This post has written by Vittorio Thinking of metal planes I often think to Stewart Spiers I like much the side profile and handles, so I searched for a model; I found it on the Handplane Central website, so I adapted the draw for a 2 inches blade and tried to building the plane.
I used Fe 430 steel bars (5x70mm) for sole and sides, joined the two sides in three points by countersunk screws (in this choice the screws do not interfere while the pieces are clamped in the vice) and cut the tails.
The mouth is opened by boring it with a 3 mm tip, hack saw blade and a 2,5 mm file. I obtained two angles, one of 47° (seat angle) and the other of 45° (wear angle). The blade support (47°) is fixed by 3 iron rivets (dia. 6,5 mm) The sole is prepared for jointing and the classical Spiers profile is cut. Beautiful but a little bit laborious. 
Sanding by 80 grit abrasive paper (sides are screwed to a piece of wood) 
During the tail peening, if joints are precise, 2 mm of extra length are enough, otherwise 3 mm are necessary for closing all gaps.
Lever cap: I could not imitate the original because had not a model; however the job was acceptable for me.
The chipbreaker showed some rusted areas, so I sanded it (80 and 120 grit) and created the profile for a good adherence to blade at cutting edge.
The Sorby blade is 2" wide parallel iron (from e-bay); 25° bevel, 30° microbevel.
The cap iron screw (M8, 16 mm head) was built by welding together a rectangular nut with a screwed rod. Bun and handle are ash wood, stained and treated with shellac.
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Welcome to my new blog ...
So whats all this about? Well, wood working has been an interest of mine for quite some time, but living on a small boat doesnt really (in my opinion) lend itself to a suitable environment - not for a complete beginner anychoice. Now I am land based and living in a house with a free room I have the perfect opportunity.
Why blog? Up to this point I have been an avid armchair wood worker, All the Gear and No Idea!. But I have found that reading other peoples blogs has helped me learn some of the theory behind wood working. So if other people just starting out can learn anything from me or most likely my mistakes then its worthwhile. Also, by documenting my progression it serves as a motivator to continue when things go wrong, not to mention input and comments from readers.
So where are we? Like I said I own a small number of hand tools, some inherited from my boat and some purchased new. The tools that came with the boat are a bit old and not in the best condition, most being rusty. I will spend some time cleaning and trying to make these usable. The new tools have never been used and are still preserved in polythene bags smeared with Vaseline - tools rust on boats! I will post in detail about the tool collection soon.
The initial plan is to sort out a work area with some kind of bench. Store and (learn to) sharpen my tools. Then make a few small bench tools as beginner projects.
Some days ago I finished writing an article about combination planes and their uses for the Italian woodworking magazine Legnolab. Was this an occasion for a job I had in mind for some time, regarding a not so common combination plane, the Lewin Universal Plane. The Lewin plane was a British tool sold around 50s. Very close to Stanley 45 and 50, is featured by an aluminium body onto which steel skates are fixed. Another particular feature are the cam bolts; they permit a faster and easier part fixing. The plane I acquired was in excellent conditions, complete of all cutters and original instruction manual.The original wooden box (it came with the plane too), instead, came in poor condition.
Clearly, the box was been stored in a very wet site and the moisture was an hard test for the wood, causing the inevitable damages Either the plane than cutters, instead, came in very fair conditions, rust free, due to a thick grease layer I found onto the plane and blades: someone payed particular attention to the precious box content: Thank you! 
So, I decided of restoring the box, preserving as well as possible the time signs which give a beautiful lived look. The first operation was to disassemble parts. The nails were very thin and rusted, so their recovery was quite impossible. I provided to repair splits and, where necessary, I added pine wood for restoring original dimensions. 
Original side joints were pinned rebates but, due to the poor wood condition at extremities, I preferred simple rebate joints. For the purpose I added a little bit of new wood and nails for more strength. 
I unglued the cover upper veneer and reglued it onto a piece of 4 mm plywood.The new bottom was veneered on both sides with a pine veneer on the upper side and a beech one on the bottom side: the original bottom had a similar structure. 
For veneering I used hide glue and pressed the work between two boards for 24h. 
The box inside showed some critical points: the cutter box, obtained from a pine block was glued cross-grained to a corner. This probably contributed to the box splitting. So, I preferred to leave it free on the bottom but stopped by two little wood pieces, glued with the grain in the correct orientation. In this choice is also possible to remove the cutter holder and keep it on the bench.
The plane holding system is clever and permits of keeping the plane assembled and lifted, so its weight does not act on the bottom. One holder was substituted end increased in thickness for offering more support to the rods. The instruction manual too has its place in the box, protected now by a plastic bag. On the external side I refreshed the original colour using a water based dye (a combination of cherry and rosewood dyes); a wax coat completed the box finishing. 
A particular was still missed:Looking at a box short side I noticed a little piece of paper, the remaining of the original label with plane description. A lighter coloured area established its dimensions.On the very good site Cornish Workshop I found a scanner of the label (and a lot of other precious info). I printed it and did a colour photostatic copy (my ink jet printer does not produce colours resistant enough for the purpose). In order to give an antique look, I used a diluted coffee solution in which the paper was soaked for several minutes and a microwave (1 min) for drying it. The final colour was right with some (good) stains due to the fast drying. 
The Lewin, is now inside its new old box, ready to work again. 
Start from a 1 mt x 70 cm piece and fold itself on the short side. Cut following the plan and obtain the main part. From waste you can cut the pockets, collar and back strips too. Fix them with pins and wear the apron before sewing it; if the case adjust to your body by shortening the collar (I am 6 2" tall). In order to make room for some little tool, the central pocket has been half divided by a sewing, while the pectoral pocket has three divisions to allowing the insertion of pencils and some other small things. Sew collar and strips (to waist level) to main part and make a sewing along the whole perimeter for more strength.