Just for the record, I know that these planes are still made by some outstanding artisans. I've seen them. I've also seen Young Je's videos and I've seen him make infills.
Loved the video. Have you come across Bill Carter and his infill mitre planes? The videos are filmed by his wife on a phone but they are some of my favourite videos on the website.
So if I am hearing you correctly Rex, these are a necessary part of woodworking and I need to inform my wife that I need one even to do the most basic of woodworking operations....correct lol
One of the finest shows on the Internet! Well produced, informative and entertaining with a well executed unique style. It's nice to watch someone who really invests in their passions!
Really well said! The way Rex is investing in his passion is the most ispiring thing for me. Probably what's motivating me the most to continue being a patreon. Keep it up Rex!
There seems to be a lot of fuss in the comments section over the nationality of this tool. It seems to be mostly based on a misunderstanding by the commenters. Just for clarity; The tool is called a 'Scottish infill' pattern plane. Rex's example was made by Norris in Surrey, England
I second your recommendation of Patrick Leach. I have sent many a dollar his way over the years and have received nothing but the best in quality and integrity in return. Highly recommended.
1:25 the truth about infill planes is that you don't need a foundry to make them. You don't have to cast molten iron. You just need flat sheets of mild steel, a hacksaw, a hammer, and a hard spot to hammer on. Anyone can make one. The only innovation is the micro-adjust some have. These weren't made to be racecars though that's how we treat them. They are the artisan's expression of industrial-age planemaking.
I couldn't even dream of being able to afford one but I really appreciate both the historical information and the exquisite craftsmanship on these tools. Thanks for another great video!
4:05 the thing about these dovetails is that they are both ways - something impossible in wood. In the image, we can see that brass plate has been fitted over a steel sole. Clearly, sole can't be pulled down. But the dovetails in the sole have a recess that's hidden by the brass. Then the brass is hammered so it flows and fills up the gaps, locking the two pieces together forever. The hammering is done from the sides and from the bottom. This is why you don't see any gaps - it wasn't sawn out this way; it was hammered into an interference fit and then some. Then the lump mess of a result was filed smooth to reveal what you see above.
My father made a copy of a Norris plane and it looks very similar to the one in the video. I had made a chessboard table at school as part of my woodwork class, the black squares were mahogany and the white were sycamore. Sycamore has a very wavy wayward grain that is hard to plane, but that wasn't a problem as the table top was smoothed down with a belt sander. I was expecting my father to be pleased when he saw it but the first thing he said was: 'That's not flat' He gave me his Norris copy and told me to keep planing in any direction until it stops cutting anything, that when it stops cutting the tabletop would be flat. It didn't tear any of the sycamore squares and the tabletop ended up flat.
I love you diving in to the historic situation of the tool. I find most of the “post war is worse” with tools to be 🙄. Rather than yes/no that take , you give the tool context. The human condition of the makers and the achievement of surviving, having to adapt, and still making quality. Kinda makes you wish you could go back and pay them directly. There are 3 parts of my recent love of hand tools. Making stuff. The zen exercise of the activity. And this living history. Getting an old tool back to working vs a show piece feels good. It’s like being respectful to the maker and the tool itself.
I love your videos. They give me confidence that even when I mess up I can continue on with the project. I do appreciate all the knowledge and history you bring to your channel, but overall it's your demeanor about woodworking as a whole that keeps me coming back. You give off this "nothing is impossible" vibe and I really appreciate that, especially now.
The harmonics is a good explanation. Studying about machinig and cut dynamics you learn how important the lack vibrations (or harmonics) are for good cut and good surface finish.
Rex, Thanks for introducing me to “Mortise and Tenon”. Learning is a journey that I love. I am 65 years old and have been in school, both full and part time for over 45 years, and yet feel I’ve just scratched the surface. I’ll be subscribing tomorrow. Thanks again.
I have been watching videos about woodworking for about 8 hours a day since Christmas. In my humble opinion, you are one of if not the best and most watchable host out there. At least as far as woodworking is concerned. I have a specific request for you. I know and really appreciate that you don't take money or tools from tool manufacturer's in your videos. Unfortunately, this limits your ability to do comparisons because of the cost. Is it possible for you to make a few videos that are hosted by manufacturers in the traditional way to allow comparisons of really expensive equipment? You have earned my trust in a way very few others have, and I would much prefer to hear what you have to say about the best benchtop thickness planner, jointer, table saw, band saw, etc. Which tools make sense to create and which ones should be bought used/new, etc. I believe that if you point out the deals of the sponsorship multiple times during the video, you could really do your subscribers (in particular myself) a lot of good. I would also like you to design and show the construction of a homemade wood drying system for creating lumber from logs. I envision a basic box with a lid that closes it airtight, except for a fan blowing air from one end and a small electric heater. Combine that with a moisture meter (they are really cheap) and you would be able to dry wood as fast as possible without checking. This would require some testing of course.
To change the theme slightly, as a native of Scotland and Ayrshire in particular, I am aware of the plane maker, Stewart Spiers. I must confess, my knowledge of infill planes is quite limited although I was interested to learn a little more about the local craftsman who became, for a time a maker of premium hand planes. From what I could establish, his workshop still exists in the town of Ayr adjacent to the river side. Unfortunately, the old building is now occupied by a chain Bookmakers shop. The sight saddened my heart a little although, many of the existing buildings would have been around at the time he was making planes, as is the cobbled street on which it is situated. Therefore, A little imagination is all that is required to envisage the sights and sounds of a then innovative factory/workshop.
I'm so glad you found one of these State Side! I bought my Norris from a UK dealer, I dug out the receipt for mine just to check, and whilst it was more expensive than I remember it being, it was comparable to a Lie Nielsen 4 1/2 in bronze. For that, I got a super smoother with all the history attached that you spoke about in the video. The iron is pretty worn out and pitted, but other than that, the rest of the plane is in great condition. I'll be buying a new iron once I hit a bit of pitting I cant sharpen out. But I've got to echo what a lot of other people have said: Norris was an English company, not Scottish.
