White oak, blade sharpness and expectations

[Patrick Harper]

I started woodworking about a year ago and have made a few projects from pine, cypress, etc. I started by learning to sharpen on water stones and dimensioning lumber by hand. Until now, I've really only worked softer woods. I decided to try my hand at some white oak for a small project.

The board was slightly cupped, so I though I'd start by flattening a face. That's when me and my Stanley no. 5 hit a wall. I wouldn't get any shaving, adjust the depth adjuster 1/8th turn, and then get a very difficult thickish shaving. It's almost impossible to get a single full length shaving. I would have expected this to go much better. The blade was sharpened with a 25 degree primary bevel and a 30 degree secondary with a slight crown. The sole is reasonably flat but not perfect. I even applied some paste wax to the sole and the blade is fresh.

Where should i start? Should I work on my sharpening? How flat should my sole be? Is white oak that difficult to work? I was under the impression that it wasn't too bad despite its hardness.

Thanks.

[David Weaver]

It shouldn't be too difficult. It sounds like one of the following:
* the wood and the plane are not flat to each other. If the plane is flat and the wood is contacting it, the cut depth is limited only by sharpness (i.e., if it's sharp at all, it'll cut as soon as you project the iron)
* something is loose in the plane or not seated right
* the plane isn't sharp

[Patrick Harper]

I can usually get tissue thin shavings out of white pine, but I know oak is a different animal. If I put a Starrett straight edge on the sole, there's a small gap at the toe around the thickness of a piece of paper...maybe less. I believe the frog, blade, etc are seated well, but I'm no expert. Would it be possible for a less than optimally sharp blade to skip over the oak when attempting to take a thin shaving?

[Bob Jones]

Everything David said is gold. Add to it that the frog must be well seated in the bed and the blade must be flat on the frog. I wrote an article on plane tuning on my blog. You can not skip any of the tuning steps. I have bought planes whose frogs did not even touch the plane bed at the front. They behaved like yours until I corrected the problem.

Also, sharpness is usually the problem. You should easily and cleanly be able to shave hair off your arm. Good luck - white oak is not that bad. Don't forget to try going in the opposite direction, too.

[Bob Jones]

Yes. When you want thinner shavings razor sharpness and perfect profile are most critical.

[george wilson]

Try planing something like blood wood!! The coopers in Williamsburg used white oak for barrels all the time. Cypress for buckets. I made their cooper's planes and their blades,too(The blacksmith usually made the other plane blades). However,they used lower carbon steels because 1095 burned up too easily for welding. They used 1070,or similar. I felt the coopers needed more durable edges. Felt sorry for them,actually. They also work outside year round.

[Steve Voigt]

If I put a Starrett straight edge on the sole, there's a small gap at the toe around the thickness of a piece of paper...maybe less. I believe the frog, blade, etc are seated well, but I'm no expert. Would it be possible for a less than optimally sharp blade to skip over the oak when attempting to take a thin shaving?

If the gap is right at the toe, it shouldn't prevent you from pulling good shavings. What you want to look for is a gap right in front of the blade. That will definitely cause skipping, chatter, uneven cutting, etc. If you have a gap there, and a gap under the toe, it's likely you have a high spot right under the knob. This is the sort of thing that won't show up when planing softwood, but will cause problems with oak. That, and a less than sharp blade.
If you have a flat sole, a sharp blade, and the chip breaker set close, oak should be no problem. So I would focus on those 3 things.

[Marko Milisavljevic]

Obvious question, but do you get the same result planing in other directions? What you describe, getting surprisingly thick shaving with minimal blade projection, could happen if you are planing against the grain. If you are getting thin shavings on pine, the blade is certainly sharp enough to be serviceable on oak. If you have a piece that is near a knot it can be much harder to plane than a piece with straight grain. Skew the plane, it will cut with much less effort. If your chip breaker is not perfectly flat and flush with blade you are better off backing it away from edge. On my beater jointer I get very nasty shavings if I bring chipbreaker close to edge. When I back it away it is perfectly serviceable, until too much junk fills the gap.

[Jim Foster]

Depending on the geometry of the board, and the hardness of it, I am not surprised. I had several pieces of Q-Sawn White Oak I wanted to finish plane several weeks ago and one board was a charm, the other I had a similar problem to yours. The problem board was cupped a little in the long direction, but also seemed rock-hard compared to the other, lot of crazy grain, silica or minerals or something. The goemetry was just enough to make it very difficult to get the blade to cut. If you think the plane is OK, I'd suggest taking some diagonal cuts as sideways as possible where the high spots are and see if you can get a bite. Also, setting up a significant camber for rouging and tackling the high spots may also get things going.

