Brese 875 Smoother--Pinning the Infills

The infills on the Brese plane are pinned to the body using two methods. The first requires a 3/8" aluminum dowel to be placed through both infills in the area close to the mouth. The pin is then installed into this dowel. The other pins are simply wood screws like on the Brese small smoother I did last year. Here I'm drilling the front infill for the 3/8" dowel.





To keep the dowel from rotating when drilling and tapping into the end, a small dowel is installed through the bottom of the infill.



The pin extends about half way into the 3/8" dowel.



The rear infill gets the same treatment...



...except drilling into the bottom of the wedge-shaped piece presents some challenges. I came up with a quick and dirty jig for holding the infill.



It did the trick.



Once the dowels were placed it was time to drill through the sides and into the infill (or dowels). Here I've mounted the plane in a drill press vise. I used shims to raise the plane off the metal surface for protection. The wood piece on the right is also shimmed above the plane side so it presses on the top edge of the rear infill when the vise is tightened, pressing the infill tight to the plane sole for the pinning operation.



Drilling the pilot hole for the 8-32 machine screws.





The holes for the pins are countersunk for peining over. I turned the countersink manually while in the chuck for a smooth and precise chamfer. I didn't want any chattering.



The c-clamp ensures the rear section of the rear infill stays tight to the sole for drilling the rear holes for the wood screws.



Tapping the aluminum dowels through the sides of the plane while still clamped in the vise.



The chamfer is sized so the screw seats before the slot reaches the plane side.



I was a bit "file" lazy, and decided that I could grind down the heads of the pins with my 1" belt grinder. I could see exactly what was happening, and the results were predictable and controlled.



I ground down to about the bottom of the slot.



I was able to get real close without touching the plane body at all.



The I peined the heads into the chamfers.



Then back to the grinder to remove most of the steel. Amazingly, I was able to get within a few thousandths on the belt grinder. I took the rest down with a file until I was within a couple thou of the sides.



Then straight to the surface plate for lapping the sides. I started with 180 grit and worked through 400. Anything beyond this I think is too shiny. I like the surface that the 400 gives.