Building an A13 using Holtey components
Here we have a detailed set of construction notes following my build of an A13 plane made from parts supplied by Karl Holtey.
I hope this guide will be of use to anyone thinking of undertaking such a project.
The Holtey A13
The A13 components are designed around the Norris A13 but with a few subtle changes which enhance the beauty of the plane.
The Norris version was rather plain and boxy looking and very few were made with adjusters. While Karl had the design on the
drawing board he realised how beautiful a plane it could be with a few alterations.
The most noticeable changes were to the curves on the side cheeks and the replacement of an uninteresting square front bun with
a much more comfortable version. These subtle changes have made the A13 a beautiful looking plane and one of the most desirable
infill smoothers. In fact many plane makers have copied Karl's A13 design, perhaps without realising how different it is from the
original Norris.
The A13 was originally designed without an adjuster, and is very difficult to come across an original with one. Karl's A13 components
will be offered as individual items, allowing the builder to use as many or few as they wish. A full list can be put together over a
period of time or you could purchase as a whole. Karl chose to offer the A13 as components due to it being one of the most popular
sized smoothing planes; this combined with his quality of engineering make the A13 kit an excellent choice for the amateur plane
builder.
Introduction
I am an amateur cabinet and plane maker and have used these components to produce a stunning plane. These notes will take you through
this process, and by following my guide you will hopefully pick up a few tips and tricks and avoid making any mistakes.
Assembly time will vary between builders but one thing I ask is that you take your time reading and then following the instructions.
Many of the techniques involved here simply cannot be rushed if you wish to produce a beautiful infill plane.
The components
Parts in the A13 component set are CNC machined for repeatable accuracy, a fact which will be self evident when you examine them. The
side plates are made from either 4mm thick navel brass plate CZ112 or Bright mild steel by choice. The sole is made from Bright mild steel.
The side plates and sole have their dovetails cut ready for assembly and peining. No filing is required for the parts to fit together.
Kit Contents
| Item |
Qty |
Description |
Material |
Part No. |
| 1 |
1 |
side cheek RH |
Brass/Steel |
A13- 001 |
| 2 |
1 |
side cheek LH |
Brass/Steel |
A13- 002 |
| 3 |
1 |
sole plate front |
Steel |
A13- 003 |
| 4 |
1 |
sole plate rear |
Steel |
A13- 004 |
| 5 |
1 |
frog plate (fixed) |
Steel |
A13- 005 |
| 6 |
1 |
lever cap |
Brass |
A13- 006 |
| 7 |
1 |
lever cap knurled screw |
Brass |
A13- 007 |
| 8 |
2 |
levercap bearing screws |
Steel |
A13-008 |
| 8 |
4 |
Rivets |
Steel |
A13- 008 |
| 9 |
4 |
Infill tubes |
Brass |
A13- 009 |
| 10 |
1 |
blade |
Steel |
A13-010 |
| 11 |
1 |
chipbreaker |
Steel |
A13-011 |
| 12 |
1 |
adjuster (optional) |
Steel/Brass |
A13-012 |
Tools required for Construction
Karl's A13 components are ready to be peined out of the box, metalworking tools required should be minimal.
- 4 oz. Ball pein hammer.
- 4mm or 3/16ths round nose punch. (these can be bought square then rounded at a grinder).
- 8" flat mill bastard file (¾"or 20mm wide) for filing dovetails and initial sole flattening.
- Flat needle file for setting throat.
- Steel plate ½" thick 12" x 12" (300mm x 300mm) or small anvil.
- Small 1/¼" (30mm) square plate ¼" (6mm) thick for sanding.
- 2 off 4" G clamps.
- 150mm / 6" digital calliper.
- Various grades of abrasive papers (120grit - 400 grit).
- Granite plate or glass plate for final sole and side lapping.
- Engineers square 6".
- Engineers vice (minimum 4" better with 5 or 6").
- Straight edge - minimum a 12" engineers steel rule (you can also use the square for this as well).
- Drill press (minimum hand drill) for drilling the peining block.
- 3/16" or 4mm drill bit.
- Marking compound (for sole flattening).
