veritas plane set screws question

[Steven Lee, NC]

I'm a noob when it comes to hand tools and got a veritas plane because I want to build a shooting board. The set screws to keep the plane blade from shifting, am I supposed to lock tite it once I get it where I like it?

I just finished trying to set one up and am super impressed with the shavings this thing is producing and I haven't even sharpened it yet.

Gonna practice sharpening some junk plane blades before attempting to sharpen the one that came with the plane.

thanks

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Steven

No, do not use loctite. The setscrews may be used for a few things, one of which is to create a template for the blade so that you may return it to the exact position after removal for honing. Another is to use the screws for fine lateral adjustment of the blade.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Stewart]

I find the set screws a pain. You will need to adjust them each time you replace the blade. I don't use them at all anymore. I do luv the bevel up planes. Particularly the smoothing plane.

Jim

[Steven Lee, NC]

thanks! ...

[Paul Saffold]

I have a few LV planes and I like the set screws. Once I set them for a blade I rarely need to touch them. I get the blade where I want it then tighten the set screws until they are just a cat's whisker from touching the blade. Sorry I don't know the imperial or metric equivalent to that. There is enough clearance to get the blade in and out but that's all. It makes lateral adjustments much more predictable.

Paul

[Mark Dorman]

+1 on what Paul said. two years ago when I got my plane I thought they where a good idea and I still do.

[Michael Ray Smith]

+1 again. I like the set screws. I might go to within 3/4 of a cat's whisker though.


+1 on what Paul said. two years ago when I got my plane I thought they where a good idea and I still do.

[Todd Hyman]

+3 on what Paul, Mark, and Michael stated. The set screws help when you change blades (angles).

[Harry Goodwin]

Love LV and LN planes. don't like the screws. Harry

[Steven Lee, NC]

For a beginner to hand planes those set screws are a godsend. Can't tell you how much time I wasted on refurbished stanleys. Enough that I put them in a drawer and upgraded my powertools :D

[Jeff Bratt]

I really like the set screws on LV planes. You don't clamp the blade with them, tighten them so them contact the blade, then back off just a hair. They make it easy to take out the blade for honing, then put it back exactly where it was. Apparently, some folks don't like them though...

[Derek Cohen]

I consider these set screws such an advance in design that I include them on all the planes I build.

For example ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/Jack%20Plane%20in%20Mesquite/Newtote2.jpg

Being able to fine tune a plane setting, and then return the plane to the exact setting, is such a time saver and frustration killer. If you are not using the set screws, then you are missing out Big Time.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jack Curtis]

Funny, I've never missed them on any wooden plane I own. It's such an easy trick to plane the plane on the bench, let the blade slide down to meet the wood and then hit the wedge; or, for the Japanese planes, tap the blade until it hits the wood.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Jack

Firstly, I think that we are talking across purposes - the set screws deal with lateral adjustment, and not blade extension.

Secondly, if you want the best way of setting a wooden smoother (or any adjusterless plane), try using a glass block.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Sharpening/SettingupaWoodiewithaGlassBladeSettingBlock_html_a 0141a9.jpg

Article: http://inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/SettingupaWoodiewithaGlassBladeSettingBlock.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jack Curtis]

No, not at cross purposes at all. If the blade edge is parallel to the sole/bench/glass, it is laterally adjusted properly, a two-for. I tried the glass bit, found it unnecessary, just an added step.

[Derek Cohen]

Jack, if you are able to do this, perfectly each time, you're a better man than I. In the real world blades are not perfectly square and need to be adjusted slightly in the lateral.

In any event, a blade always runs the risk of being skewed by the action of the wedge being driven in. This is why you see instructions to straighten a blade with a hammer by tapping the side this way and that.

Enough. Others can take this up, or not.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jack Curtis]

Didn't know this was a manhood test question; but I really have no problems with this. Besides, as I've mentioned before, my girlfriend taught me everything I know about woodworking, including sharpening, dai building, blade adjustment, etc. She's a natural, so she taught me the easy, no-possibility-of-error ways.

[John Coloccia]

Personally, I've never used the set screws. I suppose they're useful but I've never bothered. Too much work to fiddle with set screws when I can just tap it with a hammer and get it right in a few seconds. I'm glad they're available as a feature. We all like to work in different ways.

[David Weaver]

I haven't used the screws either. I usually set the blade laterally and for depth by eye and then test with a small offcut on both corners of an iron to make sure the cut is consistent on both sides. It takes little time.

Most of my planes don't have any set screws, so I've never relied on them, but I could see how they'd be a timesaver on a single iron plane where you should be almost set up exactly the same just by placing the iron back on the adjuster.

[Jason Steward]

Love LV and LN planes. don't like the screws. Harry
The set screws are an easy thing to work with. After you have centered your iron with them leave them alone. When I change our irons or remove it for sharpening, I only release the right hand set screw. Then when I replace it I only retighten that screw, centering done.

[Chris Griggs]

I use them, but the only plane I find them particularly useful on is the skew rabbet. This is because it has no lateral adjuster so the set screw effectively work as precise lateral adjusters. Also, that's a plane that once you get the blade set just right you really want to be able to save that setting.

I keep them set on my LABP, but I always site down the sole and do some lateral adjusting after sharpening anyway when I put a blade back in the plane after sharpening, so I really wouldn't miss them if they weren't there. Still its a nice feature to have available when you want/need it. It's not like having them and not using them causes any inconvenience.

[Jim Koepke]

I might go to within 3/4 of a cat's whisker though.

Is that split between the two set screws making it 3/8 of a cat's whisker on each side?

Does it matter what color of cat from which the whisker came?

FYI, this is all rhetorical…

jtk