Knight Infill Plane Bodies
Copyright © 2001, 2002 by
Jim Wilson
(Click images to enlarge)
In November of 2000, I began making the metal bodies for Steve Knight's infill smoothers.
Steve had previously built a couple of prototypes, and had some of the bugs worked out.
The first infill plane bodies Steve had commissioned were assembled with finger joints. I
believe Russ Penrose did the metal bodies for the two "beta" planes pictured on
the right.
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Steve wanted to use the traditional double-dovetail joints to join the cheeks and the sole. He also wanted the new version to have a screw cap and a slimmer profile. |
I designed a new metal body for him
and we began making planes. The profile has evolved a bit since the first ones. Here is a later drawing. We also have added the screw cap
and made a number of additional refinements. There are two versions, one with steel sides,
and one with bronze.
I manufacture the parts for the bodies from steel and naval bronze stock. These include the cheeks and the sole, which I machine and assemble to form the body, the screw cap and the pin on which it pivots, the iron-centering pins, and four steel spacers which run through the wood infill and give the cheeks constant, solid support as the wood moves over time.
Steve uses a variety of beautiful wood species to fill the bodies, and he has produced them in several different shapes. Here's a mini-gallery of some of them. Click on an image to see a larger version.
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An early one with a bloodwood infill. |
Cocobolo infill with bronze sides and steel screw heads exposed. | ![]() |
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Another in bloodwood. This one features a higher back. |
Yellow rosewood, bronze cheeks, with larger, brass thumbscrew and pins to center the iron in the mouth. | ![]() |
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