- Sharpening stones (e.g. waterstones or oilstones) for final honing of the blade.
- Masking tape for protecting plane whilst peining.
- Small adjustable spanner or 8mm and 10mm spanners (for tightening threaded rod through peining block).
- Torch for close up inspection during peining (preferably flourescent).
- School blackboard chalk for keeping files from clogging.
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DISCLAIMER
Working with metal, wood, hand and power tools has its associated hazards. Read all the instructions and protect yourself
from unnecessary hazards.
Wear PPE (personal protective equipment) when necessary.
Dalziel Toolworks cannot be held liable for accidental injuries sustained whilst fabricating a plane from kit form.
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Tools useful but not strictly necessary
- disc sander.
- 6" milling vice.
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A guide to Metal Dovetails
As a woodworker, you may find that these dovetails are unlike any you have previously encountered, in that they are double flared.
In the absence of glue, these are necessary to lock the sides and sole together.
You will notice very small deliberate gaps on the sole where the sides join. I mentioned deliberate because these gaps are there to
allow the metal to be drifted in during the peining process which in turn locks the sides to the soles. Basically these are compound dovetails.
The side dovetails are milled at 10° and the sole is at 5°. I have found over the years of plane building that these angles are best suited.
Other angles can be used but I have found they need too much peining and can generally work harden the metal and cause possible chipping and gaps,
these angles provide as much strength to the plane body as is required.
There are a couple of ways to do metal dovetails; I do my dovetails similar to the way Norris did them. This requires the metal sides to have the
dovetail shape and inserted into the sole, side on. Stewart Spiers method was an almost straight side and inserted from the top and was peined to
form the dovetail. Both methods work well I just prefer the Norris way as it doesn't stress the metal in the same way as the Spiers way.
Also peining too hard can induce twisting into the plane body.
[Click on the pictures below to open a larger image in a new window. Click on the large image to close.]
The diagram below shows how the metal joints interlock and the gap which is filled by the piening process.
Peining Block construction
The peining block plays an important part in putting your plane together therefore it is important you make it accurate and square.
Ideally it should be done in a hardwood such as beech or maple. I use aluminium in the workshop because I use the block repeatedly but
for doing a single plane then these hardwoods are perfect.
Cut a piece of hardwood 9" (228.6mm) long x 2.375" (60.33mm) x 2.375" (60.33mm).
Ensure that it's square at this point. Mark the block all round with the words top, Lh, Rh, base etc so you don't get confused as to
which is which. Position the block on the sole and mark the block where the frog plate is positioned. Remove the waste where the frog
plate is from the block. There are various ways of doing this, simplest way is a tenon saw and chisels. Also just around where the
frog plate is positioned are the blades centring rivets; slots need to be cut to allow space for these rivets. These need to be slots
as to allow the block to be removed. Position the side cheeks and mark where the slots will need to be cut. Best way is fostner bits
and chisels.
The peining blocks shoulder stops are necessary to hold the sides in place to stop any downward movement of the sides
during sole peining. These are best attached with a strong glue and must be positioned accurately before being left to set, They must
also be slightly thinner than the thickness of the sides. Also make 2off side strips 9" x 2" X ¼" these are for holding the sides in
the clamps during sole peining.
Begining construction - Step 1
Remove component parts from packaging and check you have all the parts against the inventory. Clean off any excess preservative oils
from sides and base. Prepare your work area and make sure it is clean.
Start with the side cheeks, use these to make a couple of templates for the infills. First sit them onto suitable template material
and mark the holes and outer edges with a pencil. Cut away the waste with a jigsaw or at the bandsaw. At the drill press drill the
holes.
First thing to do to them is remove the milling marks from the chamfers. This is best done by holding the side in a vice and
using either a marker pen or engineer's marker and mark along the milled edge of the chamfer. Cut some various grits (start with
120 - 400) abrasive paper into 2" (50mm)squares then place the 1½" (30mm) metal square in the middle and slowly start to rub out
the milling marks on the edge. Take care to only rub off your marked area. We use a small metal square because it gives your fingers
more feedback than a file does. Work through various grits up to 400grit. Don't try and go from 120 directly to 400. Take care not
to over rub the chamfers. Take it slow and methodical. You can use some metal polish to bring the chamfers to a nice shine mixed
with some used 400grit. I have found Autosol car chrome polish to be very effective.