@@leehaelters6182 bah! I had a very long response to you but this response box seems to have lost most of it. Bottom line... it's not all it seems to be cracked up to be.
@@johnpossum556yeah, I know what it is like to create a long response, and then lose it in an instant. Sorry i missed yours. Were you talking about Norris or Spiers planes that you inherited?
@@johnpossum556, elsewhere in this column of comments, I detail a disappointment I have with my post-war Norris smoothing plane. Still, I wouldn’t part with it, and not only because of sentimental value.
@@dougdalgetty9813 Nope. While the style of plane originated in Scotland, all the Norris made* planes were manufactured in Surrey/London. * - Norris appear to have bought in wooden molding planes from other manufacturers & badged then as their own at times...
As someone new to woodworking, I'm starting out with some mostly cheap tools and a couple of heirloom quality tools that I can pass down. I'm not complaining about cost of tools so much, as I am about durability. My skills are not yet up to par to merit investing in a tool that i know I'm likely to break while learning. If anything, I want to low quality tool to break so I will learn more about it and how it works and what capabilities its design was intended to afford me. I love these historical hand tool videos because I learn more about how our grandparents and great-grandparents managed to make many structures and furniture that we are able to use hundreds of years later, all before the luxury electric driven tools we have today. Doesn't mean I won't use my table saw and drill press. And I want to learn how to make those same precise holes and cuts using handpowered tools. So should I want to build a desk during a power outage, I won't have an excuse to not do it.
I love how you cut through the hype and get down to why and how different tools are useful and the expensive specialty tool can't do it all, because it's not supposed to. It's expensive because it's for a specific purpose that isn't required everyday therefore given the economy of scale in reverse, the cost for design and manufacture has to be made up on the sale of fewer units, hence the price. I've learned so much about which tool for which task from you.
As a carpenter. I am starting to get into some woodworking tools. Your videos are great. I learned how efficient and clean planing is as opposed to sanding down stock. A thickness planer would be nice, but it seems like a lot can be done with a hand plane.
Rex you are incredible, and thank you for sharing such great stuff with us. I am going through a rough patch but hopefully soon be one to support this channel. God bless my friend
Hey Rex, I just though I should tell you this but apparently the salt trick for stopping glue joints from moving will actually weaken the joint. The maker of titebond said adding sugar or salt to the glue changes the formula and weakens it.
I managed to pick up a pre war Norris A5 at near mint condition for £5 at a yard sale. It is the best smoother I own and I wouldn’t sell it for it’s crazy price any day!
Almost ALL A5's are post war planes because - here's the thing - there was a whole OTHER World War before the main one that the U.S.A. participated in. The ONLY A5's that can be truly considered "pre-war" are ones from 1913 alone. Sorry for the nitpick. Please resume your comment reading :-)
@@Fretless108 You're very true there! Living in the UK and watching US content, the pre/post war thing is always a weird thing to hear as we generally consider The War as WW1, and WW2 as, well WW2. I shall rephrase...It's a pre WW2 Norris!
Great video as usual Rex. It was great to hear you recommend Patrick! I've purchased a number of tools from him over the years and he has always been honest about what he has and fair in his prices. He's also a great "go-to" if you're looking for a particular hand tool, since he has a much larger inventory than what shows in his monthly list. Thanks again!
My woodwork teacher would be horrified that you left the plane with the blade facing the bench. If we didn't rest the plane on its side we would end up with a very sore behind. That was over 50 years ago and till this day I always rest my planes on their sides after use. Great video.
I was able to buy a couple at our local flea market and I really like using them. None of mine have and adjuster but for me, that just adds to the charm. Great info as always!
Very interesting material with a substantial injection of knowledge about the craft. Thank you very much for this because few channels make such films because "they don't make money on it". May such films and those about "the story of tools" be created as much as possible. I wish you health and peace in life. Kind regards, cheers!
There's something just nice about wood and metal joined together. I have an excellent condition, iron-shod rabbet plane from the 1830s by "Moon" but... I've not got it set up, so it sits in a box. And a router plane body with a similar metal plate in the sole. Both are the screwed construction like the one at 3:38 PS: "Modified planes and forgeries" are the rarest ones!
Opt to use a 4-1/2 and it's extra mass helps drive it through contrary grain as readily as an infill smoothing plane. The same with a 5-1/5 versus an infill Jack/Fore plane. 😉 But infill planes are a thing of beauty to use 🙂
Excellent, excellent video Rex. Outstanding job explaining infill planes, and thanks for the tip on finding a good and (probably mostly kinda) affordable one!
You know, I buy the harmonic vibration thing. Makes mechanical sense to me, but that's me. I have certainly experienced the reversing grain tear out thing. Even when I narrow the mouth. I often resort to a card or cabinet scraper. So, again, it makes sense to me that the higher angle would reduce the tear out. I have actually been looking at a high angle plane, just for finish surfacing. Nothing beats a plane finished surface for smoothness and natural shine. Sandpaper doesn't even come close. I know that Veritas uses Norris adjusters and I have a couple Veritas planes. The movement works very well. What I particularly like about it is that it stays set, So, I guess I'm off to subscribe to Patrick Leach. Oh, and yes, Mortise and Tenon is more that worth the money. I read it from cover to cover every time, and then go back and reread large parts. Best magazine ever.
I'm wondering if harmonic-vibration is another term for chattering. The stanley plane chatters when it goes over the grain transition, whereas the infill doesn't; which makes me think that's what they are talking about.
Same! I was just planing some cheap wood board with reversing grain yesterday, and the plane would bounce off with the frequency of the wood vibrating, leaving a bunch of lines with every pass. Of course, if those vibrations are dampened, the plane would keep better contact with the wood and take more even shavings.
