Knight Infill Plane Bodies

Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Jim Wilson
(Click images to enlarge)

Rosewood Infill

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.

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.

An early one with a bloodwood infill.

Cocobolo infill with bronze sides and steel screw heads exposed.

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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