TIP
Use some masking tape around the rivet holes to prevent any unwanted dings.
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Next install the blade centring rivets. Use the small 4oz hammer and carefully pein them into place. Small accurate blows are more
effective than less heavier blows. If you do miss and ding the side the masking tape will take most of the damage. Once peined; inspect
under a light source for any potential gaps. Now file flush with the side. Do both sides.
Check the fit between the sides and the sole. If it is tight check the marks left by fitting it together and lightly file where the
marks are. Take great care not to overdo any filing. Repeat until sides and sole are fitting snugly together.
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[Click on the pictures below to open a larger image in a new window. Click on the large image to close.]
Preparing to join the sides and sole - Step 2
Place a strip of masking tape along the inside upper edges of the sides. This is to compensate for the side tipping inwards after peining.
This is common to all dovetailed planes. Fit the sole and sides around the peining block ensuring everything is fitting as it should.
Take care around the blade centring rivets as these can sometimes catch and force out the sides. Make sure it was slots that were cut
out on the peining block around the rivets or the block will get jammed in after peining. Now take the 2 side strips that we cut when
we made the peining block. These get positioned just under the excess dovetail material from the sole. Now clamp the sides tightly into
the vice. See pictures (above) for reference.
Peining Sequence (sole) - Step 3
Peining is a process whereby, you are manipulating two pieces of metal and hammer welding them together. Begin with the plane sitting upside
down (or sole up) start with peining the metal dovetails into the gaps on the sole. This is best done with a 4oz hammer and a round nose punch.
This sounds a very small hammer for moving metal during peining but it does it with ease. Follow the peining sequence shown in the diagram below.
It is peined in a similar fashion to the way a mechanic would tighten down an engine cylinder head, i.e. pein opposing dovetail pins, this keeps
the sole balanced during the peining process.
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Due to the nature of peining it is possible that the block can loosen in the vice, check and retighten before peining every pin. Using the punch,
start working the metal outwards from the centre towards the corners, keep working the metal until you see it starting to flow and fill the gaps
at the corners of the sole, do all the initial peining with the punch until the gaps are all filled. Its worth inspecting with a torch as finding
gaps in poor lighting conditions is difficult. Sometimes these wont show until you have removed the excess and by then it's too late. Use the face of
the hammer to tidy up and flatten out the metal.
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TIP
Use a torch to check for possible gaps. The extra light will prove invaluable.
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Peining Sequence (sides) - Step 4
Once the sides have been peined to the sole and checked for possible gaps remove the clamps. Now turn the plane onto its side, it doesn't matter
what side you choose to do first as they will get alternated during the peining process. Fit the plane shell back into the vice but this time
tighten the jaws onto the sole and top. In other words leave the sides clear to allow for peining, use a hardwood block spacer if the side doesn't
sit onto the vice base.
TIP
Put a double layer of masking tape along the sole and sides close to where the peining will take place,
this will protect them from bruising (miss-placed blows).
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When peining the steel sole; use the flat face of the hammer and work the tail from the centre gradually moving outwards to the edges. Hammer in
a slightly upwards direction, and work outwards towards the corners. It is worth using the round nose punch to ensure that there are no gaps left.
Inspect each joint carefully with a torch to ensure all the spaces have been filled, and if any gaps show up use the punch to drift more metal
into the gap. Follow the peining sequence closely and continue to alternate between sides during the peining process. Continue to pein until
all tails have been peined. Do a final inspection; best done using a light source.
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Filing surplus metals after peining - Step 5
Remove from the vice and inspect every joint but leave the peining block in place. Filing is actually a lot more difficult to do correctly
than what people assume. It is an acquired skill that can take months to get right so milling to closer tolerances requires minimal filing.
Once every joint has been inspected replace into vice Remove the double layer of masking tape from the plane and replace with a single fresh
strip of tape. The tape will protect the plane shell from file scratches and allow you to see how accurate you are filing.
