Search results

Dragon usually knew what they were talking about, but I would have guessd that 60 deg would put the heel of the bevel pretty close to the work. You'd have to measure the bedding angle of your block and do a quick drawing to be sure you weren't polishing with the heel instead of cutting. Nigel...

Had some new Stanley Fat Max scredrivers etc arrive this week. They appear to be French made - can see no other reason for "France" to be stamped in the handle. Just as nice as Wiha and a fair bit cheaper. So "Stanley" doesn't always mean Asian made nowadays. Like almost all drivers, sizes over...

I think that's what you may head towards if you keep taking full length shavings. Although as often drawn in textbooks, with only heel, cutting edge, and toe touching the job, the plane couldn't actually cut, so this might be an oft repeated armchair supposition. Presumably that's why "stop...

Mine are supplied at 40 deg, so I have been repeating that. However lately I have been honing a tiny backbevel of about 15 deg which does reduce tearout in hardwoods. I have been thinking maybe I should have knives ground at a lower angle, and maybe get them to add the backbevel too (if they can...

What you can straighten with limited table length depends on the section and weight. Will it sag? (it may lift at the knives) Can I hold it? A couple of times table length is getting close to the limit, I should think. I fitted my Jet with a 1M felder extension outfeed table, which is featured...

I don't claim any wild expertise on the subject, but the length of time that LN blades last before sharpening is neded, still surprises me. I'm sure Tony is right and exact choice of angles don't matter too much, but a quick thought about clearance angles is needed if you put a back bevel on a...

I think "How flat is flat for a plane sole?" depends on the plane. A short smoother is much stiffer than a number 8, and a small error will prevent the plane taking a full length fine 1 thou shaving from a "flat" board (fresh from the properly set* surfacer, say: when setting up tables two 4'...

Having regard to the price of a new one, I think I might have been tempted to shell out for a regrind from Ray Isles (although the postage will probably cost more than the work!). Good luck with the froghunt, a nice job!

The heavy galvy stuff from Ax is I think the same as from Lee Valley; the full SP is on LV's website, it's 3/16" rolled steel and carries rather a lot per bracket, as you fix it to the wall with expansion bolts. Should make your annex chippie quiver.... I have a mix of Screwfix and Toolstation...

It takes several times more HP to deliver (or remove) the same amount of air through a 2" pipe than a 4" pipe. the 2" pipe has a lot of flow resistance, even with a vacuum cleaner style extractor. Bends, especially of small radius like those sold in kits etc. (2" waste pipe sweep bends are...

I have several LN blades that do not have // sides. Presumably this is a result of polishing the edges - looks nice but not always helpful. Judicious bit of grinding needed for LV Mk2 (which I like) setting guide to work.

Not at all sure this is the whole answer... Take a nice flat piece of stuff, and a newly sharpened chisel. Place the chisel flat on the wood (zero degrees relief) and push. See any shavings?

American "sycamore" is in fact a Plane (Platanus) which has marble sized bristly fruits. The tree we call a Sycamore is a maple (Acer) with leaves that look similar to the Plane tree (hence Acer psuedoplatanus). Maples have winged fruits that make the "helicopters" of childhood.

Of course wood moves; that's why parts get cut roughly to size and stacked for a bit. After they've settled you can do a bit of precision planing, and mark out some joints, and cut and assemble them. The wood may move again afterwards. No one is suggesting it makes sense to attempt to size your...

When doing careful work a shaving is 1 to 1.5 thou thick. If the plane is not flat you won't get a shaving! Using stop shavings and a flat plane on a furniture sized part will get it about 2 thou concave; no bumps to upset your square, and flat enough to give accurate dimensions when squaring...

The point of the 50 deg high angle frog is that if you plane hardwood, you keep it fitted all the time.

Agreed, Bugbear: But my granite plate (£86 from Axminster) is about 29" on the diagonal, just big enough to get my No8 corner to corner. Tilgear have 9x12 plates for under 30 quid, sometimes much less in their sales, but not quite a tenner! I see in Ray Isles will grind your plane sole for...

Electronic components are often impregnated (ie transformers) so there may be something on the web there about "vacuum impregnation". Polyester resin (as used in grp) is very cheap, but slightly pinkish in colour. There are casting resins for encapsulation that are clear, water-like. The firm...

My first plane (Stanley 41/2)was inherited from an apprentice trained craftsman, but the second was a long saved for No 6 which I could never get to work. Very much later I discovered it was 25 thou concave, and so useless without hours of flattening. Without significant work Record/Stanley are...

I think the first time I heard of impregnation (No, no, not that) was in connection with split cane fishing rods. These are glued up from six equilateral sections planed up from from long thin pieces riven from much larger canes (prbably 50mm diameter). These were impregnated with epoxy. Epoxy...