Absolutely agree with you! Everything these days is finished by machine sanding for the most part, I don't see the appeal other than the fact that anyone can do it. But a nice hand-planed surface is unbeatable in attractiveness to my eyes. Machine planing doesn't leave quite the same finish. A burnished shiny wood surface is the closest I've seen to a planed surface. And yes, harmonics/ vibration is basically another name for chatter. There aren't too many equations to figure out where and how much a given machine will chatter, except it certainly will. Even the heaviest material removal machines will chatter when the harmonics are just right (or just wrong?) I teach it this way: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Imagine the same thing, except dialled down somewhat. A cutting edge of known sharpness (angle of attack), a known mass, moving at a certain speed in one direction can only remove so much material. Anytime one of these variables change, the harmonics are completely different. I'm guessing the infill plane adds much needed mass to the cutting tool, moving the resonant frequencies much higher. You can still make it skip if you pushed it 4 times as fast, but that kind of working speed is only for superheroes 😂😂
Yes indeed, chatter. Here’s the thing about many Stanley planes, even those that seem well “fettled”: that iron is not sitting on the frog as well as you might think it is. It is kind of a crap shoot if you have a cap iron which has all the important surfaces lying precisely in a plane. Most are bent a little to favor a tight contact near the cutting edge. When the assembly is mounted and tightened down, instead of that thin iron being held firmly and flatly down on the frog what is happening is that a spring loaded (and therefore resonant) system is developed, with the whole schmehonka pivoting around the contact of the blade heel with the frog, and the stretch of iron/cap iron between there and the lever cap cam flopping in the breeze. Just asking for trouble.
Great vid, glad to hear you got yours from Patrick Leach, you missed a opportunity to show how it handles end grain - that extra weight make all the difference
I have a 1940's Whitehead Junior Bandsaw and 1950's Whitehead Junior Planer Thicknesser and I love them, tools/machines just aren't made the same anymore
In 45 years of woodworking, I have not yet seen or used an infill plane - and nor would I want to. I have used many wooden planes and obviously metal planes, they'll do me!
"... and pull it out right at the end..." heh-heh-heh :D But in all seriousness this tools seems a must have for finishing curly grain. Great video again Rex! Thanks for the edutainment :). Keep up the good work! Looking forward for the next episode.
No mention of Stewart Spiers who, for the most part, started the ball rolling on these bench planes? There were some exceptions of course - mainly mitre planes - but Spiers almost single handedly popularised them.
I inherited my grandfathers Noriss style infill smother from my Father and like you only ocasionally use it, not least because it has no adjuster. Looking back at the way my father used this plane I believe that using heavier planes in general becomes more about technique. For instance my father taught me that when bevelling corners it is best to hold the board at arround 45 degrees to the vertical in one hand with the end braced against an imovable object then use the plane one handed allowing the planes weight to make the cut.
Fantastic, Rex! The plane looks beautiful! 😮 When I start to make my own planes I'm going to make the handles exactly like that! 😬 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
"The infill plane goes through all grain". It was clearly made for working with the the beautiful exotic wood that we call OSB, how can you all not see this?
Thats a great looking plane and I'll be on the lookout for one at my local flea market, also I just wanted to say thanks for inspiring me to go into hand tool woodworking, I'm making a bookshelf entirely by hand from old lumber and it's going kind of super messily but it's really satisfiying, I hope to become a patron when this whole pandemic calms down and my pay goes back up at my job(if they dont decide these are just the new paychecks forever haha)
You have to be a bit less subtle, I think -- "The country called the UK or Great Britain consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These are different countries with different histories and cultures; Scotland and Wales have their own ancient non-English languages. Please don't use 'England' to mean the whole of Britain; it's like saying 'California' when you mean the USA."
None of you are British clearly, as someone who lives in the British isles: If a Scottish person is usefull and susefull they are a Brit If not thier a Scot
Rex thank you for all the knowledge sharing 👏👍🏼 I heard it , by wood by Wright , that they’ll be starting to produce that plane again in Scottland !!! But now with the Covid , don’t know what’s going to happen .
Another great video Rex, I think I really could have used one of those infilled planes when I was doing this oak mantel recently, I see it powering through all of the reverse green and pitch that I had a lot of chatter on with my usual planes, Keep up the good work and good job on doing your research
Love my old Stanley 4’s. But my 4 1/2 with a fine set mouth and a Hock blade is what I grab for gnarly grain. The extra mass, and accompanying inertia, seem to drive through grain that would tear out with a standard #4. I’m assuming it’s the same with a well tuned infill.
Yep. No Woodworking shop is complete without at least two Infill Planes.. I have two dating from the mid/ late 1800's and they are perfect for that final smoothing cut, especially in our cranky grained figured Australian Hardwoods. The extra weight isn't a liability, quite the opposite. This, combined with the thicker iron makes using them a breeze. If you are prepared to search around out of the way Antique Shops you may just get lucky like I did and find one for next to nothing.. I paid $200 AUD for my first one and recently picked up a second one for $150 AUD. Both are in excellent condition and only needed the smallest amount of work to get them in top working condition. They leave my Veritas smoothing planes for dead.... So much so I gave my Veritas planes to a young fella I am Mentoring.
Ahhh. I still want one. But I want to make it myself. They look so nice and curvy. Maybe a somewhat boxy flat sided one. Not quite like the old English miter planes, but more like a slightly smaller panel plane with a chonky iron that might spend a fair amount of it's time on it's side as a shooting plane.
"they are really usefull for tricky grain" Great, now i have to build something again. Jokes beside, i really want to build an infill for a long time, i pretty like them.
