Another plane question.
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jonbikebod
Established Member
I am not fortunate enough to own a bench rebate plane but I have found the #140 skew block plane to suffer badly from exaggerated blade slewing.
When used without the removable side in rebate mode the acutely angled corner of the blade is inclined to dig-in and slew the blade (don’t ever go near a knot!). When this happens the inclination is to tighten the cap screw a bit more to stop it happening again. It is not immediately apparent that doing this twists a portion of the sole. This is bad news for any plane but in this instance the acutely angled corner is now positioned to take a much more aggressive cut, which will mess the work up more, slew the blade again, so you tighten the cap screw a bit more….
Fortunately the bronze body of the L-N can be gently bent back, where I suspect the cast iron of the Stanley original would crack.
Some double sided tape placed where the blade beds behind the mouth might be a solution but far from ideal.
Jon.
When used without the removable side in rebate mode the acutely angled corner of the blade is inclined to dig-in and slew the blade (don’t ever go near a knot!). When this happens the inclination is to tighten the cap screw a bit more to stop it happening again. It is not immediately apparent that doing this twists a portion of the sole. This is bad news for any plane but in this instance the acutely angled corner is now positioned to take a much more aggressive cut, which will mess the work up more, slew the blade again, so you tighten the cap screw a bit more….
Fortunately the bronze body of the L-N can be gently bent back, where I suspect the cast iron of the Stanley original would crack.
Some double sided tape placed where the blade beds behind the mouth might be a solution but far from ideal.
Jon.
Back again. Tony said that he found woodies lacking in fine adjustment and prone to tear out.
I would have agreed, once upon a time, the majority of old wooden planes that I have handled have mouth larger than my mum-in-law.
Using an adjustable mouth solved that for me instantly, much easier and quicker than on a Bailey.
Lack of fine adjustment? I found that to be so, till I followed Philly's advice. Today I made myself a small mallet out of some off cuts of spalted Beech, placed a piece of wood in the vice and ran a plane over it, then I tapped the toe and ran the plane over the wood again. Not much different, tapped it a little harder. Magic!
The crunch for me was could I now reduce the shaving by tapping the heel?
You bet! 5 mins practice and I was getting much easier, and quicker, adjustments than on any Bailey.
Thanks Philly.
I would have agreed, once upon a time, the majority of old wooden planes that I have handled have mouth larger than my mum-in-law.
Using an adjustable mouth solved that for me instantly, much easier and quicker than on a Bailey.
Lack of fine adjustment? I found that to be so, till I followed Philly's advice. Today I made myself a small mallet out of some off cuts of spalted Beech, placed a piece of wood in the vice and ran a plane over it, then I tapped the toe and ran the plane over the wood again. Not much different, tapped it a little harder. Magic!
The crunch for me was could I now reduce the shaving by tapping the heel?
You bet! 5 mins practice and I was getting much easier, and quicker, adjustments than on any Bailey.
Thanks Philly.
David C
In Memorium
I don't think JK would have used wooden planes for most of a lifetime if they lacked fine adjustment.
Phil Edwards kindly sent me a Santos Rosewood coffin smoother, and having tuned it after it had acclimatised to my workshop, it has just produced shavings of less than 1 thou!".
I shall be bringing this plane to the Yandles show, as well as a couple of others. Will be with/adjacent to Mike and Phil in the Classic Handtools area.
Best wishes,
David Charlesworth
Phil Edwards kindly sent me a Santos Rosewood coffin smoother, and having tuned it after it had acclimatised to my workshop, it has just produced shavings of less than 1 thou!".
I shall be bringing this plane to the Yandles show, as well as a couple of others. Will be with/adjacent to Mike and Phil in the Classic Handtools area.
Best wishes,
David Charlesworth
jonbikebod
Established Member
Roy,
I have no particular allegiance wood, infill or Bailey; I get pleasure from using planes that work really well. Probably because I have worked out how to get good results from various planes and this flatters my meagre talent as a cabinet maker. I have found it is well worth going to the trouble to understand why they may not be working as well as they could and finding solutions.
If you do decide to go down the grub screw route, feel free to PM me for photos, explanations or even the grub screws (I am sure I still have some having bought them at an auto jumble years ago).
As I said, it happens to make lateral adjustment more precise, the only negative being originality – if that is a concern.
I would like to be clear that none of this contradicts DC’s well established approach to plane preparation. It works in conjunction with it; particularly should your plane use involve planning diagonally to the grain.
Jon.
I have no particular allegiance wood, infill or Bailey; I get pleasure from using planes that work really well. Probably because I have worked out how to get good results from various planes and this flatters my meagre talent as a cabinet maker. I have found it is well worth going to the trouble to understand why they may not be working as well as they could and finding solutions.
If you do decide to go down the grub screw route, feel free to PM me for photos, explanations or even the grub screws (I am sure I still have some having bought them at an auto jumble years ago).
As I said, it happens to make lateral adjustment more precise, the only negative being originality – if that is a concern.
I would like to be clear that none of this contradicts DC’s well established approach to plane preparation. It works in conjunction with it; particularly should your plane use involve planning diagonally to the grain.
Jon.
I confess that I like the feel of wooden planes, which is why I persisted in perfecting my tecnique Jon, but I have no problems with originality on metal planes, just about every tool in my shop has been modified. Planes are for use, not decoration.
I'll definitely be PMing you.
Many thanks.
Roy.
I'll definitely be PMing you.
Many thanks.
Roy.
