Camber on a jack plane blade?

[mike marconi]

I have a couple of jack planes and would like to dedicate the 605 to rough work following the scrub plane. My question is for those of you that grind a radius on a jack plane blade for rough work what size radius do you use and at what angle? I have a 30 degree bevel on the blade right now. Do you grind a higher angle for better edge retention since the blade will be used for heavy cuts?

Also I recently put a Hock chip breaker and blade in my #3 and really like what it did for the plane. So I'm thinking of doing the same for the 605. My concern is that the thicker Hock components will not leave enough clearance in the mouth when taking heavier the cuts. Anyone have any experience with this setup?

Thanks Mike

[David Keller NC]

Yep - I use a type 11 Stanely #6 with an A2 Hock blade and chipbreaker for this purpose. I grind the bevel at 30 degrees, and the blade is cambered on a 10 inch radius. It hogs off wood like the dickens, and doesn't ever choke - ever. Oddly enough, this plane is the one that I hone/sharpen least.

[Chuck Nickerson]

I have two blades for my LN 5-1/2: one cambered on an 8" redius, the other a 24" radius. If I'm not taking off that much wood, I don't want to dig those deep grooves the 8" blade does.

I hone these at 35*. There are people I respect (e.g. Larry Williams) who say this doesn't leave enough relief angle. But to my knowledge, I haven't experienced a problem.

[Jim Koepke]

Mike,
I think David answered your main question.
My curiosity has me wondering why you would use the Bedrock for the rough work as opposed to using a lesser plane.

For rough work, the mouth may need opening.

One thought that I have had on this is using a #3 blade in a #5 plane. Not sure if it would be any better or any worse. It might be a little easier to push when taking deeper cuts.

jim

[mike marconi]

Mike,
My curiosity has me wondering why you would use the Bedrock for the rough work as opposed to using a lesser plane.
jim

Jim my other #5 is a Lee Valley low angle jack. I was using it for rough work, had one blade dedicated with a heavy camber I used for removing a lot of stock when needed. The problem is that putting/maintaining a radius on the bevel up blade requires removing/honing much more metal than on a BD blade even with the 25 degree primary bevel I use on my BU blades.

Between the 2 jacks I think the 605 is a better choice for the rough work because of the bevel down design. I'm hoping the blade will be easier to maintain. If after installing the Hock chip breaker and iron I find the mouth needs to be opened I probably won't do it, wouldn't want to alter the plane that way, I will look for a standard #5 I can modify their pretty easy to find.

Mike