Rex, you done a good job here, podner. It’s a subject dear to my heart, since I own one of those post-war Norris smoothers, flat sided. My dear heart ladyfriend gave it to me so many years ago. No kidding, she had to take a bank loan to do it. $300 was a lot to us, then. I address the subject of that adjuster. Besides the elegance of a single control for both adjustments, it has a feature I had never seen before but instantly grasped: a differential screw to advance the blade! This could give ordinary screw threads the sensitivity of a microtome! Nevah mind that Stanley dreck, this surely is a pinnacle of hand tool engineering! Or so I thought. In some kind of classic boner, instead of one thread advancing while the other retracts at a different rate, they BOTH advance, COMPOUNDING the rate, and clumsily, drastically REDUCING the sensitivity to less than Stanley convention, way less, it seems to me. Pisses me off no end, to this day. On balance, I appreciate the extra rigidity and mass. What you say about the reduction in chattering is true. I will quote myself from elsewhere in these comments: Yes indeed, chatter. Here’s the thing about many Stanley planes, even those that seem well “fettled”: that iron is not sitting on the frog as well as you might think it is. It is kind of a crap shoot if you have a cap iron which has all the important surfaces lying precisely in a plane. Most are bent a little to favor a tight contact near the cutting edge. When the assembly is mounted and tightened down, instead of that thin iron being held firmly and flatly down on the frog what is happening is that a spring loaded (and therefore resonant) system is developed, with the whole schmehonka pivoting around the contact of the blade heel with the frog, and the stretch of iron/cap iron between there and the lever cap cam flopping in the breeze. Just asking for trouble.
thank you for yet another great video. my guess is that you have at least a dozen hand planes in your shop, can I suggest a video on how you store them so they are accessible, safe and optimized for a small(er) shop, ? hang them? put them in a drawer? customized homemade storage thingy?
I worked a couple of days a week for Pat Leach back in the eighties, in a shop he had in Crediton, Devon, where he kept most of his stock. The shop was filled with old tools. Because the shop wasn't particularly busy, part of my job was de-rusting some of the neglected tools he'd picked up in his travels. In those days I had no interest in woodworking, and had no idea of the value and rarity of some of the planes I handled. Last saw Pat about 7 years ago, is he still in business?
"Scottish and British" "The Scottish infill plane from sturdy old England" Rex I respect your skill as a craftsman and storyteller, but your geography is a little patchy.
@@JamesMooreSeattle I think you may be right. But the Scottish/British issue remains. (Though these days there are Scots who insist they aren't the same thing.)
James Moore Bad example- by law you cannot make a Cornish pasty anywhere other than in Cornwall! Well, you can, as long as you don't call it a Cornish pasty.
Hello Rex great fan of your work and I started woodworking as a hobby work after watching your and Paul Sellers videos. So can u make a series with name and covering "All The Tools I Own" for someone like me who love tools... 😇
I was hoping for a video about the beautiful, stylish Scottish infill planes that I love and collect, are not Norris shape. Nevertheless, this is a really great video, thanks Rex. I hope you like your new strike block mitre plane from Simon Grace, withe chocolate and cream colour scheme, which I have just been admiring on his FB page and which brought me to your YT channel. Subscribed!
11:50 Patrick Leach is my crack, um, I mean tool dealer too! Check out his "Stanley Blood & Gore" series top learn everything there is to know about Stanley planes and their manufacturing history!
Hi. Can you do a video about continental European planes. Iv been trying to find info on them and all I can find are the smoothing planes with the horn on the front. No jack, joiner, try and the rest. And comparing them to the British style. I remember the continental smoothing plane video but maybe something encompassing the other planes aswell and some history?
Just for the record, I know that these planes are still made by some outstanding artisans. I've seen them. I've also seen Young Je's videos and I've seen him make infills.
there's always something to be said about the History of tools and the skills that go with them, learned something new today :D
Loved the video. Have you come across Bill Carter and his infill mitre planes? The videos are filmed by his wife on a phone but they are some of my favourite videos on the website.
You should make a space saving table, like the one you uploaded a little while back
And we're all looking forward to seeing you make one too!
Young Je is awesome
So if I am hearing you correctly Rex, these are a necessary part of woodworking and I need to inform my wife that I need one even to do the most basic of woodworking operations....correct lol
That’s what I heard 👍
Thank you Rex for not having mid roll or mid video commercials. It is refreshing to be able to watch a video with no interruptions. Again thank you.
Seconded!
I still use a couple of old Stanley plane at work, they never let me down.
Rex, I can't say enough how far you've come with editing and presentation. These videos are more of a treat to watch than ever
One of the finest shows on the Internet! Well produced, informative and entertaining with a well executed unique style.
It's nice to watch someone who really invests in their passions!
Really well said! The way Rex is investing in his passion is the most ispiring thing for me. Probably what's motivating me the most to continue being a patreon. Keep it up Rex!
The hype deflater did it again! Well done.
There seems to be a lot of fuss in the comments section over the nationality of this tool.
It seems to be mostly based on a misunderstanding by the commenters.
Just for clarity;
The tool is called a 'Scottish infill' pattern plane.
Rex's example was made by Norris in Surrey, England
I second your recommendation of Patrick Leach. I have sent many a dollar his way over the years and have received nothing but the best in quality and integrity in return. Highly recommended.
1:25 the truth about infill planes is that you don't need a foundry to make them. You don't have to cast molten iron. You just need flat sheets of mild steel, a hacksaw, a hammer, and a hard spot to hammer on. Anyone can make one. The only innovation is the micro-adjust some have.
These weren't made to be racecars though that's how we treat them. They are the artisan's expression of industrial-age planemaking.
I couldn't even dream of being able to afford one but I really appreciate both the historical information and the exquisite craftsmanship on these tools. Thanks for another great video!
My 2 favourite goto woodworking RUclipsrs, yourself and bourbon moth
4:05 the thing about these dovetails is that they are both ways - something impossible in wood. In the image, we can see that brass plate has been fitted over a steel sole. Clearly, sole can't be pulled down. But the dovetails in the sole have a recess that's hidden by the brass. Then the brass is hammered so it flows and fills up the gaps, locking the two pieces together forever. The hammering is done from the sides and from the bottom. This is why you don't see any gaps - it wasn't sawn out this way; it was hammered into an interference fit and then some. Then the lump mess of a result was filed smooth to reveal what you see above.
"Their souls don't wear,and their mouths don't open" If only that were true for people.
Soles.
@Al, an excellent observation, obtuse Sam notwithstanding.
@@leehaelters6182 Thank you
@@leehaelters6182 Aw gee whiz, guys. I was only trying to help.😟
@@samshambles391, forgiven 😃
As a history teacher, woodworking enthusiast, musician, and fan, I loved this video. Thanks, Rex!
