POS Plane

[Bruce Overholt]

I've been lurking for quite a while and thinking about buying a Bench Plane. After looking at prices of New, Quality planes, which for the most part are well worth the price, I came across a POS Buck Bros. Jack Plane at home depot.
I figured I was using a 10% coupon, and could take it back if I didn't want to keep it.
After the reading I did on this forum, I was able to tune this plane to work quite well. I honed the Iron, adjusted the Frog etc. I have a small box of some very thin full curly shavings that are very near translucent.
However, it is a real pain in the butt to get everything aligned propery. This plane is probably better suited for a Carpenter than for finer WoodWorking. Since I'm just getting started in woodworking, I think I'll keep this plane around for the learning experience.
Next, I'd like to try Scary Sharpening.

Bruce

[Louis Bois]

Welcome to the Creek Bruce!!! You're just at the low point of the fever...once you start, there's no way back. You'll find a wealth of knowledge on these pages...but then you already know that since you've been lurking for a while.

Good luck with all your hand tool endeavours and don't hesitate to ask for advice...there are many skilled individuals here with a ton of combined experience that can probably answer just about anything...whether you want them to or not!!! At the very least, it should prove entertaining.

:rolleyes:

[Jerry Palmer]

Although you'll read all sorts of stuff on the net and in books on the subj about all of the steps that go in to tuning a hand plane, I contend that about 90% of how well a plane works is in the sharpening of the iron. The first thing I do when I get a new old plane is to put a genuinely sharp edge on the iron, put the thing back together after some small amount of cleanup and try it out. More times than not, very little else needs to be done unless the plane is going to be used for a special purpose like shooting angles on a shooting board, in which case I will work the shoulders square to the sole.

So, once you get that scarey sharp,or other sharpening method down, get a real edge on that plane and give it another shot. Even my LV Larger Shoulder plane required a fine honing of the iron before I got optimal use out of it.