Bench Plane tuning instructions

[Bob Jones]

I'm scheduled to "teach" a handplane class at the local WW shop in a couple of weeks. It will be my first class (except 1 free demo). I decided to post something on my blog to serve as a reminder for anyone taking the class. The focus will be tuning and using planes so I wanted to post some basic instructions that people could use after they get home. We will not have time in the 3 hour class to tune anyones plane.

I would appreciate any feedback on my instructions, since it is really difficult to critique my own writing. Is my writing clear? How about my pictures? Do they show the critical things? Did I forget anything huge?

http://thechristiantoolcabinet.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/minimal-bench-plane-tuning/

Thanks for any feedback!

[Jim Koepke]

Looks like a pretty good approach to the subject.

My thoughts:

On the chip breaker you may also want to consider that some may be out of tune enough to require a little torsional adjustment before the honing process starts. A vise and a large Crescent wrench come in handy for this. One can also fashion a wrench out of a couple strips of wood held together with screws to make a slot in which the chip breaker can be adjusted while held in a vise.

Also not seen in your write up is the angle of the bevel on the chip breaker.

You may also want to take a little time about setting the chip breaker for different jobs. Setting it close to the edge for smoothing or a little further back for hogging off wood from a rough surface.

You may mention the care that needs to be taken to remove the lateral adjuster and the depth adjusting yoke if someone is interested in treating the frog to a full surface finishing with abrasive sheets mounted on a flat surface.

As for flattening a planes sole, for me it is something that isn't done unless there is rust to remove or the plane indicates it is needed. One of my planes has likely gone through many owners who all thought this was a necessary process. The sole is now a bit on the thin side. There is a little dot on the bottom under one of the frog screws where the sole is thin enough to allow oil to color the metal from the other side. It is also a process that can cause problems for some who do not understand how abrasive paper can wear and take the bottom out of flat.

Good luck with the class.

jtk

[Harold Burrell]

As for flattening a planes sole, for me it is something that isn't done unless there is rust to remove or the plane indicates it is needed.

Really? You don't worry about flattening the sole??? I have often wondered just how necessary it was to flatten. I mean, did the craftsmen of yesteryear worry about such things?

You did mention that you may if "the plane indicates it is needed". What would you consider to be indications?

[David Weaver]

soles of smoothers were trued, but I doubt we're going to find out what anyone did with longer planes because power planers and jointers have dominated the market for so long.

One thing is true about a dead flat jointer - if you have something large enough to plane in an X pattern and finish with through strokes, you can skip checking for wind, etc, panel or board you're planing won't have any.

On the coarse planes, it's a waste of time to do much other than sharpen them.

[Tom Vanzant]

Bob, in fitting the chip breaker, it's important that the leading edge is in full contact with the iron, not the whole bevel. Undercutting a FEW degrees will guarantee that.

[Jim Koepke]

You did mention that you may if "the plane indicates it is needed". What would you consider to be indications?

A #60 style block plane that came through my shop would cut until the end of the cut. This was caused by relaxing pressure at the end of the cut. The plane body flexed due to the sole being slightly concave.

With a squarely sharpened blade some planes will cut either at just the edges or only in the center on very light cuts. This can indicate a sole that has been improperly lapped with a concave or convex profile on the long axis.

If a plane is set on a flat surface with the blade retracted and rocks, then it may need some abrasive attention.

For my own use, planes are seldom lapped and then using only 80 grit abrasive paper. Getting into the finer abrasives seems to be overkill to me, ymmv.

Please note, this is my opinion and only my opinion. If lapping a plane's sole all the way to 400, 800 or even 2,000 grit suits you, then by all means do as you please as it is not my concern.

jtk

[don wilwol]

I always polish the breaking edge of the chip breaker as well. I've done some testing and you'll find its easier to get fine consistent shavings if the shaving can slide up over it. It make sense, the chip breaker breaks the shavings by pushing them backwards, so the easier the slide the easier the "break".

[Mark Dorman]

I like this part; learned it along the way.
" Keep the bevel square to one long side of the blade for this step. Vintage blades are not always parallel on the long sides, so make it square to one side and always measure from that side."

[Don Jarvie]

Suggest to put the plane together when flattening the sole. Sometimes when the and is together it can slightly change the sole. It's miniscule but it could change.

The rest looks good. I also paste wax all of the parts before I put it together.

[Sam Stephens]

jmtcw but I caution against taking a file to my planes. files can take off a lot of metal in a hurry and can do more harm than good, especially for the inexperienced.

my other suggestion would be to indicate areas that really need attention vs. more minor details. of course ymmv, but imo, 90+% of the tuning process should be spent on the blade (lapping, sharpening), 5% on the chipbreaker (points above from others) and 5% everything else on a need to do basis.

