adjusting wooden planes

[engineer one]

ok, so i have finally figured out getting my metal planes to work properly now its only getting me to work properly :lol: :lol:

but now i want to fettle and use some of my new and older wooden
planes. having got the blades sharp, i want to understand the
difficulties of moving the blade small increments at a time.

some of my wooden planes have a metal button at the rear,
some not, and of course the wooden wedge

so as i understand it. i place the blade inside the mouth, so it is just flush with the bottom of the plane, and then gently knock in the wedge.

BUT, are there any better ways???

paul :wink:

 

[Wiley Horne]

Paul,

Here are some methods I've found useful, and they vary according to whether the plane is a bench plane or a moulding plane. To set the initial blade depth on bench planes, take a straight stick of wood, narrower than the blade, say 1/2" wide, fix it in a vise or on your benchtop, and balance the plane on it. Lower the blade until it rests on the wood, and work it side to side feeling the camber on the blade, until you're satisfied that the blade is about right laterally. Then with the blade lightly resting on the stick, slide the wedge in, and set it finger tight. Push the plane forward just a bit and if the blade feels about right, give the wedge one tap with a wooden hammer, and that should set it pretty close. Now test the blade on the stick of wood, checking that the shaving is thickness you want, and that it's the same thickness if you plane on the left side as on the right side. If not, take your hammer and tap the blade on one side or the other to get the lateral adjust right.

To set the blade deeper, tap down on the blade, then on the wedge--tap, tap. To raise the blade a little, but not take it out, tap with a wooden hammer forward of the blade on the plane body--this should raise the blade, but leave the wedge in place. So you tap forward of the blade, then tap the wedge to reset it--tap, tap. After some practice, you get an idea of how hard to tap forward of the blade to get a certain increment of blade raising. Many longer planes--try planes, jointers--will have a strike button installed for this purpose. You can easily install your own strike button from scraps of dense wood you happen to have on hand.

To remove the whole blade+wedge assembly, take your wooden mallet and hit the plane on the rear strike button, or if it does not have a strike button at the rear, on the upper rear edge, at roughly a 45-degree angle.

Now on moulding planes, the initial setting of the blade is best done by eye, since you must set both the depth and also set the blade profile to match the bed profile. Turn the plane upside down, and sight from front to back. Practice this til you get the hang of it. On a moulding plane, I like to use a small wooden hammer to remove the wedge by tapping on its finial, or if the blade is snecked, on the blade. You certainly can remove the blade by hitting the plane at the rear, and you will see lots of hammer tracks on moulding planes from people nailing them with steel hammers.

If you're gonna be using woodies a lot, a very useful tool to have is a hammer, say 8-10 oz in weight, with a brass poll on one end of the head, and a wooden poll on the other. The brass poll will not mushroom the blade when tapping it in, and the wooden poll will not make tracks on the plane body when raising the blade. There are commercial hammers of this type available, or you can make your own, or you can improvise with what you already have to hand.

There are undoubtedly a number of ways to perform these adjustments. Some people have the ability to feel the right blade depth with their fingertips, for example. After you do it for a while, you will develop your own methods which are efficient for you.

Woodies are a great adventure!

Wiley

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

The way I set my HNT Gordon smoother, try plane and shoulder plane is as follows:

(1) Place the iron-less plane body on a flat hardwood board. A piece roughly 6-9" should be long enough.

(2) Insert the iron and slide it gently through the mouth until it rests on the hardwood board.

(3) Press the plane body down onto the hardwood board (so that the iron does not project through) and insert the wedge, pressing it down firmly.

(4) Continue to press the plane body down to the board, and now gently tap the wedge until it is moderately firm.

You are now in a position to fine-tune the plane. What you should have at this point, if all has gone well, is an even projection of the bevel, and it should be just fine enough to plane a thin shaving. I usually feel the edges with a finger tip to determine even projection and degree of projection.

(5) If all is well, just tap the wedge a little more to seat it enough that it is solidly firm. Then plane away.

(6) If the iron needs more projection, tap the top of the iron. If it requires a tad less, you can try rapping the back of the body. This should raise the iron while leaving the wedge in place. The wedge will loosen a tad, so tap it firm before continuing. If the bevel is skew, then you can tap the side of the iron to angle it over. Sometimes it is easier to just start again (with the body and board) as, if done correctly, this alone is sufficient to set up the plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[engineer one]

thanks guys.

how hard should you hit the wedge, i kind of feel that gentle taps
make it a little unsafe to plane too hard, and i know that feel is
different for all of us, but just above hand pushed i guess?

paul

 

[MikeW]

Hi Paul,

If the wedge fits properly, it won't take much of a tap to set the wedge. I would describe it as a light but firm tap.

Really, some of my wood planes vary. For me, I learned by slippage of the iron whet a particular plane required in the way of the wedge setting. So if anything, I would say I started out trying to find how snug the wedge on a given plane needed to be to prevent the iron from backing out. A couple passes on some scrap will let you know if it is in firm enough.

Take care, Mike

 

[engineer one]

thanks mike,
that is the answer i thought, it is i guess just difficult to
think that wood to wood friction will hold the blade in the same way
as the adjuster on your LN/LV modern plane.

now i must finish the bench and cabinet before the end of june(hahahaha)

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know how much I can help.

Personally, I'd never knock the plane body. I only ever hit the wedge and the blade.