My father made a copy of a Norris plane and it looks very similar to the one in the video. I had made a chessboard table at school as part of my woodwork class, the black squares were mahogany and the white were sycamore. Sycamore has a very wavy wayward grain that is hard to plane, but that wasn't a problem as the table top was smoothed down with a belt sander. I was expecting my father to be pleased when he saw it but the first thing he said was: 'That's not flat' He gave me his Norris copy and told me to keep planing in any direction until it stops cutting anything, that when it stops cutting the tabletop would be flat. It didn't tear any of the sycamore squares and the tabletop ended up flat.
You know it’s a going to be a great day when Rex posts a video
And if it's a long one too
Ah yes, the Scottish Infill Plane, from "sturdy, old England
"English planes like this one" stamped Glasgow
@@andrewsimpson4685 och aye 🏴
Yes Norris plane made in London
Dear Rex, as a Scottish person I demand that you put up a Scotland flag in the background as reparations for this outrage.
@@RustyPetterson Wouldn't that be "Scottish flag", not "Scotland flag"?
I love you diving in to the historic situation of the tool. I find most of the “post war is worse” with tools to be 🙄. Rather than yes/no that take , you give the tool context. The human condition of the makers and the achievement of surviving, having to adapt, and still making quality. Kinda makes you wish you could go back and pay them directly.
There are 3 parts of my recent love of hand tools. Making stuff. The zen exercise of the activity. And this living history. Getting an old tool back to working vs a show piece feels good. It’s like being respectful to the maker and the tool itself.
I love your videos. They give me confidence that even when I mess up I can continue on with the project. I do appreciate all the knowledge and history you bring to your channel, but overall it's your demeanor about woodworking as a whole that keeps me coming back. You give off this "nothing is impossible" vibe and I really appreciate that, especially now.
The harmonics is a good explanation. Studying about machinig and cut dynamics you learn how important the lack vibrations (or harmonics) are for good cut and good surface finish.
Rex, Thanks for introducing me to “Mortise and Tenon”. Learning is a journey that I love. I am 65 years old and have been in school, both full and part time for over 45 years, and yet feel I’ve just scratched the surface. I’ll be subscribing tomorrow. Thanks again.
I have been watching videos about woodworking for about 8 hours a day since Christmas. In my humble opinion, you are one of if not the best and most watchable host out there. At least as far as woodworking is concerned. I have a specific request for you.
I know and really appreciate that you don't take money or tools from tool manufacturer's in your videos. Unfortunately, this limits your ability to do comparisons because of the cost. Is it possible for you to make a few videos that are hosted by manufacturers in the traditional way to allow comparisons of really expensive equipment? You have earned my trust in a way very few others have, and I would much prefer to hear what you have to say about the best benchtop thickness planner, jointer, table saw, band saw, etc. Which tools make sense to create and which ones should be bought used/new, etc. I believe that if you point out the deals of the sponsorship multiple times during the video, you could really do your subscribers (in particular myself) a lot of good.
I would also like you to design and show the construction of a homemade wood drying system for creating lumber from logs. I envision a basic box with a lid that closes it airtight, except for a fan blowing air from one end and a small electric heater. Combine that with a moisture meter (they are really cheap) and you would be able to dry wood as fast as possible without checking. This would require some testing of course.
To change the theme slightly, as a native of Scotland and Ayrshire in particular, I am aware of the plane maker, Stewart Spiers. I must confess, my knowledge of infill planes is quite limited although I was interested to learn a little more about the local craftsman who became, for a time a maker of premium hand planes. From what I could establish, his workshop still exists in the town of Ayr adjacent to the river side. Unfortunately, the old building is now occupied by a chain Bookmakers shop. The sight saddened my heart a little although, many of the existing buildings would have been around at the time he was making planes, as is the cobbled street on which it is situated. Therefore, A little imagination is all that is required to envisage the sights and sounds of a then innovative factory/workshop.
I love your "History Channel" videos, great job again 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I'm so glad you found one of these State Side! I bought my Norris from a UK dealer, I dug out the receipt for mine just to check, and whilst it was more expensive than I remember it being, it was comparable to a Lie Nielsen 4 1/2 in bronze. For that, I got a super smoother with all the history attached that you spoke about in the video.
The iron is pretty worn out and pitted, but other than that, the rest of the plane is in great condition. I'll be buying a new iron once I hit a bit of pitting I cant sharpen out.
But I've got to echo what a lot of other people have said: Norris was an English company, not Scottish.
Spiers started manufacturing infill planes 20 years before Norris , that's why it's called a Scottish infill plane.
I have an old Mathieson infil plane which is an absolute beast.
It weighs a tonne, but when it's set up 'just right', oh it's a lovely thing to use.
Love the shoutout to Mortise & Tenon magazine... i have every issue and it always feels like by birthday when a new one arrives. A real treat.
Thought for a second you said Hans Gruber..... yippee ki yay... Great video, lots of great info as always. Thanks!!
Great video Rex, I think the thick blade has a lot to do with it, I have a 1940 Norris Infill plane, and great to work with. great condition
Rex you are obsessed with planes!
I Thank God you are!
Been using my father's and grandfather's planes for decades and this had a lot of new information. Great video, Rex.
Lucky you, John!
@@leehaelters6182 bah! I had a very long response to you but this response box seems to have lost most of it. Bottom line... it's not all it seems to be cracked up to be.
@@johnpossum556yeah, I know what it is like to create a long response, and then lose it in an instant. Sorry i missed yours. Were you talking about Norris or Spiers planes that you inherited?
@@johnpossum556, elsewhere in this column of comments, I detail a disappointment I have with my post-war Norris smoothing plane. Still, I wouldn’t part with it, and not only because of sentimental value.
Like how the rotary hammer is excellent for its job while the drilling hammer is versatile while sharing some of the rh's work.
