The Veritas Large Router Plane - an idiosyncracy

[Andy Kev.]

I've been trimming some tenon cheeks recently using the large Veritas router plane and have again noticed an odd little characteristic of it which can be quite useful but I can't explain how it comes about: you loosen off the locking screw, increase the depth of cut with the top screw, lock it off and make the cut ... but ... if you loosen off the locking screw and then tighten it again without touching the top screw, the plane will often make a further cut.

This is odd because having locked the blade, you would have thought that after it ceases cutting, it could remove no more wood until you move the blade further down. I've come to regard this oddity as a useful characteristic because the second cut is usually fine and it can be a great help in sneaking up on a marked line.

The thing is: does it count as a design or construction flaw? Do other router planes do the same thing? It's no problem though because once you get to know the tool you can, as I indicated above, use this to your advantage.

Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[Glynne]

I don’t have the large one but the miniature one is a pain as the setting tends to move when you use it. Even really tightening both the screws, as soon as you use it the locking screw loosens!

 

[thetyreman]

yes this happens on mine as well, I've found it's worse when you try and take too much off at once, good to know it's not just me though.

 

[Argus]

Many years ago, in the '70s I had a Record router , bought from new, that did something similar..... the blade tended to 'jump' after being set.
Looking at it, I noticed that there were some very minute milling marks on the mating sections of the pillar, the blade shank and the collar. Nothing outrageous, but I thought that the adjuster may have hung on these parts.

My fix (and it worked on the Record) was to take some wet and dry to the inside parts of the vertical blade channel that supports the shank of the blade and get a smooth-ish surface. I did the same on the mating parts of the blade shank, back and front for the full length, also the inside section of the retaining collar that sat on the shank.

Finally a light rub with a candle cured the issue.
Hope that this works for you.

One other issue that may cause it is that the collar may not sit square when tightened with its screw and the initial forward pressure on the blade performs a micro-adjustment. The Tyzack router (the red one that resembles a Preston Router) overcomes this problem by having a pin section at the end of the collar-screw that is captive in a blind hole on the pillar behind the blade so that it always tightens in the same spot.

I do hope that this helps..... there shouldn't be this problem with a Veritas - they're good tools. Have you mentioned it to them? I've always found them very helpful in the past - even with a stretch of Atlantic between us.

 

[NickM]

I think Matt Estlea did a YouTube "tool duel" on the veritas and lie-nielsen router planes and pointed this out as a bit of a flaw in the veritas, although the veritas had other features which were better than the lie-nielsen.

 

[Andy Kev.]

I do hope that this helps..... there shouldn't be this problem with a Veritas - they're good tools. Have you mentioned it to them? I've always found them very helpful in the past - even with a stretch of Atlantic between us.

I might give the wet and dry idea a go just out of interest but as I said, even if this is a flaw - and I suppose that technically it must be - I've managed to incorporate it into my working as a sort of benefit.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

The old Stanley 71 I have locked poorly because of the rough cast nature of the collar and the post the cutter is clamped to. It is better after a file, but still it matters which way up you put the collar on.

 

[Argus]

I might give the wet and dry idea a go just out of interest but as I said, even if this is a flaw - and I suppose that technically it must be - I've managed to incorporate it into my working as a sort of benefit.

I hope that you do.... please let us know how it pans out. Residual machine marks on important parts are a pain........ besides this type of tool is constantly being adjusted in use. Set, cut, re-set, cut and so on................. it doesn't need any idiosyncrasies!
Good luck.

 

[transatlantic]

I believe it's simply a side effect of the locking mechanism. It clamps onto the threads, so if you undo it, and then do it up again, the slight force applied probably engages at a different point on the threaded section, so it rotates a small amount and adds a little more depth.

Or it could be similar to backlash, so the same idea as above, but due to play in the threads (which is required else it would be tough to adjust).

Or maybe it's just gravity allowing something to drop a little between loosening and tightening

I see it as more of a feature

 

[D_W]

I have the LV large router, but haven't noticed this as I just like the way the older stanley router planes work better.

But as far as these little tendencies - I always try to find a way to use them rather than getting annoyed by them. Their use can become a little skill.

Ever use a later norris with an adjuster? You set their cut depth and then tighten the lever cap and all of the sudden, they're way overdepth. I've never seen another plane where the lever cap will add a bunch of cut depth, and you can't really move the iron around without loosening the lever cap, so you can curse the lever cap...

..or you can set the cut of those planes a little off of where it needs to be, and then use the lever cap as a micro adjuster.

 

[Andy Kev.]

I may have gone some way to cracking this.

At the weekend I switched from the straight blade to the spear point one. That involved swapping the blades with an Allen key. I put on the spear point and tightened it up and used it without difficulty. Then I switched back to the normal one and after a few minutes, it was behaving quite badly.

It would appear that I hadn't tightened the retaining screw enough, so I got the Allen key and made sure it was firmly in place. The plane was suddenly very tight and precise. I wonder if it is having a very small bit of play with the screw that leads to the characteristic I have described.

 

[Argus]

We never thought of that one, Andy.
I'm currently using a half-inch Veritas in the aforementioned Record router. Just one more thing to come loose, I'll have to check the grubscew, I suppose.

Is it still working OK?