Mike Holbrook
10-14-2011, 8:34 AM
So I have put together four wooden planes, kits I got from Steve Knight before he stopped making them. The bodies are together but I am having some problems finishing them up. I bought 3M Stikit sandpaper (4.5 " x 30') form Highland Woodworking. I got 180 & 320. I think I should have bought 100 & 220. The 180 works great but is too slow for flattening bottoms, tops & sides. I think the 220 is as low as I will need to go. The 180 makes a good finish, probably good enough for most purposes, especially as it wears down.
My big problem has been getting the blades making the kind of shavings I want. I have been working the blades the seat for the blades & the wedges that hold them in place. So far though I seem to get a rough cut that kinda bounces across the surface of the piece being worked, digging in & leaving horizontal cuts in the surface. I think my blades are sharp & flat enough, so I think the problem is in how the wedge and wooden seat hold the blade in place. I have adjustable mouths (sliding wooden block) so I don't think the mouth opening is the issue. My mouths are about as perfectly square to the sides of the plane as I think I can make them. The Jack plane is the one I have basically finished but can't get operating like I want. So the others are sitting there in rough form waiting for me to figure out what my design/finishing issue is with the Jack plane.
Steve cuts the seats for the plane blades a little concave so one can file off the two high spots on both the top & bottom of the plane to get them even. This is my best guess of where my problem lies. It is hard to get inside the blade seat with a square/etc. to check how the two sides are relating to each other. I have been trying to check that relationship with my flattened plane blade, since it is made to fit in the area and has been flattened. The blade seems to be lying flat & snug after I drive my wedge in, but....I decided that the whole area did not need to be perfectly flat as long as the blade fit and seemed to be level, this is my best guess of where my problem is. I am a little concerned about grinding away too much wood in the plane seat though.
I have worked my wedge so that when driven into its slot above the blade it can be driven to within 1/4-3/8" of the end of the slot. The friction marks from driving the wedge into the opening seem to be in the correct place & about even on both sides.
Does anyone have suggestions about what I should try from this point? I seem to be circling, reworking the same things without improving anything.
My big problem has been getting the blades making the kind of shavings I want. I have been working the blades the seat for the blades & the wedges that hold them in place. So far though I seem to get a rough cut that kinda bounces across the surface of the piece being worked, digging in & leaving horizontal cuts in the surface. I think my blades are sharp & flat enough, so I think the problem is in how the wedge and wooden seat hold the blade in place. I have adjustable mouths (sliding wooden block) so I don't think the mouth opening is the issue. My mouths are about as perfectly square to the sides of the plane as I think I can make them. The Jack plane is the one I have basically finished but can't get operating like I want. So the others are sitting there in rough form waiting for me to figure out what my design/finishing issue is with the Jack plane.
Steve cuts the seats for the plane blades a little concave so one can file off the two high spots on both the top & bottom of the plane to get them even. This is my best guess of where my problem lies. It is hard to get inside the blade seat with a square/etc. to check how the two sides are relating to each other. I have been trying to check that relationship with my flattened plane blade, since it is made to fit in the area and has been flattened. The blade seems to be lying flat & snug after I drive my wedge in, but....I decided that the whole area did not need to be perfectly flat as long as the blade fit and seemed to be level, this is my best guess of where my problem is. I am a little concerned about grinding away too much wood in the plane seat though.
I have worked my wedge so that when driven into its slot above the blade it can be driven to within 1/4-3/8" of the end of the slot. The friction marks from driving the wedge into the opening seem to be in the correct place & about even on both sides.
Does anyone have suggestions about what I should try from this point? I seem to be circling, reworking the same things without improving anything.