Cap iron set

[James Pallas]

Thank you Warren, Brian and Patrick. My experiments came out much the same, closer with the cap iron, smaller shavings until you get what you can work with.
Jim

[Brian Holcombe]

I use a double iron jack plane and a double iron trying plane to prepare stock. In traditional work the smoothing plane is used to clean off finished work. After joinery and such the timber accumulates scuffs, maybe dirt or markings. This is removed just before assembly with the smoothing plane, one or two passes.

Warren do you always work from rough sawn stock? It seems like everything I source as of late has been skip planed and so it has been fairly easy to joint, but of course makes other things more difficult (Id rather have the thickness than the convienence).

[Warren Mickley]

Sometimes I buy rough stock, sometimes machine planed thick enough to allow for truing. As to James' question, we could do everything with a smoothing plane, truing from rough, but these other planes (jack, trying, jointer) are designed and set up specifically for the stock preparation tasks and are thus more efficient.

The smoothing plane's functions are small trimming and cleaning of boards that are already in great shape, too nice to sand. Generally no more work on a figured board than a plain board.

[Brian Holcombe]

Sounds like my available choices then, all depends on what is at the yard. When I can get rough stock I usually start with a jack plane.

I probably shouldn't be citing extreme cases, like the aforementioned slab, that is an exceptionally rare case. Heavy tearout was left in the slab from the skip planing, I had to get down past that point before clean passes could have been taken, at which point I had completed the truing. Had that board been left without planing it would have likely been a much easier piece to work (but of course much harder to sell to the general public). Once bad tearout happens it is more likely to continue tearing out until the structure has to be restored by a clean cut.

James if you are careful to avoid tearout in your prepping process by using the appropriate cap iron setting you will not experience extreme tearout. When I do start with a jack plane that to has a cap iron setting to avoid heavy tearout, it's certainly not nearly as tight as a smoothing plane, or even as the try plane but it's doing some work all the same.

[Mike Baker 2]

Are we talking cap iron here, or chip breaker? Because for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get a cap iron any closer to the edge of the iron than the hole in it that slips over the little screw will let you.
Very confusing discussion. Or perhaps I'm confusing the two, but they sound like they are being used interchageably in this thread.

[James Pallas]

I keep hearing that you can just leave the mouth open and depend on the cap iron. I have found that in Jack plane work, not smooth plane, that the mouth helps. If you have say a ten inch radius iron where the cap iron is not close I will close up the mouth so I can take a wider shaving with less tear out. I don't think it makes much sense to take a 3/4 " wide shaving with a jack when you can control some with the mouth. Of course wood planes can't do this.
Jim

[Brian Holcombe]

I like the keep the mouth respectably close, which is wider for a jack plane than it is a smoothing plane.

David Weaver made my wooden jack and try planes and so adjusted the mouths to accommodate use with a close set cap iron, they're not super tight like would be for a smoother but they're not wide open by any means, both are about 1/16". By comparison my smoothers are usually set to allow a shaving to pass and not much more. My double iron smoothers being looser than those with a single iron.

[Robert Engel]

37 posts ........and counting.

[Normand Leblanc]

Are we talking cap iron here, or chip breaker? Because for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get a cap iron any closer to the edge of the iron than the hole in it that slips over the little screw will let you.
Very confusing discussion. Or perhaps I'm confusing the two, but they sound like they are being used interchageably in this thread.

Maybe it's the terminology. So here it is.
23WHP-28-1.jpg
Yes, chipbreaker and capiron are both used.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Are we talking cap iron here, or chip breaker? Because for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get a cap iron any closer to the edge of the iron than the hole in it that slips over the little screw will let you.
Very confusing discussion. Or perhaps I'm confusing the two, but they sound like they are being used interchageably in this thread.

When I started trying to fix up an old plane that belonged to my grandfather, the tool dealer who was kind enough to give me some advice explained the parts, and told me that the part labeled as the "chipbreaker" in Normand's helpful diagram was actually called the "cap iron." He explained that if I called it a "chipbreaker" everyone who dealt in tools would immediately know I was ignorant, and try to sell me junk instead of good tools. To add to the confusion, some sources I have read refer to the same part as the "back iron" and I even saw it called the "top iron" once.

Anyhow, some years ago, a lot more people learned that if you adjust the thing cleverly, it will actually break chips, so it is once again allowed to call it a chipbreaker.

[Patrick Chase]

When I started trying to fix up an old plane that belonged to my grandfather, the tool dealer who was kind enough to give me some advice explained the parts, and told me that the part labeled as the "chipbreaker" in Normand's helpful diagram was actually called the "cap iron." He explained that if I called it a "chipbreaker" everyone who dealt in tools would immediately know I was ignorant, and try to sell me junk instead of good tools. To add to the confusion, some sources I have read refer to the same part as the "back iron" and I even saw it called the "top iron" once.

Anyhow, some years ago, a lot more people learned that if you adjust the thing cleverly, it will actually break chips, so it is once again allowed to call it a chipbreaker.

I've started following Warren's lead on that one, and try to use "cap iron". I figure he knows the history better than any of us, so his terminology is almost certainly accurate.

On a related note: Warren, thanks for your posts in this thread. I'm learning from you as always.

[Mike Baker 2]

Normand, thanks. I was calling the lever cap the cap iron, and the chip breaker, well, the chip breaker. Now I understand.
Much appreciated.

[Pat Barry]

I've started following Warren's lead on that one, and try to use "cap iron". I figure he knows the history better than any of us, so his terminology is almost certainly accurate.

On a related note: Warren, thanks for your posts in this thread. I'm learning from you as always.

Maybe. It could be all chip breakers are cap irons but not vice versa? Double iron planes have cap irons, Bailey planes have chip breakers ( I believe it's right in the patent wording ).

[James Waldron]

Patent wording? An exercise in obfuscation and nothing more. I have established through exhaustive testing that 999 angels can dance on the head of a pin, but that there are never that many around who wish to do so.

[Pat Barry]

Patent wording? An exercise in obfuscation and nothing more. I have established through exhaustive testing that 999 angels can dance on the head of a pin, but that there are never that many around who wish to do so.

Obfuscation? Are you taking lessons on obscure terms from Patrick now?