SPIERS AYR infill plane

[adidat]

well i can now see what jim is banging (hammer) on about, the moment i opened the box i was in love, while browsing a popular auction site i came across a very poor listing for a 'woodworking plane'. i had my suspicions but i risked it and bought it for a very nice price. i was praying it was going to be crack free, and it arrived

now im aware of the missing lever cap screw and some pitting. but this plane is frigging perfect the rosewood infills are tight fitting.

the sole is pretty flat. and look how tight that mouth is :shock: the gap is less than 0.5mm

as far as im aware these are the original ward iron and chip breaker, they both have an 11 on there backs. amazingly the bevel has not been sharpened grimsdale style. and the mushrooming at the top of the blade is minimal.

nice stamping on the lever cap

i love it!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

now some questions for the good folk of ukw.

Q: is the lever cap gun metal?

Q: what is the lever cap thread?

Q: age?

Q: is the body dovetailed?

Q: should the lever cap screw look like this (plane) or this (fancy)

thanks

adidat

 

[TheTiddles]

Get the sandpaper out and it might clean up ok!

Aidan

 

[toolsntat]

Nice "steal" that :roll: =D>
Hope you had the type 1 or 2 compass plane to keep the postage down at the same time :wink:

Andy

 

[adidat]

i wanted it but i was at work or something, so i didnt bother as that one was listed properly i thought it would go for £80 or something, not £35 :roll:

havent you got any answers for me andy?

adidat

 

[jimi43]

Good LORD! You paid £35 for that! You was done! :mrgreen: :wink:

I'll take it off your hands to save you the embarrassment! 8)

Interesting that it has the Spiers name on the gunmetal lever cap...as it is very similar to mine...

Mine is cast not dovetails but I'm willing to bet that yours is dovetailed....being a genuine Spiers an' all.

Spiers planes are fast taking over in popularity from Norris on FleaBay I notice...especially the old ones.

A panel plane like yours is likely to fetch in the region of £200 if in good condition which yours will be.....

The iron is exactly the same as one that Douglas has on his newly acquired toy..(he can post about that) and the plane he has dates between 1834 and 1851 and it would appear to have an original WARD iron. I would date yours from the mid to end of the 19C

The lever cap is just as it should be ....simply SPIERS AYR like my smoother:

Though yours is clearer and the right way up!

The lever cap thread on these vary greatly...it can be a square (ACME style ) thread which is made on a lathe or with a special die...or it could be 7/16th 14tpi (I think)....

A truly lovely find my friend and for that price...what can I say...you stole it indeed!

There is one exactly the same HERE (4th one down) for $895!!!!!!!!!

BM120367 Spies, Ayr An early style Spiers 13 1/2" panel plane with the screwed sides and the fancy hold down screw with a thin shank, but having Acme threads. The wood is pretty much as found. there is an old chip in the spur that has been glued back in place. It is not replaced wood, it is the original piece glued back. The sides and sole have been cleaned. The cap iron is numbered to the plane and the iron is a replacement. It is a tapered iron by Mathieson. The original iron would also have been tapered at this time, and would have been by Ward to match the cap iron. This is respectable example of an earlier Spiers panel plane and would make a good user or collector's piece. G+ $895

And they are saying that the original iron was WARD and tapered....at this time which I did not know...you learn something new every day!

=D> =D> =D>

Now....get that bad boy shavin'!!! 8)

Jim

 

[Richard T]

Yup, a prime candidate for dovetailed I should think.

Re the lever cap thread, if you take an impression on the inside with plasticine - maybe rolled up and stuck to some thin dowel - I bet it's either square thread or acme and you'll need to get the bolt cut on a screw cutting lathe.

Very good buy! :mrgreen:

 

[bugbear]

Yup, a prime candidate for dovetailed I should think.

Re the lever cap thread, if you take an impression on the inside with plasticine - maybe rolled up and stuck to some thin dowel - I bet it's either square thread or acme and you'll need to get the bolt cut on a screw cutting lathe.