There are 2 methods of filing your plane shell; draw filing and cross filing. For rapid metal removal use the draw file method. This requires
a coarse file held in both hands and pulled towards your body while applying slight downwards pressure. When cleaning the sides and sole use
a new 10" flat file bastard cut as recommended in the tools required list.
TIP
Rub some school board chalk onto your file…this prevents brass from clogging the cutting teeth of the file.
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Cross filing is a more natural way of filing. When you pick up and use a file the cross method is the way you will
want to naturally do it. The handle is held in your natural arm with your fingertips on the far end of the file. Your fingertips give you a
good feel for what is being filed away. Draw filing is used to remove lots of metal but is not as accurate. Normally draw filing is what you
would get taught early as a student.
Install the shell in the vice; sole up and start to draw file, be gentle and keep the file as flat as possible. If you are doing a brass kit
remember it is quite soft and won't take many cuts until you are scraping away the masking tape. This is also a good judge that you are
holding the file correctly. Once you are reasonably flat across the length of the sole remove the masking tape and gently cross file as flat
as possible until the brass or steel sides blend in with the steel sole. There should be no gaps or holes present between the sides and sole.
Turn the shell on its side in the vice and follow the same procedure as you did on the sole. Remember to keep cleaning and chalking your file.
Steel doesn't file quite so easily as brass but is not much more difficult. The important part is to take your time and keep the file as flat
as possible. Once you have filed through the masking tape, remove it keep filing then you should start to see the dovetail shape starting to
appear. It will disappear if you have gone for steel. The seams should all blend in together with no gaps visible. Once one side has been done
turn around in the vice and do the same on the opposite side.
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TIP
Cover vice jaws with cardboard and hold them in place with masking tape to protect the shell from vice jaw scratches or damage.
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It should be noted that you will still have to pein the rivets and more filing will be required. Remove the shell from the vice. It's now time to
remove the shell off the peining block. Sometimes the peining process can cause the top edge of the shell to be slightly cantered inwards and
push in on the block and make removing from the shell difficult. If you followed the peining sequence then this should be very minimal and not
too difficult to remove. A small restorers 'cats paw' between the sole and block should remove it without any difficulty. If you followed my
advice by putting a strip of masking tape along the top edge of the sides then this should make the difference. If they have come too far over
its easy to make a spreader with the threaded rod and nuts. Remember to use masking tape for on the inside cheeks for scratch protection from
your spreader bar.
Above - Checking the width of the sole prior to piening.
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Making the infills - Step 6
Please click on the link to the right to download cutting templates in PDF format. The templates show the 3 rear infill parts and the
front bun design. These are the designs used in
Karl's A13 planes. Carefully and precisely cut out the paper rear infill templates and lay them onto some template material. MDF is good
for templates due to it being flat and stable. Carefully mark around the template and mark its hole positions. When making the infill
timber I always make it slightly oversize by approx 0.039"/ 1mm. A check with the digital calipers should reveal this.
The inside size of the plane body should be approx 2.385" or 60.55mm. To reduce the width of the infill slowly sand the sides on your lapping plate with
a sheet of 120 grit abrasive paper. This should keep things from moving out of square and allow you to slowly bring it to the correct width.
Constantly check the width of the infill to the inside width of the plane shell, use a digital calliper for this, these are available nowadays
at reasonable cost.
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TIP
Use the calipers to check the size of the infill.
If you try the actual infill in place then it's possible to
damage a corner or edge or scratch the infill while trying to insert it. Trust your readings from the callipers
they will be correct. Measure at the lower inside edges of the shell.
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Stop once the readings from the calliper match both the infill width and shell width. It is important to take your time and
get the width correct. Install the 3 brass tubes into the infill. These are cut to the correct width. These will be a good tight
fit and a tap from the small hammer might be required to insert them fully. It will also be worthwhile inserting the rivets through
the tube, for a trial fit; these sometimes require a light sanding as moisture from fingertips can cause a slight coating on them.
