just over the line. We'll use a belt sander and spindle sander later to get it all down to where it should be.

*USEFUL TIP*

I epoxied in the infills. Because the rear infill is going into a confined space, I cut some saw kerfs into the side and trimmed off the very tip of the infill so that any excess epoxy has a place to go.

After it dried, I used the sander to get everything looking nice. While drying, I worked on the lever cap. I just used sandpaper to get sanded up to 400 grit. It looks pretty good if I say so myself:










So here they are together (so happy together…)










So the final touch now is a chamfer along the sides. What I did was use my calipers set to half the width of the side steel pieces and locked the measurement in. I used this as a scribe, since the tips are hardened. You can sort of see it here:










I found that this was a little hard to see in practice, so I used a black sharpie along the lines and re-scribed. Here is a shot of that:










You could just as easily use bluing, but I don't have any.

*LESSON LEARNED*

Don't scribe the line too deep, otherwise it will be a bear to get sanded out, especially this late in the game.

So I went to work with primarily the flat file. This was actually surprisingly quick work. The hardest part is inside the curve. If I had a full size half round file, it would be gobs easier. As it was, I used a half round needle file. That made things not so fun. I followed up the file with sandpaper up to 400 grit.

After the chamfer, I just sanded the sides up to 400 grit. I then put it all together just to give it another use. After these shots, I put some Formby's low gloss tung oil finish on it. The next installment will cover the lever cap screw and some final tuning.



















Time Elapsed to this point: ~22 hrs


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


Wow…really looking good.


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


great work


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## RGtools (Feb 18, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


This is pretty darn impressive.


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## mochoa (Oct 9, 2009)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


Wow, I love it. At first I wasn't sure about where you were going with the shape but now I really think it is turning out great! Looks amazing man!


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


Man that looks great. Excellent work.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


Unless you've done this, you don't realize how much work went into this. Very well done.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


Gr8 build


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


Don, you're not kidding. Though I do figure that if I use better stock, that alone would have saved me 5-7 hours on this build. I have additional process refinements in mind that will hopefully get me to the 15 hour mark or so from start to completion. Of course, that will be a different blog series once this gets all finished up. And let me say that the finish on the walnut makes the contrast really pop! Hopefully the next blog entry will be in 2-3 days when it will be all done. Then I'll just have to figure out how to adjust the darn thing


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


The oval and the curves have an appealing look to the eye.

Me likey the proportions of your fine work.

A suggestion if I may? Infill knob for the top of the screw adjuster?
http://www.bridgecitytools.com/default/other-products/clearance.html?limit=all


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


My last build was with precision ground. You are correct, its a much better experience.

I bought way to many of the knobs waho6o9 posted above. If you want one its yours, just PM me your shipping address. (I think they are 1/4×28 threads)


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


I was thinking of making an infill knob sort of like what wahoo posted, but since you offered, Don, I'm totally PM'ing you, as that will save me a bunch of work!

I am actually looking forward to using precision ground stuff. Should be fun.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *Final Shaping*
> 
> Well, the finish line is well in sight now, boys and girls! This is the second-to-last installment of our series, so let's get going!
> 
> ...


+1 for DonW

2 cool


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

*The End*

Well, we now come to the end of our journey building an infill shoulder plane. What I ended up doing was put some Formby's tung oil finish on the infill, hit it with some paste wax all over, shorten the blade a little bit, and the illustrious Mr. Wilwol was so kind as to provide the brass knob. I think this one will likely go to my brother. Before the glam shot, I'm going to give a run down of things I'll be doing differently on the next one.

*Things to do differently*

- Use precision ground steel
- Don't do a metal blade ramp
- Don't use the Lee Valley blade, while there is nothing wrong with it, the narrow tang on the blade caused issues when trying to tighten the lever cap screw and having the iron go to one side for lateral adjustment
- Do some of the shaping before peining, including rough cutting the escapement and sole pieces (allows for achieving a tighter mouth, especially important for bevel up planes)

Well, that is about all I can think of off the top of my head. In all, it took about 23 hours to make this. And now, the glam shot:



















Thanks for joining me, keep an eye out for my next blog series about the new infills!


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The End*
> 
> Well, we now come to the end of our journey building an infill shoulder plane. What I ended up doing was put some Formby's tung oil finish on the infill, hit it with some paste wax all over, shorten the blade a little bit, and the illustrious Mr. Wilwol was so kind as to provide the brass knob. I think this one will likely go to my brother. Before the glam shot, I'm going to give a run down of things I'll be doing differently on the next one.
> 
> ...


Looks like it turned out great.


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## WhoMe (Jul 9, 2009)

Ripthorn said:


> *The End*
> 
> Well, we now come to the end of our journey building an infill shoulder plane. What I ended up doing was put some Formby's tung oil finish on the infill, hit it with some paste wax all over, shorten the blade a little bit, and the illustrious Mr. Wilwol was so kind as to provide the brass knob. I think this one will likely go to my brother. Before the glam shot, I'm going to give a run down of things I'll be doing differently on the next one.
> 
> ...


Yea, I would be giving my brother my second best stuff too…
Seriously though, your brother is lucky getting a fantastic hand made plane like that.


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

Ripthorn said:


> *The End*
> 
> Well, we now come to the end of our journey building an infill shoulder plane. What I ended up doing was put some Formby's tung oil finish on the infill, hit it with some paste wax all over, shorten the blade a little bit, and the illustrious Mr. Wilwol was so kind as to provide the brass knob. I think this one will likely go to my brother. Before the glam shot, I'm going to give a run down of things I'll be doing differently on the next one.
> 
> ...


Awesome job.


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## ksSlim (Jun 27, 2010)

Ripthorn said:


> *The End*
> 
> Well, we now come to the end of our journey building an infill shoulder plane. What I ended up doing was put some Formby's tung oil finish on the infill, hit it with some paste wax all over, shorten the blade a little bit, and the illustrious Mr. Wilwol was so kind as to provide the brass knob. I think this one will likely go to my brother. Before the glam shot, I'm going to give a run down of things I'll be doing differently on the next one.
> 
> ...


Very nice!!

I'd be happy to drive any of your second best.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Ripthorn said:


> *The End*
> 
> Well, we now come to the end of our journey building an infill shoulder plane. What I ended up doing was put some Formby's tung oil finish on the infill, hit it with some paste wax all over, shorten the blade a little bit, and the illustrious Mr. Wilwol was so kind as to provide the brass knob. I think this one will likely go to my brother. Before the glam shot, I'm going to give a run down of things I'll be doing differently on the next one.
> 
> ...


well done


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