Block plane issues

[Ivan86]

I’ve just received this new Stanley 160mm block plane. Out the box I’m having issues with it making it unusable without regrinding, is this expected?

The mouth doesn’t appear to be large enough for the factory blade angle even when adjusted to be fully open. The blade gets wedged against the mouth unless you force it and then there’s almost no gap at the top. It also protrudes at an angle so only one side can be seen, even when adjusted fully to the other side.

Do I need to spend time fixing this or is something wrong and I should return it?

Cheers

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Have you put the iron in bevel down?

 

[Ivan86]

No it’s bevel up. It’s a low angle block plane

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Good. I was just starting at the beginning.

 

[Ivan86]

Pic attached for reference

 

[Ivan86]

If I manually force open and secure the mouth as far open as possible (beyond the extend of the opening mechanism), this is the most mouth clearance possible. Seems really tiny, only 0.49mm on the wider side of the blade and 0.39mm on the other side.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi - your first pic suggests that the blade is not sitting flat on the bed/frog - perhaps because it's not correctly seated on the adjustment mechanism underneath the blade? Cheers, W2S

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Also - what's the (primary) bevel angle on the blade?

 

[Ivan86]

I checked and the blade is definitely bedded correctly. See photo.

The blade angle is given as 13.5 ( I measure it to be 13.8 so close enough). The primary bevel is given as 25, I measure it to be 23.

 

[profchris]

Shouldn't the adjuster pin thingy sit in the first slot, not the middle one? You use slots 2 and 3 when the blade has worn shorter.

 

[Ivan86]

That’s what I thought but when it’s in that slot, when the depth adjust screw is maxed out, the blade still isn’t protruding. Had to go for second slot to get it to push far enough.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Ivan, where in the East Midlands are you? If you are anywhere near NG17 you are welcome to bring it over and we can have a look at it together.

 

[ED65]

Do I need to spend time fixing this or is something wrong and I should return it?

This is a modern mass-market plane, so some fettling being required should be expected. Some will require little work, others more, but it should be taken as a given that at least something needs doing to get the plane to function properly (or at all in the case of the poorer ones). Only the occasional gem won't need anything but a quick hone to work well.

This isn't anything new, it goes back to well before all the made-in-China rubbish we complain about so much these days.

...protrudes at an angle so only one side can be seen, even when adjusted fully to the other side.

Assuming the iron is ground square you have one of the castings where the machining of the bed wasn't done right and it needs to be addressed with some careful file work. Been there!

Seems really tiny, only 0.49mm on the wider side of the blade and 0.39mm on the other side.

A sub-0.5mm mouth is good and fine, and is well suited to the kind of work a low-angle block plane would typically be reserved for. But if you need to allow for your one to do a wider range of jobs then some filling or sanding of the rear edge of the mouth insert may be in order, although I expect once you've sorted the bed out you won't find the mouth too small any more as taking the bed down in effect moves the iron backwards some.

 

[lurker]

Ivan, where in the East Midlands are you? If you are anywhere near NG17 you are welcome to bring it over and we can have a look at it together.

If that's far away, how about LE11
Same offer.

 

[Ivan86]

Ivan, where in the East Midlands are you? If you are anywhere near NG17 you are welcome to bring it over and we can have a look at it together.

If that's far away, how about LE11
Same offer.

I'm near Kinoulton, south Nottinghamshire, so not too close to either sadly. Many thanks for the offer, if I'm still struggling with it in a weeks time I make take one of you up on it though!

This is a modern mass-market plane, so some fettling being required should be expected. Some will require little work, others more, but it should be taken as a given that at least something needs doing to get the plane to function properly (or at all in the case of the poorer ones). Only the occasional gem won't need anything but a quick hone to work well.

This isn't anything new, it goes back to well before all the made-in-China rubbish we complain about so much these days.

Assuming the iron is ground square you have one of the castings where the machining of the bed wasn't done right and it needs to be addressed with some careful file work. Been there!

A sub-0.5mm mouth is good and fine, and is well suited to the kind of work a low-angle block plane would typically be reserved for. But if you need to allow for your one to do a wider range of jobs then some filling or sanding of the rear edge of the mouth insert may be in order, although I expect once you've sorted the bed out you won't find the mouth too small any more as taking the bed down in effect moves the iron backwards some.

For the cost of the plane (think I paid £33) I wasn't expecting it to be perfect. I was expecting to probably need to sharpen the blade for sure, hadn't expected to need to do too much to the body though! It's the first plane I've owned and wanted to know if it was fixable or if I should be returning it while I still can was all.

I will try and reduce the bed a bit and add a secondary bevel to the blade. Thinking setting the secondary bevel to 30° to give an effective cutting angle of 42.5°, thoughts? I've already got some new DMT diamond whetstones coming next week for sharpening from Axminster. Is it best to use those for the bed or stick some fine sandpaper down to a board? I don't have any float glass sadly. I will have to check the mouth after, and may come back for some advice on widening it if it's still too small after the other tweaks. I don't have any files so would likely need to sand it somehow...

btw, many thanks for all the replies, much appreciated!

 

[lurker]

Cleaning up a bed is quite fiddly.
I doubt you will get diamond stones in there.
Dremmel bits can be useful.
Be aware the casting is quite soft though.

 

[paulm]

Send it back, try another of the same, and if still poor increase the budget and try another brand would be my suggestion.

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

 

[MikeG.]

Absolutely do not take a file to the bed. That will invalidate your warranty. Just send it back and get a replacement. If that isn't any better, as Paul says, get your money back and buy something else. My view is that you would be better off getting a bomb-proof old Stanley or Record block plane, second hand. Any necessary fettling will have been done.

 

[Bm101]

This. All day long.
You deserve a plane out of the box that needs fettling not re-engineering.
It's a nonsense.

For me I'd send it back and buy an older one on ebay or maybe one on a tool restoration site.
I know people buy modern stanleys, riders etc. I just don't know why.
If it's a percentages market, why buy at low percentages?
I'd rather buy at the same price for a used tool than take the chance on buying new.
Or buy new and pay a bit and jump to QS etc and get a 100 percent tool if that's your bag that needs just a tickle.

 

[Ttrees]

I got stung with a vintage Stanley 60 1/2 so beware! the newer Record/Irwin ones are pants also.
These planes need to have a parallel ground bed to the sole for the adjustable mouth.
Along with the cutters bedding needing to be ground correctly, avoiding having to grind a skew into the iron for even projection.
I wouldn't bother looking on online for one and get something else.
I had enough of that and coughed up for a LN 601/2.
Can't say gets used all that much, and if I was shopping for planes again I might reconsider my choice and maybe would have gotten a vintage no.3 instead
for doing bevels or something like that..I feel more comfortable planing tearout prone timbers with the double iron.
Tom