Metal for infill

[whybob71]

Hi all
I'm making some infill planes. Actually I'm using steel for the sole and brass for the sides, dovetailed or pined. I don't have any specific machine for working metal, then it take time to make a single plane.

I have some questions

- have you ever used only brass for sides and sole? The brass should be quite hard (more than any wood) and I can work with it easily....It is fine for the sole?

I can find some bronze instead of brass: it is really better?

I'm not able to find gunmetal, maybe because I can't find the right word to translate it.....what kind of metal is it? Is it better than bronze?

Lie-Nielsen use manganese-bronze: is it better than regular bronze?

thanks a lot
Bob

 

[Philly]

HI bob
Look forward to seeing your infill!
You can use brass for the sole but it is worth using steel because it is much more "wear resistant". Brass (and bronze) will wear surprisingly quickly with heavy use - and steel is cheaper :wink:
Brass, bronze and gunmetal are all made from mainly copper with small amounts of other metals (tin, zinc, nickel). By altering the additives you get different strength materials or materials that are easier to cast (for instance, Lie-Nielsens Manganese bronze)
It can be worth annealing brass (heat to red hot and then leave to cool slowly) before peining as it can become workhardened, which means the metal with crack instead of flowing nicely.
Hope this helps
Philly

 

[jasonB]

It is possible to buy gunmetal in round bar form but I have never seen it sold in flat strip form. It is used a lot in model engineering where it is cast to the required shape.

Jason

 

[Chris Knight]

Bob,
Bronze comes in various flavours and some can be rather hard and therefore hard to work.

 

[whybob71]

Many thanks!! I just saw that some plane-makers use "bearing brass". I guess it's a more wear resistant type of brass.....

 

[jasonB]

Bearing brass is the american name used to describe phosphor bronze, again Pb comes in several different alloys and comes in either drawn (PB102) or cast stick (SA660) may be a different code for flat section.

Jason

 

[bob_c]

You wont find gunmetal in sheet form ,only round bar and square bar,naval brass is popular ,usually because its a nicer colour .You can get gun metal cast into a sheet but its hard to find anyone to do it and its often very expensive for small quantities.Some of the brasses can be quite brittle when it comes to peining the dovetails(if thats what your doing).Ive used gauge plate for the bottom of a plane before.Many just use mild steel.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Bob

Generally, bronze will be much better than brass as it is harder and more wear resistant. You should be fine with bronze for your sole, I have four bronze planes and they don't seem to wear much in use, although the castings do move more than my iron planes and require more maintenance