First I'd wax the wedge lightly. Some blades stick with the wedge a little, such that when you tap the wedge home, the blade runs with it annoyingly. Waxing it, helps to avoid that.

The initial settings important. Seeing the blade well is the tricky bit. Try and orientate yourself well to a good light souce, such that the blade is clearly silhouette to the body, so you can clearly see it ever so slightly peaking out the sole. Then I'd give the wedge a little rap with a wedge. Shouldn't have to touch the wedge from now on.

Now I'd try to make a shaving. If nothing, start working the blade with little faint hammer taps. After every tap try and take a shaving, until it starts to take a shaving.

If you tap too hard and the shaving becomes too coarse, I'd reverse out the wedge with the hammer and start over.

If the blades not centred, and its a wooden bench plane, you can often fix that by taps to the left and right side of the blade. eg. if the blades taking a shaving off to the right too much, a tap to the left of the top of the blade will bring it left ....etc. if you get my drift.

Every planes a little different. The problem one might have may not be due to the way you set it. ie. profiles of blade doesn't match the sole, or, its not sharp or, soles warped too much etc.

I'd start practising with planes that give the smallest width shavings first. They tend to be more compensating for blade sharpening and setting errors.....unlike, a wide width one, which must take a fine shaving or else its just too difficult to control. ....this way you can at least get it going.

Some of my larger ones I'm still having trouble with. I've got a big 1" bead plane that still cloggs up no matter how fine I set it. In excellent condition too. It teases me sitting up on that shelf. I'm beginning to think that it really isn't meant to work....its conditions suggests that too.

Goodluck with it.

 

[Shady]

The above answers are all good stuff: the bottom line, mate, which you're gonna hate as an engineer ( :wink: ), is that it's an art rather than a science. Whether it's a block of wood, a flat bench, or a 'blade setting block', a surface to sit the plane on is about as scientific as it gets. Thereafter, it's a case of tap, tappity, tap on the top of the blade, the sides of the blade, the wedge, the plane body in front of the blade, and the plane body at the back...

Only experience and familiarity with the individual plane will get you able to be confident. It's very similar to sharpening - you have to find a routine that works for you.

Having said all of that, once you've got it, it is, on balance, faster than setting up a metal plane - certainly not significantly different, as far as time goes.

 

[engineer one]

shady, ta. and jake.

i'm not concerned about it being an art mate, it's
learning the art.

i can get the wedge to hold the blade, then i tap the wedge, and no matter
how careful i am, i seem to knock the blade down too far.

i guess the thing i am having trouble with is the concept of how hard the wedge should be driven to stop the blade being pushed back as you
plane. i can get thick shavings, but it is getting the fine ones which is
causing me the pain.

have to say that the wood comes out very smooth, just too large a
shaving.

i must get into a "zen mode", :twisted: :lol:
and see how it works. i actually use a plastic mallet should
i be using something heavier, or after reading about alf's
weekend buy, maybe i need to use my mason's mallet. :lol: :lol:

will try harder to make it cut finer.
thanks
paul :wink:

 

[MarcW]

Paul,

Just an idea, but did you check the flatness of the sole, no wind?

And another one, tapping in the wedge can drive the blade too deeper. In this case let the blade a little bit back, tap the wedge and you'll see it protruding.

Just guesswork,

Marc

 

[Shady]

i must get into a "zen mode", Twisted Evil Laughing
and see how it works. i actually use a plastic mallet should
i be using something heavier, or after reading about alf's
weekend buy, maybe i need to use my mason's mallet. Laughing Laughing

Nope - I actually use a German 'locksmith's hammer' for my setting, which is quite petite. Without seeing/feeling your planes, it might just be that the seating of wedge/blade/bed needs checking. A tuned plane will have a good, uniformly flat face where each contacts the other. As soon as you don't have this, you get 'stickiness' or 'looseness', the latter of which seems to be what you're hinting at to me.. Just a thought, HTH.

Stick with it - the feeling of satisfaction when you get a woodie to work well is great - it's such a simple tool in concept, and yet capable of fantastic results.

Tap the wedge on the setting block/surface: I tend to push the blade and wedge in finger/hand tight on the block, and then I give the wedge a single, firm tap with the hammer, still on the block. I'm trying to think of the right word, actually: 'tap' is too soft, 'clout' is too hard. 'firm knock', or 'meaningful rap' is the sort of description that best fits my sort of hit. I then make a test cut: if it's not deep enough, tiny taps on both wedge and or blade until it is: if it's too deep, option one is a firm tap on the body, option two is to rap it out and start again....

This is frustrating: the ideal is personal contact: going to the meet in September?

 

[engineer one]

ch**t i can't yet plan for next week, so september looks interesting,
and i will try to work toward that end.

will see how i can get certain things changed, cause i like these
dutch planes. actually though the cut outs are not as nicely finished
as i would like, still trying to figure the best way to fettle them.

will try all the hints, and let you know how i get on.

thanks again


paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I thought of a process that may help, such that you don't have to try and line the blade up by eye....which can be difficult, especially in poor light.

It may not be for you, but in this thread .....
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au ... hp?t=23834
.....starting at post #11 there's a picture by picture process showing A way of doing it.

Its how I do it with wedged bench planes. Definetly not THE way. I'm sure everyones got their own technique. But maybe there'll be something in that post that'll help launch an idea.

Basically you just set a blade using a piece of scrap...tapping the iron down slowly as you push the plane until shavings appear.....