6mm brass, 6mm gauge plate, a combo of machine-assisted and hand-cut compound dovetails, Indian rosewood infill, epoxied and peened cross-grain at the front, epoxied and screwed long-grain for the tote, hand-shaped bronze lever cap, half inch UNF fine-pitch screw with an abalone (New Zealand paua) and bright copper insert in a plain-knurled knob (which is still a few threads too long, only needs an eighth of movement in this configuration - just enough to slide the iron into place). Secondary knurled knob stops the iron from sliding out the bottom and chopping toes off!
Stainless friction-fit lever cap pin, 2 inch by one quarter inch high carbon tool steel HNT Gordon iron, no backiron, pitched at 50 degrees (York pitch), bevel-down. Mouth 0.024in/0.60mm, ideal for general-purpose smoothing.
Overall 5 and 3/4 inches, by 2 and 3/8, by 3 tall (145 x 60 x 75mm), 1.6 kg (3.6 lbs), Heavy!!
Plane doubles as a scraper if iron is reversed to bevel-up (a technique recommended by Terry Gordon, and in my experience with an HNT Gordon jointer, this technique is spectacularly sucessful) and will clean up curly grain to glass-smooth. In scraper mode, the mass and grip helps produce a chatter-free, smoooth cut.
The image pixilating gives a jaggy impression. In the flesh the curves are fair and clean.
This is the first version, intended to be an unhandled plane. It was too heavy, awkward to grip, and risky to operate (too easy to drop).
So I removed some rosewood, ploughed a groove for a tang and spine, rivetted-on two rosewood scales, and dropped the nose.
Here's the result
This view shows the sculptured form of the lever cap - flush with the sides, the piece of hand-shaped bronze runs as one smooth compound curve up around the screw, with a hard line between the chamfer and the rolled face. Mounted close to the cutting edge of the iron, the cap acts a bit like a chipbreaker.
Abalone changes colour and depth in different views, dark blues and pinks (Southern Ocean paua is
the most colourful of the Pacific abalones).