Bravo bravo bravo for naming Mortise&Tenon: they are pure honest gentlemen
I influence u to buy a $15 knife..... u influence me to wanting a $700 plane... damn u rex! Damn u!!!!!
I paid $290. Keep your shirt on.
@@RexKrueger lol damn good deal
Rex Krueger oh... so that’s what “less desirable” means. Guess I’ll just keep dreaming about this one for a while.
We’re Norris planes manufactured in Scotland as well as in England?
@@dougdalgetty9813 Nope. While the style of plane originated in Scotland, all the Norris made* planes were manufactured in Surrey/London.
* - Norris appear to have bought in wooden molding planes from other manufacturers & badged then as their own at times...
As someone new to woodworking, I'm starting out with some mostly cheap tools and a couple of heirloom quality tools that I can pass down. I'm not complaining about cost of tools so much, as I am about durability. My skills are not yet up to par to merit investing in a tool that i know I'm likely to break while learning. If anything, I want to low quality tool to break so I will learn more about it and how it works and what capabilities its design was intended to afford me.
I love these historical hand tool videos because I learn more about how our grandparents and great-grandparents managed to make many structures and furniture that we are able to use hundreds of years later, all before the luxury electric driven tools we have today.
Doesn't mean I won't use my table saw and drill press. And I want to learn how to make those same precise holes and cuts using handpowered tools. So should I want to build a desk during a power outage, I won't have an excuse to not do it.
What an exceptional video essay. Well done Rex.
I love how you cut through the hype and get down to why and how different tools are useful and the expensive specialty tool can't do it all, because it's not supposed to. It's expensive because it's for a specific purpose that isn't required everyday therefore given the economy of scale in reverse, the cost for design and manufacture has to be made up on the sale of fewer units, hence the price.
I've learned so much about which tool for which task from you.
As a carpenter. I am starting to get into some woodworking tools. Your videos are great. I learned how efficient and clean planing is as opposed to sanding down stock. A thickness planer would be nice, but it seems like a lot can be done with a hand plane.
Rex you are incredible, and thank you for sharing such great stuff with us. I am going through a rough patch but hopefully soon be one to support this channel. God bless my friend
And, btw, my jack plane is a 5.5 Record with WW2 finish... gives me a chill sensation every time
Hi, A.W! No joke, could you elucidate the virtues of your shiver-inducing Record? Does it have a Stay-Set cap iron?
Hey Rex, I just though I should tell you this but apparently the salt trick for stopping glue joints from moving will actually weaken the joint. The maker of titebond said adding sugar or salt to the glue changes the formula and weakens it.
Great job Rex! As always
You would enjoy the Lie Nielsen open house they put on every summer here in Maine. The Mortise & Tenon guys have a booth. Great guys to talk to.
I managed to pick up a pre war Norris A5 at near mint condition for £5 at a yard sale. It is the best smoother I own and I wouldn’t sell it for it’s crazy price any day!
Almost ALL A5's are post war planes because - here's the thing - there was a whole OTHER World War before the main one that the U.S.A. participated in. The ONLY A5's that can be truly considered "pre-war" are ones from 1913 alone. Sorry for the nitpick. Please resume your comment reading :-)
@@Fretless108 You're very true there! Living in the UK and watching US content, the pre/post war thing is always a weird thing to hear as we generally consider The War as WW1, and WW2 as, well WW2. I shall rephrase...It's a pre WW2 Norris!
Great video as usual Rex. It was great to hear you recommend Patrick! I've purchased a number of tools from him over the years and he has always been honest about what he has and fair in his prices. He's also a great "go-to" if you're looking for a particular hand tool, since he has a much larger inventory than what shows in his monthly list. Thanks again!
I’m from Scotland and I have seen a few of these in antique shops
My woodwork teacher would be horrified that you left the plane with the blade facing the bench. If we didn't rest the plane on its side we would end up with a very sore behind. That was over 50 years ago and till this day I always rest my planes on their sides after use. Great video.
Great detail video, as usual! Makes sense that high-volume cabinet-makers would rely on such a tool to make their work easier.
I was able to buy a couple at our local flea market and I really like using them. None of mine have and adjuster but for me, that just adds to the charm. Great info as always!
Wow, great find, then!
Great content and great presentation. You are a gifted presenter, Rex. Nicely done!
Thanks for the knowledge about this Plane , Rex !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Without a great woodworker and entertainer, there are no great viewers.
9:26 "The B******* destroyer"... you made my day sir!
I had no idea what an infill plane is, once again Rex, I've been educated. 👍👍👍
Always good advice. Thanks Rex!
Very interesting material with a substantial injection of knowledge about the craft. Thank you very much for this because few channels make such films because "they don't make money on it". May such films and those about "the story of tools" be created as much as possible. I wish you health and peace in life.
Kind regards, cheers!
There's something just nice about wood and metal joined together. I have an excellent condition, iron-shod rabbet plane from the 1830s by "Moon" but... I've not got it set up, so it sits in a box. And a router plane body with a similar metal plate in the sole. Both are the screwed construction like the one at 3:38
PS: "Modified planes and forgeries" are the rarest ones!
Ebay has infill plane kits, with the dovetails un-assembled. I'd love to see a review of that.
The best China has to offer?
@@johnmccallum8512 American mainly. St. James Bay Tool Co. A small business in Arizona that's been going for about three decades or so.
@@Fretless108 I stand corrected.
It’s almost become a RUclips challenge for makers to make their own Infill planes. Young Je does a great one.
Please, where can I find this picture at 1:27? 😍
Opt to use a 4-1/2 and it's extra mass helps drive it through contrary grain as readily as an infill smoothing plane. The same with a 5-1/5 versus an infill Jack/Fore plane. 😉 But infill planes are a thing of beauty to use 🙂
Excellent, excellent video Rex. Outstanding job explaining infill planes, and thanks for the tip on finding a good and (probably mostly kinda) affordable one!
I really love your drill press (in the background).
