Mujingfang Metal Mouth problem

[woodbloke]

My brass insert is flush with the wood.

...as is mine. Great little plane and incredible value once set up correctly - Rob

 

[LocalOak]

Woodbloke

my insert is flush now that I've ground it but do you have any tips on setting this plane up? And what do you use it for? I think I'm getting there but am painfully aware of my lack of experience so am unashamedly trawling for help.

Toby

PS. Is it me or is the steel hard work to hone?

PPS. I have also just realised I had inadvertantly put a camber on the blade which meant I was taking thin but narrow shavings, I assume that a straight blade with slightly rounded corners would be best for this plane?

PPPS. Thanks

 

[Jeff Gorman]

Just how far does the strip project?

When planing reverse patches/strips of grain it it vital that the front lip of the mouth holds down the shaving that the blade is trying to lift and rive from the wood instead of cutting it.

Maybe the projection is intentional, but on this sample is a little too great?

 

[bugbear]

If paper shorter than the plane is used with a very short stroke, one might be able to prevent any possibility of convexity.

Then when mouth area flat and plane possibly slightly hollow, take a few passes on longer paper till flat.

i.e. Make it hollow then make it flat.

180 might be sufficient?

David

That all sounds very practical.

I once tried to abrade a protruding brass bolt head down (a similar, and apparently easy task).

I abraded the surrounding wood all too effectively :-(

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

I have one of these that i have been trying to get to work. I keep getting the blade slipping which is driving me nuts, should i be hammering the wedge harder??

Only as a last resort.

I would check the fit of the wedge. Ideally it should fit the abutments all along its length, on both sides. This can be checked with chalk (whiten the wedge, insert, see where you've left chalk)

Achieveing a perfect fit is difficult. But the wedge MUST be tight near the blade edge, which is where chatter starts.

If the wedge is prone to slipping, there may be wax (finish) on it. Try cleaning the wedge and/or blade with a solvent - perhaps meths.

I've seen attempts to roughen the blade, but I don't think it's effective.

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Woodbloke

my insert is flush now that I've ground it but do you have any tips on setting this plane up? And what do you use it for? I think I'm getting there but am painfully aware of my lack of experience so am unashamedly trawling for help.

Toby

PS. Is it me or is the steel hard work to hone?

Hard steel makes for good edge retention, but may be hard to hone. Very hard steels require either diamond or waterstones.

PPS. I have also just realised I had inadvertantly put a camber on the blade which meant I was taking thin but narrow shavings, I assume that a straight blade with slightly rounded corners would be best for this plane?

PPPS. Thanks

Either a VERY small camber, or rounded corners.

BugBear

 

[woodbloke]

Local Oak wrote -

Woodbloke

my insert is flush now that I've ground it but do you have any tips on setting this plane up? And what do you use it for? I think I'm getting there but am painfully aware of my lack of experience so am unashamedly trawling for help

These are excellent little planes and require little setting up...mainly honing the blade and ensuring the correct projection is obtained so that a whisper of a shaving can be obtained. This is what I did last year and it was working very well but on checking the sole just now it is slightly concave with the wear strip minutely proud of the rosewood, which is is itself lower than the straight edge. What I've done then is to hold a bit of 150g paper on a sheet of float glass, grip the plane in the centre and start to straighten out the sole, using very short strokes:

You can see that the brass strip has already started to be abraded as well as the two ends...a few more strokes should be enough the complete the sole straightening - Rob

 

[LocalOak]

Thanks Rob!

And Bugbear.

I'm going to stop asking questions and start doing...

Toby

 

[bugbear]

Thanks Rob!

And Bugbear.

I'm going to stop asking questions and start doing...

Toby

A judicious mix is best

BugBear