The phone rang...

... which led to a magical question;

“what have you always wanted to make, but have not made yet?”

I have to admit - it took me a second for the question to sink in. It is not every day that someone asks that question. I replied; “A version of a Spiers rebate panel plane as featured in Nigel Lampert’s book (Through much Tribulation: Stewart Spiers and the Planemakers of Ayr)”.

The caller was not familiar with the plane, so I described it and offered to send a photo of the page it was featured on. Further discussions followed and we agreed that the plane should be made. In cases like this, I typically make 2 planes - one as a “prototype” to work out any bugs and the other as the customers plane. We decided that they should be a matching pair - steel sides, bronze lever cap and rosewood infill. They would be 15-1/2" long and have a 2-1/2" wide high carbon steel blade.

There were 2 serious issues to resolve. The most significant was to re-think the sidewalls. I cannot imagine that the original was very sturdy as there does not appear to be very much metal connecting the front of the plane to the rear section. The sidewalls look to be about 1/8" thick - which is the standard thickness that I use as well, but in this case I thought it was too thin. I increased the sidewall thickness to 5/32". I also increased the width of the area above the escapement - the original Spiers plane looks to be very thin in this dimension as well.

(tracing paper overlay showing the evolution of the area connecting the front section)

The second issue was the lever cap. Spiers used two metal studs attached to the insides of the sidewalls. He then created a recess on each edge of the lever cap that captured the studs. This was pretty ingenious really as it allowed the lever cap to be removed (which allowed the blade and cap iron to be removed). To my eye though - this is not very aesthetically pleasing on such a large plane. Not to mention that removing the lever cap, then the blade and cap iron is a rather tedious job, and requires some serious acrobatics to get the blade in or out safely without damaging the delicate corners.

I have yet to see an elegant solution that allows a lever cap to be removed - so why remove it at all... eliminate the cap iron! This would mean the blade could be installed into the plane from below. Which in turn means the lever cap could be fixed on a pin... the cleanest and most elegant solution. It would also eliminates the possibility of damaging the blade in the process. Loading the blade from the bottom started looking really appealing and we decided that I would try it on the prototype to see how it worked.

Full steam ahead.

These next 2 images show the cutting of the tab that connects the front sole section to the rear sole section.







Once the tab has been cut, there is a fair amount of clean up to be done - including blending the inside of the front bun to the sidewalls and sole. The below photo shows what it looks like.







Working on the shoulder of the front bun to flush it with the top edge of the sidewall.





The matching pair of rebate panel planes with the infills fully shaped and ready for french polishing.



Between coats of french polish, I started chamfering to the top edges of the sidewalls.




The chamfered shell and the shaped, stamped and polished lever cap ready for installation.

These next 2 photos show the infills installed. At this point I can complete the remaining work to the bed.






With the bed completed, I can fit the lever cap and install it.






This shot shows the fit of the blade to the bed and the installed lever cap.

Next step... lapping.

I was quite pleased with how well the lapping went to be honest. The extra thickness to the sidewalls ensured that there was no deflection between the front section and the rear section. Here are a bunch of photos of the finished prototype.




























And the final test - the first shaving.




Loading the blade from the bottom ended up being a perfect solution for this plane. The lever cap is quite snug, and even when the lever cap screw is loosened - the front edge of the lever cap still holds the blade in place. Not that I would ever rely on it - but it was nice to see how well it held.

There are 2 more brand-new planes which I am just finishing up. I will post about each of them shortly.