You know, I buy the harmonic vibration thing. Makes mechanical sense to me, but that's me. I have certainly experienced the reversing grain tear out thing. Even when I narrow the mouth. I often resort to a card or cabinet scraper. So, again, it makes sense to me that the higher angle would reduce the tear out. I have actually been looking at a high angle plane, just for finish surfacing. Nothing beats a plane finished surface for smoothness and natural shine. Sandpaper doesn't even come close. I know that Veritas uses Norris adjusters and I have a couple Veritas planes. The movement works very well. What I particularly like about it is that it stays set, So, I guess I'm off to subscribe to Patrick Leach. Oh, and yes, Mortise and Tenon is more that worth the money. I read it from cover to cover every time, and then go back and reread large parts. Best magazine ever.
I'm wondering if harmonic-vibration is another term for chattering. The stanley plane chatters when it goes over the grain transition, whereas the infill doesn't; which makes me think that's what they are talking about.
Same! I was just planing some cheap wood board with reversing grain yesterday, and the plane would bounce off with the frequency of the wood vibrating, leaving a bunch of lines with every pass. Of course, if those vibrations are dampened, the plane would keep better contact with the wood and take more even shavings.
Absolutely agree with you! Everything these days is finished by machine sanding for the most part, I don't see the appeal other than the fact that anyone can do it.
But a nice hand-planed surface is unbeatable in attractiveness to my eyes.
Machine planing doesn't leave quite the same finish.
A burnished shiny wood surface is the closest I've seen to a planed surface.
And yes, harmonics/ vibration is basically another name for chatter. There aren't too many equations to figure out where and how much a given machine will chatter, except it certainly will.
Even the heaviest material removal machines will chatter when the harmonics are just right (or just wrong?)
I teach it this way:
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
Imagine the same thing, except dialled down somewhat.
A cutting edge of known sharpness (angle of attack), a known mass, moving at a certain speed in one direction can only remove so much material.
Anytime one of these variables change, the harmonics are completely different.
I'm guessing the infill plane adds much needed mass to the cutting tool, moving the resonant frequencies much higher.
You can still make it skip if you pushed it 4 times as fast, but that kind of working speed is only for superheroes 😂😂
Yes indeed, chatter. Here’s the thing about many Stanley planes, even those that seem well “fettled”: that iron is not sitting on the frog as well as you might think it is. It is kind of a crap shoot if you have a cap iron which has all the important surfaces lying precisely in a plane. Most are bent a little to favor a tight contact near the cutting edge. When the assembly is mounted and tightened down, instead of that thin iron being held firmly and flatly down on the frog what is happening is that a spring loaded (and therefore resonant) system is developed, with the whole schmehonka pivoting around the contact of the blade heel with the frog, and the stretch of iron/cap iron between there and the lever cap cam flopping in the breeze. Just asking for trouble.
I use a German reverse angle scraper plane.
Never did I believe that a discussion about planes would be so interesting, and I'm not even a woodworker!
Great vid, glad to hear you got yours from Patrick Leach, you missed a opportunity to show how it handles end grain - that extra weight make all the difference
I have a 1940's Whitehead Junior Bandsaw and 1950's Whitehead Junior Planer Thicknesser and I love them, tools/machines just aren't made the same anymore
@Archie, you are sending me scurrying to VintageMachinery.org!
I never knew any of this about infill planes. Another great vid!!
In 45 years of woodworking, I have not yet seen or used an infill plane - and nor would I want to. I have used many wooden planes and obviously metal planes, they'll do me!
"... and pull it out right at the end..." heh-heh-heh :D
But in all seriousness this tools seems a must have for finishing curly grain.
Great video again Rex!
Thanks for the edutainment :).
Keep up the good work!
Looking forward for the next episode.
Love this! You are my new fave handtool teacher. Thank you.
No mention of Stewart Spiers who, for the most part, started the ball rolling on these bench planes? There were some exceptions of course - mainly mitre planes - but Spiers almost single handedly popularised them.
Rex.
Love it mate.
Do you need to get another plane?
No.
Am I glad you did?
Always
I inherited my grandfathers Noriss style infill smother from my Father and like you only ocasionally use it, not least because it has no adjuster.
Looking back at the way my father used this plane I believe that using heavier planes in general becomes more about technique.
For instance my father taught me that when bevelling corners it is best to hold the board at arround 45 degrees to the vertical in one hand with the end braced against an imovable object then use the plane one handed allowing the planes weight to make the cut.
Fantastic, Rex! The plane looks beautiful! 😮
When I start to make my own planes I'm going to make the handles exactly like that! 😬
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I really enjoyed the history lesson and review.
"The infill plane goes through all grain". It was clearly made for working with the the beautiful exotic wood that we call OSB, how can you all not see this?
Thats a great looking plane and I'll be on the lookout for one at my local flea market, also I just wanted to say thanks for inspiring me to go into hand tool woodworking, I'm making a bookshelf entirely by hand from old lumber and it's going kind of super messily but it's really satisfiying, I hope to become a patron when this whole pandemic calms down and my pay goes back up at my job(if they dont decide these are just the new paychecks forever haha)
Great video, great history, unique style, hilarious. Good on you!
"British and Scottish plane makers".... lol Rex, squares and rectangles: a scot is a brit but a brit might not be a scot
You have to be a bit less subtle, I think -- "The country called the UK or Great Britain consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These are different countries with different histories and cultures; Scotland and Wales have their own ancient non-English languages. Please don't use 'England' to mean the whole of Britain; it's like saying 'California' when you mean the USA."
@@Kestrel_1 I think you've said it better than I could, so I'll defer to your explanation. Thank you!
But bless him, he at least tried! More than most his side of the pond do.
None of you are British clearly, as someone who lives in the British isles:
If a Scottish person is usefull and susefull they are a Brit
If not thier a Scot
@@randomsonic5929 A Sxotsman can at least spell correctly.
Damn you Rex Krueger :). I just spent a bunch of money on one of these. When I write my first novel, I am naming the villain after you :)
"Rex Krueger" is a FANTASTIC name for a villain! His supervillain name could the "The Cabinetmaker..."