Sam

[Bob Jones]

Sam, I agreed with your percentages until I bought an old plane with a poorly fitting frog. No matter how sharp I made the blade the plane would not behave. When I checked the frog it only contacted the body with one front corner and one back corner. It was the first one with that problem I had seen. Perhaps you have started with better planes :)

[Bob Jones]

Thanks for all of the good tips. I guess my site shows my bias. I usually don't do too much with the chipbreakers except be sure they sit flat. I don't push them right up to the edge either. I know, I'm behind the times on that one. All the cool kids polish them and put them on the edge these days. I've always lagged a bit :)

[Jim Koepke]

I always polish the breaking edge of the chip breaker as well. I've done some testing and you'll find its easier to get fine consistent shavings if the shaving can slide up over it. It make sense, the chip breaker breaks the shavings by pushing them backwards, so the easier the slide the easier the "break".

It can also help if the chip breaker is waxed and buffed in business area after all the nicks are polished out.

jtk

[Charlie Stanford]

Really? You don't worry about flattening the sole??? I have often wondered just how necessary it was to flatten. I mean, did the craftsmen of yesteryear worry about such things?

You did mention that you may if "the plane indicates it is needed". What would you consider to be indications?

Yes, craftsmen of yesteryear worried about flat soles. That's why most of the old, wood bodied planes you'll find have gaping mouths. They didn't remove material from the soles for $hits and giggles.

[Sam Stephens]

Sam, I agreed with your percentages until I bought an old plane with a poorly fitting frog. No matter how sharp I made the blade the plane would not behave. When I checked the frog it only contacted the body with one front corner and one back corner. It was the first one with that problem I had seen. Perhaps you have started with better planes :)

agreed. btdt. but this is an item under the need to do basis i.e. a frog that "rocks" when seated needs to be addressed (which you mention), but one that seats well should be left alone. i guess i've always felt that the plane tuning articles failed to adequately weight the importance of certain aspects of tuning and clearly indicate when an item needs to addressed; rather all things were treated equal and as a must do. this is particularly important given the experience level of the target audience.

you should experiment w/ the above comments regarding the chipbreaker -polishing and seating. for me, it made a world of difference in difficult to plane woods (lots of grain reversal) that i would have thought needed a low angle plane -not so.

otherwise, your article is well written, provides good details and photos and I think one of the clearer explanations of the tune-up process. thanks for posting.

Sam

[Steve Friedman]

Bob,

Nice write up, but (unless I missed it) but there are two things I still struggle with. One is setting the frog distance properly. The other is getting the lever cap tight enough to hold the blade, but loose enough to allow adjustments on the fly. But it could be just me.

Steve

[Jim Koepke]

One comment on using a magnet to pick up iron filings. Wrap the magnet in paper to make it easy to deposit the filings in the trash without them getting stuck to the magnet.


a frog that "rocks" when seated needs to be addressed (which you mention), but one that seats well should be left alone.

I have had problems with a frog that seats well but leans to one side. Unfortunately I didn't have the equipment to correct this problem at the time.



two things I still struggle with. One is setting the frog distance properly. The other is getting the lever cap tight enough to hold the blade, but loose enough to allow adjustments on the fly. But it could be just me.

For setting the frog it is easy to just lay a flat rule or a dull blade on the frog and set it to the back of the mouth as a starting point.

On the lever cap screw, it is a very incremental adjustment. If you look at the screw as if it were the minute hand of a clock, try turning it about two minutes between trying it for fit. Two minutes is about 12º.

jtk

[Bob Jones]

Bob,

Nice write up, but (unless I missed it) but there are two things I still struggle with. One is setting the frog distance properly. The other is getting the lever cap tight enough to hold the blade, but loose enough to allow adjustments on the fly. But it could be just me.

Steve

Steve,
I think both of those things fall under a "setup and use" explanation rather than getting the parts ready. I didn't get that far along, but maybe I will soon. Check out the Logan Cabinet Shoppe podcast for your questions. One of his earlier episodes gave a good explanation, I thought.

Lever cap tension - if the blade moves in use, try to tighten the screw a little. Use and repeat until the blade does not move. None of mine are difficult to lock, but all of them "snap" into place.

Frog distance - Just open enough that things do not get clogged. I keep mine more open than most, but I'm only working with well behaved domestic species and I take lighter passes than many. Keep the blade sharp.

Whit both of your questions I think experimentation is the key. Thanks for the compliments.

[don wilwol]

Nice write up, but (unless I missed it) but there are two things I still struggle with. One is setting the frog distance properly. Here is a little testing I did with frog/mouth/chip breaker distances. http://lumberjocks.com/donwilwol/blog/30376

[Steve Friedman]

Here is a little testing I did with frog/mouth/chip breaker distances. http://lumberjocks.com/donwilwol/blog/30376
Thanks. That was excellent!

Steve