LN block plane question

[Mark Buchanan]

I have the low angle block plane. I have had some trouble with some maple that I am working with. I am considering ordering another blade and grind it at 35 degrees. Has anyone tried this. If so I like your advice. Since a block plane is actually a bevel up plane it seems to me that it would work.

[Paul Murphy]

Mark, that 35 degrees would be a great place to start. You could even go to a higher angle if need be. I also use a cabinet scraper when I have difficult wood, or tearout to repair.

[Rick Erickson]

What is the trouble you are having?

[Frederick Gross]

You can try skewing the plane as you work the plane across the wood or use a card scraper on the trouble spots.

[Joel Goodman]

All you need is a microbevel. Afterwards you can grind a new bevel to restore the original angle. Or even "grind" it by hand with sandpaper on a flat surface. 40 degrees may be better for tearout prone wood. 40 + 12 is 52 or just over "york" pitch. This is assuming you are working face grain.

[Mark Buchanan]

Thanks for the responses. I will order an extra blade or two and try different angles. The problem I am having is tare out on some edge grain. I usually leave my face frames a little proud on the ends of cabinets and run them off with a plane. On very large cabinets the block plane is just easier to work.

Mark

[David Keller NC]

Mark - It will work perfectly. I've a micro-bevel on one of my L-N standard angle block plane blades that yields an included cutting angle of 60 degrees. No tearout whatsoever in very high-figure Irion maple. The only drawback is that it takes a bit more camber to get the corners away from the wood than it does in a BD plane, so it takes quite a bit more work at the honing stone to acheive it (the camber). All said and done, though, it makes an excellent little smoother for small box parts and the like.