Once you have correct readings on your calliper it's now time to install the infills. Take care when pressing them into position
in the shell, this is actually a very delicate procedure and care should be taken to avoid damage. Once you have them installed
enter the rivet pins.
You might notice that I don't use glues in my infills. I do not see the need for glue as the rivets have more than enough strength
to hold the infill in place. During the manufacture stage of each of Karls planes he marks the infills then offsets by about 0.004"
high so as when he fits the rivet into the expansion tubes it pulls the infill tightly down onto the sole.
Once you have inserted the pins take the plane body over to the anvil plate and pein the rivets using the flat head of the hammer.
Do a few hits on one side of the rivet then turn the shell and a few hits on the opposite end of the rivet; continue to do it this
way until it's mushroomed over on both ends of the rivet. Do this with the 3 rivets. Now install the cap iron bridge tube and insert
the rivet through this and pein the same way as you did the other rivets. Ideally this should be tight and not allowed to spin.
If it does then pein a bit more until it stops rotating. Once you have installed all the rivets take the plane to the vice and cross
file the excess rivet material flush with the side of the plane.
[Click on the pictures below to open a larger image in a new window. Click on the large image to close.]
Final Finishing of the steel
A plane will work at its best when the asimuth is correct and sole is flat. My definition of flat is less than 0.001. I don't think
there is an absolute. To get the sole and sides flat you have to use a flat surface to work on. Granite plates and engineers cast
surface plates are readily available nowadays. Your filing abilities will determine how long it takes to get rid of any marks and
create a smooth surface. The sole must be flat for the plane to function correctly.
Flattening the sole
First off you need to determine how flat or not the sole is. Use an engineers marking compound and use it to mark your flat surface.
I used engineers blue. Take your plane and bring it down vertically and evenly onto the surface plate and with light pressure press
it firmly onto the marking compound. I prefer to move it slightly forward as well then lift it off the plate, now inspect your sole.
This will reveal your high and low spots and show you where you need to concentrate your efforts. If you have feeler gauges it is
possible to gauge just how much your sole is off. Steel doesn't scrape very well so if you are off by any more than 0.002" then you
have to use files or a mill. Trying to remove anymore than 0.002" just using abrasive paper will require tremendous effort and hours
of work. So try and concentrate your efforts where it matters. Continue to work the sole until you get an even pattern of the marking
compound. If your reference plate is flat and the sole has shown its markings to be even then it's as close to flat as you'll get.
TIP
Hold the plane close to a florescent light at a slight angle to check for blemishes. This type of light can highlight
the smallest of marks. Your eyes can pick up miniscule errors as can other peoples.
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Final finishing of the wood
All my planes get finished with 3-4 coats of Danish oil. I have tried every method of finishing over the years and settled on Danish
oil. When using oils; the finish has to be absolutely perfect; it will show up the slightest little blemish so make sure you get rid
of all sanding marks. You don't want to go showing off your newly built plane to someone only for them to point out the blemish.
Danish oil can vary between manufacturers. I usually put on one coat very heavily then wipe off any excess after 10 minutes. Leave
to dry for 24-48 hours before applying further coats. This is where you need to be disciplined and not try to finish too quickly.
You can of course use whatever type of finish you think suits the timber.
Honing the blade
If you purchased one of Karl's blades it will come sharp but final honing should be done by the user. The blade is made from A2
steel and is cryogenically treated and hardened to Rockwell 64. The blade angle is 25° and some people prefer a secondary bevel,
easily achieved by lifting the blade a degree or two.
Some people like to freehand their sharpening and honing and have done it for many years. It takes years of practice and is difficult
to achieve consistently good results. I prefer to use a honing guide as it only takes a few seconds to set up. I generally mark my
blades to allow me to set it back into the honing guide at the same point as the previous sharpening.
Looking after your plane
Brass sided planes can look fantastic when polished and clean. They do however tarnish with age and some people like that particular
look but it's not a favourite of mine. Lie-Nielsen offer a plane maintenance kit which is useful for keeping sides clean and camellia
oil for preventing rust.
These instructions were written by Ian Dalziel to aid the home builder to produce an infill plane using component parts.
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