Finishing the mitre plane

With the french polish on the wedge completed - it was time to get off the pot and decide how to finish the top edges of the sidewalls. The Norris A11 has chamfered edges, and while it looks nice on that model, I didn’t think it would work along the front edge of this plane (the A11 does not have a piece of metal across the front). The other typical mitre treatment is to round the edges over which is what I opted to do. I was surprised at how quickly this went - much simpler than a beveled chamfer.



Here are a few shots of the finished plane and a few detail shots of the adjuster and the inside of the front bun.





And for the grand finish - the first engrain shavings...





At the time of this post, I had used this plane for a total of 1/2 an hour... but there were a few things that immediately stood out.

As I was building this plane it started to feel a little “big” and I was concerned about it. Joe Steiner stopped in the other night to keep working on his XSNo.4, and brought a wonderful Moon mitre plane with him (at my request). It was quite a bit smaller - and added to my fear about the size of this mitre. The Moon had wonderful rounded edges - including the perimeter of the sole. It was extremely comfortable to shoot with. At this stage, I had not yet decided on the edge treatment and all the edges were still quite sharp from being lapped - so my mitre felt quite uncomfortable in comparison. The experience with the Moon really informed my decision to round the edges as opposed to chamfering them.

With the edges rounded - it feels like a completely different plane. It is very comfortable to hold now and the mass is wonderful in use. Once again, I am reminded of why it is so important to “prototype” a plane first. There will be a few small tweaks to the production model, but it will have more to do with my building process than the final result.

I am going to be in Oakland CA next weekend attending the Lie Nielsen show at the Crucible and will have this mitre plane with me for anyone who wants to try it out.

21 hours later...

... the steel button is now flushed with the surface of the wedge, the recess in the button is done, and the first coat of french polish has been applied.



And in case you were wondering - I didn’t work on the wedge until this XSNo.4 was completed (that “reward” system at work again).

A few mitres & a stunning piece of of wood.

The last few weeks have been very busy - both in the workshop and in the yard shoveling snow. The only good thing about mountains of snow is that it represents fresh water - and will do our rivers and lakes some good this spring and summer.

I just finished 2 very small mitre planes based on the one I talked about in a recent post. One is infilled with Ebony and the other with “mystery wood”. These are quite small - 5-1/2" long and 1-1/4" wide. Below is a photo of the pair next to a 28-1/2" A2 jointer.





The blade for the large mitre plane arrived this week and it is all I can do not to drop everything and finish it. I was a little nervous about the fit between the pin of the adjuster and the holes in the blade... but it was a perfect fit - thanks Larry & Ron!



Ok - so I didn’t “drop” any work - but have managed to find an hour or two here and there to work on the mitre. Here is a shot of the wedge properly fit with the blade in place. And with this done... I was morally obligated to finish the wedge (wasn’t I?).



Here is a shot of the fully shaped wedge. And with that done - it was just a quick turn of the stainless screw to find the location for the steel button...



So now I wait 24 hours for the epoxy to dry....




And last but certainly not least - that stunning piece of wood. This is a No.4 smoother infilled with “mystery wood”. I am quite sure it is a Dalbergia - but which one is anyone’s guess. All I know is that it makes for exceptionally beautiful infill. Here are a few pictures of the plane before I boxed it up and shipped it to Hawaii.





The balcony ledge was snow-free for a few hours and I could not pass on the opportunity to take an outdoor shot to show the grain of the rear infill.