63 Infill Style Planes: Do I need one?
Description
This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 1, by multiple authors.
63 Infill Style Planes: Do I need one?
Due to user demand and collector speculation, their cost has been
rising for some time. Decent user smoothers without the Norris
adjuster are going for $300 or so. Not everyone needs one, but
many folks want one. They are used only for the final finishing
of a wood surface, as they remove tremendously fine shavings. I
think it's best to learn how to push a Bailey pattern smoother to
its limits before acquiring one of these, so that one can really
appreciate what they do. (Sure that's paternalistic, but I still
think its true ;-). Lie-Nelson's #62 clone with its adjustable
mouth is supposed to be a fine substitute for less money. There
are several places producing infill repros as both finished
models and kits. The repros are not cheap, since their
production is very labor intensive. For those inclined to
provide thier own labor intensity, Jim Kingshott's _Making and
Modifying Woodworking Tools_ (ISBN 0 946819 32 7) includes
several chapters on making these planes using a variety of
methods. Kingshott's book is in desperate need of editing
however, see Mike Lindgren's reflections on making a plane using
Kingshott's plans in the archives at "The Electronic
Neanderthal." The book _The Best of FWW: Bench Tools_ has an
article about making a an infill panel plane.
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