Hi all,

I recently picked up a couple of wooden side bead planes (5/8" and 1") and they are vexing me. The planes are in great shape to be 100+ years old. Irons are solid with with good length left on the business end and the wedges look to be original and fit well. I have flattened the back of each iron and honed the cutting edges. The iron profile matches the plane bottom well in my opinion. Despite all of this, I cannot get the planes (either one) to cut a bead. Through several test runs on SYP, I have been able to get one of the quirks to start cutting, but the bead itself will not start unless I advance the iron to take a heavy cut. This results in having to use a lot force and one side of the iron taking a massive cut with the other side barely contacting the wood. The results have not been pretty. Since both are performing the same way, I am working under the assumption that it is operator error and not the fault of the tool. As I have learned with most hand tools, technique and setup are key in getting the tools to work properly. I am certain that I am missing something, but I cannot figure out what that "something" is in this case. For those with experience with wooden side beads, what is the "secret" to make these tools work properly? Thanks in advance.

Tim