Jointer Plane Blades

[D_W]

I would be interested in how a straight blade is used to square up an edge so done a couple or drawings to how I guess you do it and how I would used a cambered blade. The advantage of the cambered blade that I see it is the plane stays in full contact with the wood while changing the angle you are planing. Hope you can make out what I am getting at from these drawings.

The simple answer is that you'd adjust the plane with the straight iron if needed and then correct the high side by biasing the plane toward the high side. Even if a plane is set for an even shaving, if you use it so that it is more off of the high side of the wood than the other side, it will bias its cut.

This is something that is better done in the shop and checked with a square than debated about on a forum.

Also, if one way or the other didn't work, we'd have a rash of questions about uneven panels or joints that became unglued, and of course, that has not occurred.

A user who did things one way or the other would quickly develop familiarity with how to get a square edge - it's pretty hard to avoid developing that skill if we gain some experience (I gather that what's more common in hand tool forums is to square edges with a power jointer and then talk about how to do it on a forum with planes. Not accusing you of that).

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

I would be interested in how a straight blade is used to square up an edge so done a couple or drawings to how I guess you do it and how I would used a cambered blade. The advantage of the cambered blade that I see it is the plane stays in full contact with the wood while changing the angle you are planing. Hope you can make out what I am getting at from these drawings.

Beau, I just simply move the plane towards the high side, still with the whole iron on contact with the work. I can see that it should work better with a cambered iron but the extra weight of the plane on the high side does the trick. Some times I put a bit of weight with the thumb of my left hand on the high side as well. Take a few passes, keep checking with square and, well it works. Try it and you will see. However if you are already are having success with a cambered iron then there is probably no point.
Paddy.

 

[woodbrains]

I would be interested in how a straight blade is used to square up an edge so done a couple or drawings to how I guess you do it and how I would used a cambered blade. The advantage of the cambered blade that I see it is the plane stays in full contact with the wood while changing the angle you are planing. Hope you can make out what I am getting at from these drawings.

Hello.

With a straight iron, just take a 1/2 width shaving off the high side (or a couple if you are quite out of square). You end up with 2 facets that the plane will register on for the full width trueing shaving. It is dead easy.

Of course if you are used to a cambered iron for edge jointing, then all well and good, but I do see a disadvantage, that I have known people to struggle with. Being human, it is not natural to push the plane dead straight along the board. We tend to move a bit diagonally. With successive shavings, a cambered blade can introduce an out of square, or even a wind in the edge as the iron passes from low to high and back to low again during the stroke. With a square across iron, set parallel to the sole, any lateral movement of the plane when moving along the board will make no difference.

Mike.

 

[Racers]

I use a cambered blade it's the best way I have found of squaring edges.
I use the method described by David Charlesworth I.e. marking the high points and using the camber to remove the high points, which are often on either side of the edge.
Holding a plane at an angle I find very difficult and setting the blade at angle won't work if the edge is out on both sides along the board, unless you alter the blade on the fly.

Pete

 

[ED65]

I don't think that we can gauge what works well by what most hand tool users are doing, only because I think most people don't get far enough into hand tools to differentiate what works really well and what doesn't.

I would completely agree with that. I was just addressing whether it was usual or not (not whether it should be usual)

As far as texts, I don't read too far back too much, but I'd bet if we examine what people are doing to finish plane for the last 125 years, it's not their final surface, anyway.

Yes, scrapers would have been the go-to for many, perhaps even a majority.

The arguments that work can't be done one way or another or that it's really difficult to true edges with a straight blade - that's goofy.

Agreed. I think far too often these fall into the I don't do it that way so it can't be done that way category of advice, which learners have to be wary of. Or try to, it can be difficult to spot.

 

[ED65]

I would be interested in how a straight blade is used to square up an edge so done a couple or drawings to how I guess you do it and how I would used a cambered blade. The advantage of the cambered blade that I see it is the plane stays in full contact with the wood while changing the angle you are planing. Hope you can make out what I am getting at from these drawings.

Tipping the plane over is one obvious method, and possibly most common done, but there are other options.

Despite more than one prominent guru saying you should never do this I've been experimenting with using the lateral adjuster for this, and it seems to work perfectly well. I'd even go so far as to say it's slightly more efficient than the alternatives (when using an uncambered iron).