You could turn a dowel (with a taper) such that it can be screwed in; made in a close grained not-too-hard wood (one of the cheap mahoganies?), this takes a very clear impression.

BugBear

 

[adidat]

Ex ellent ideas richard and bugbear. And thanks for the information jim
,

 

[MickCheese]

A fantastic find for what appears to be a very good price.

Looking forward to seeing how it performs and what is needed to make it a stunner.

Well done, I am sure you will be very satisfied with your purchase.

Mick

 

[Racers]

Cracking plane and a cracking price.

Pete

 

[Corneel]

Yes, that's a stunning plane. Gorgeous. It's a pitty they never were much imported overhere in The netherlands, so the chance of finding one on a bootfair is remote.

 

[dickm]

If it's any help, I can put a thread gauge onto the screw of my Spiers coffin smoother; it will probably be the same?

As a matter of interest, how should you go about checking whether an infill is a very good dovetail (in that the dovetails aren't visible) body or a cast one?

 

[Beachcricket]

Great find, great plane, great price. What's not to love.

Hopefully the weather will be gentle over the next few days, I'm eyeing up a trip to a local car boot sale this weekend.

 

[dickm]

... Had a spare minute, so checked mine. The bolt is exactly 1/2" OD, and 14 tpi. That's 7/16" Whitworth pitch, but wrong diameter, and Zeuss doesn't show anything standard to that spec. Also, the thread form is not Whitworth; the crests of the threads are rounded, not acute.

Replacement looks like a metalworking lathe job.

 

[adidat]

i really am made up with this plane, cant wait to use, need to invest in some corrodip and get that blade shining.


in reference to the leaver cap screw

... Had a spare minute, so checked mine. The bolt is exactly 1/2" OD, and 14 tpi. That's 7/16" Whitworth pitch, but wrong diameter, and Zeuss doesn't show anything standard to that spec. Also, the thread form is not Whitworth; the crests of the threads are rounded, not acute.

Replacement looks like a metalworking lathe job.

:? :?

will have to ask grandad what he thinks.

my idea is to stick a lump of brass for the head, on a thinner piece for the thread.

so i went round some engineering firms one old boy reckoned there was no difference between brass and gunmetal is this true?

so i have got the idea of the thread cutting and the general shaping, but how on earth do i do that pesky knurling?

also anyone got any ideas of the approximate diameter and thickness of that lump, if anyone has one could they photograph it and take some measurements?

whats the other end look like and angled steel lump? whats the angle?

questions questions so many questions

thanks

adidat

 

[dickm]

Leave it with me for 24 hours, and I'll take some pics of mine.

Would offer to make a screw up for you, as I've got plenty of lumps of relevant sized brass but my workmanship probably wouldn't do the plane justice. Knurling is very simple once you've got the hang of it, but I've still to master the art

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Brass and gunmetal are different. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, gunmetal is a form of bronze - an alloy af copper and tin, with a bit of zinc mixed in. There are several grades of both alloys readily available, one source being Folkestone Engineering Supplies, another being The College Engineering Supply. The usual grade of brass for machined items these days is CZ121, sometimes called 'screw brass', more usually 'free-machining brass' - it's got a bit of lead in it to help it machine better. The gunmetal is not quite so common; SAE660 is a grade that seems to be used for machined components, and from experience it machines very nicely.

 

[adidat]

Leave it with me for 24 hours, and I'll take some pics of mine.

Would offer to make a screw up for you, as I've got plenty of lumps of relevant sized brass but my workmanship probably wouldn't do the plane justice. Knurling is very simple once you've got the hang of it, but I've still to master the art

is yours identical, very kind offer thanks

thanks for the info CChappie there some on ebay but its only inch thick it looks more like 1 1/4"

adidat

 

[Richard T]

This is a place I've heard good things about in Brum and will be getting my bronze from.

http://www.johnkeatleymetals.com/PB102%20rod.html

Mind you, there are a lot of metal mungers in Brum ...

 

[adidat]

thanks for that

i bet 4 1/2" is spensive!

adidat