Peace :)
@@gordonkennygordon Like the radio technician in Down Periscope, hehe
Rex thank you for all the knowledge sharing 👏👍🏼 I heard it , by wood by Wright , that they’ll be starting to produce that plane again in Scottland !!! But now with the Covid , don’t know what’s going to happen .
Another great video Rex, I think I really could have used one of those infilled planes when I was doing this oak mantel recently, I see it powering through all of the reverse green and pitch that I had a lot of chatter on with my usual planes, Keep up the good work and good job on doing your research
Love my old Stanley 4’s. But my 4 1/2 with a fine set mouth and a Hock blade is what I grab for gnarly grain. The extra mass, and accompanying inertia, seem to drive through grain that would tear out with a standard #4. I’m assuming it’s the same with a well tuned infill.
Yep. No Woodworking shop is complete without at least two Infill Planes.. I have two dating from the mid/ late 1800's and they are perfect for that final smoothing cut, especially in our cranky grained figured Australian Hardwoods. The extra weight isn't a liability, quite the opposite. This, combined with the thicker iron makes using them a breeze. If you are prepared to search around out of the way Antique Shops you may just get lucky like I did and find one for next to nothing.. I paid $200 AUD for my first one and recently picked up a second one for $150 AUD. Both are in excellent condition and only needed the smallest amount of work to get them in top working condition. They leave my Veritas smoothing planes for dead.... So much so I gave my Veritas planes to a young fella I am Mentoring.
Ahhh. I still want one.
But I want to make it myself. They look so nice and curvy.
Maybe a somewhat boxy flat sided one. Not quite like the old English miter planes, but more like a slightly smaller panel plane with a chonky iron that might spend a fair amount of it's time on it's side as a shooting plane.
"they are really usefull for tricky grain"
Great, now i have to build something again.
Jokes beside, i really want to build an infill for a long time, i pretty like them.
Rex, you done a good job here, podner. It’s a subject dear to my heart, since I own one of those post-war Norris smoothers, flat sided. My dear heart ladyfriend gave it to me so many years ago. No kidding, she had to take a bank loan to do it. $300 was a lot to us, then.
I address the subject of that adjuster. Besides the elegance of a single control for both adjustments, it has a feature I had never seen before but instantly grasped: a differential screw to advance the blade! This could give ordinary screw threads the sensitivity of a microtome! Nevah mind that Stanley dreck, this surely is a pinnacle of hand tool engineering!
Or so I thought. In some kind of classic boner, instead of one thread advancing while the other retracts at a different rate, they BOTH advance, COMPOUNDING the rate, and clumsily, drastically REDUCING the sensitivity to less than Stanley convention, way less, it seems to me. Pisses me off no end, to this day.
On balance, I appreciate the extra rigidity and mass. What you say about the reduction in chattering is true. I will quote myself from elsewhere in these comments:
Yes indeed, chatter. Here’s the thing about many Stanley planes, even those that seem well “fettled”: that iron is not sitting on the frog as well as you might think it is. It is kind of a crap shoot if you have a cap iron which has all the important surfaces lying precisely in a plane. Most are bent a little to favor a tight contact near the cutting edge. When the assembly is mounted and tightened down, instead of that thin iron being held firmly and flatly down on the frog what is happening is that a spring loaded (and therefore resonant) system is developed, with the whole schmehonka pivoting around the contact of the blade heel with the frog, and the stretch of iron/cap iron between there and the lever cap cam flopping in the breeze. Just asking for trouble.
Excellent video, thanks.
thank you for yet another great video.
my guess is that you have at least a dozen hand planes in your shop, can I suggest a video on how you store them so they are accessible, safe and optimized for a small(er) shop, ? hang them? put them in a drawer? customized homemade storage thingy?
the intro always cracks me up
I worked a couple of days a week for Pat Leach back in the eighties, in a shop he had in Crediton, Devon, where he kept most of his stock. The shop was filled with old tools. Because the shop wasn't particularly busy, part of my job was de-rusting some of the neglected tools he'd picked up in his travels. In those days I had no interest in woodworking, and had no idea of the value and rarity of some of the planes I handled. Last saw Pat about 7 years ago, is he still in business?
"Scottish and British"
"The Scottish infill plane from sturdy old England"
Rex I respect your skill as a craftsman and storyteller, but your geography is a little patchy.
Aye. You forgive some things from people you respect. (Note mannequin smile frozen on my face.)
Isn't this like making Cornish pasties in Edinburgh, though? I thought it was the name of the style of tool, not where it was built.
@@JamesMooreSeattle I think you may be right. But the Scottish/British issue remains. (Though these days there are Scots who insist they aren't the same thing.)
James Moore Bad example- by law you cannot make a Cornish pasty anywhere other than in Cornwall! Well, you can, as long as you don't call it a Cornish pasty.
@@RobMacKendrick hahahaha! I'm an Englishman, and Even I spluttered into my tea.
Hello Rex great fan of your work and I started woodworking as a hobby work after watching your and Paul Sellers videos. So can u make a series with name and covering "All The Tools I Own" for someone like me who love tools... 😇
Very interesting! Thanks for the education. I always love your plane explanation videos.
I was hoping for a video about the beautiful, stylish Scottish infill planes that I love and collect, are not Norris shape. Nevertheless, this is a really great video, thanks Rex. I hope you like your new strike block mitre plane from Simon Grace, withe chocolate and cream colour scheme, which I have just been admiring on his FB page and which brought me to your YT channel. Subscribed!
11:50 Patrick Leach is my crack, um, I mean tool dealer too! Check out his "Stanley Blood & Gore" series top learn everything there is to know about Stanley planes and their manufacturing history!
“A strange, romantic sense of mystery that’s somehow captured in a lump of wood and iron” is how I’m going to describe my gender from now on
Hi.
Can you do a video about continental European planes.
Iv been trying to find info on them and all I can find are the smoothing planes with the horn on the front. No jack, joiner, try and the rest.
And comparing them to the British style.
I remember the continental smoothing plane video but maybe something encompassing the other planes aswell and some history?