[Patrick Harper]

If the gap is right at the toe, it shouldn't prevent you from pulling good shavings. What you want to look for is a gap right in front of the blade. That will definitely cause skipping, chatter, uneven cutting, etc. If you have a gap there, and a gap under the toe, it's likely you have a high spot right under the knob. This is the sort of thing that won't show up when planing softwood, but will cause problems with oak. That, and a less than sharp blade.
If you have a flat sole, a sharp blade, and the chip breaker set close, oak should be no problem. So I would focus on those 3 things.

The gap extends an inch or so, but it's definitely flat just before / after the blade. It's hard to tell from this picture I took last night, but it may have extended all the way until where the corrugations end.276916

[Patrick Harper]

Obvious question, but do you get the same result planing in other directions? What you describe, getting surprisingly thick shaving with minimal blade projection, could happen if you are planing against the grain. If you are getting thin shavings on pine, the blade is certainly sharp enough to be serviceable on oak. If you have a piece that is near a knot it can be much harder to plane than a piece with straight grain. Skew the plane, it will cut with much less effort. If your chip breaker is not perfectly flat and flush with blade you are better off backing it away from edge. On my beater jointer I get very nasty shavings if I bring chipbreaker close to edge. When I back it away it is perfectly serviceable, until too much junk fills the gap.

It's easier with the grain, but still very difficult even with skewing. Here's a picture of the chip breaker. It isn't perfect, but I tried flattening the edge that meets the blade to reduce any gaps.
276917276918

[Patrick Harper]

Depending on the geometry of the board, and the hardness of it, I am not surprised. I had several pieces of Q-Sawn White Oak I wanted to finish plane several weeks ago and one board was a charm, the other I had a similar problem to yours. The problem board was cupped a little in the long direction, but also seemed rock-hard compared to the other, lot of crazy grain, silica or minerals or something. The goemetry was just enough to make it very difficult to get the blade to cut. If you think the plane is OK, I'd suggest taking some diagonal cuts as sideways as possible where the high spots are and see if you can get a bite. Also, setting up a significant camber for rouging and tackling the high spots may also get things going.

This is my first experience with white oak. Unfortunately, it's the only board I have. However, it is cupped fairly heavily. I'll try your suggestion tonight.

[Patrick Harper]

Everything David said is gold. Add to it that the frog must be well seated in the bed and the blade must be flat on the frog. I wrote an article on plane tuning on my blog. You can not skip any of the tuning steps. I have bought planes whose frogs did not even touch the plane bed at the front. They behaved like yours until I corrected the problem.

Also, sharpness is usually the problem. You should easily and cleanly be able to shave hair off your arm. Good luck - white oak is not that bad. Don't forget to try going in the opposite direction, too.

Bob, could you send me a link to your blog? I see it listed in your signature, but it's not showing up as a hyperlink. I tried sending you a PM, but it appears as though your inbox is full. Thanks for all of your help!

[Adam Cruea]

Depending on the geometry of the board, and the hardness of it, I am not surprised. I had several pieces of Q-Sawn White Oak I wanted to finish plane several weeks ago and one board was a charm, the other I had a similar problem to yours. The problem board was cupped a little in the long direction, but also seemed rock-hard compared to the other, lot of crazy grain, silica or minerals or something. The goemetry was just enough to make it very difficult to get the blade to cut. If you think the plane is OK, I'd suggest taking some diagonal cuts as sideways as possible where the high spots are and see if you can get a bite. Also, setting up a significant camber for rouging and tackling the high spots may also get things going.

I've had the same experience with QSWO. For some reason, sometimes you get a piece where the grain is just hinky. There's no other explanation; you can't really figure out which direction it is going and it's hard as heck.

For the most part, though, a plane shouldn't have any issues going through white oak. It really shouldn't have issues going through anything, to tell you the truth.

[David Weaver]

The gap extends an inch or so, but it's definitely flat just before / after the blade. It's hard to tell from this picture I took last night, but it may have extended all the way until where the corrugations end.276916

I can't see anything in that picture that would suggest that the part in the picture isn't flat enough. A slight uptick at the toe, and maybe even at the heel, is an advantage to the woodworker who is comfortable with their plane.

I'm assuming something is loose somewhere or not bedded right, because tissue thin shavings in pine happen with sharpness, too. Skipping happens when there is something involved that might cause chatter.

What comes to mind to me also is that I had a plane once where the tote wasn't tight. It was tight enough to make you think that it was tight, but there was some space under the nut at the top of the tote and the handle could literally oscillate a little bit and cause the plane to behave very erratically when in a heavy cut. I took the nut out, seated a few washers between it and the tote and the problem was solved.

A tote that has a screw in the front (like a 5 does) and that is *almost* tight will look and feel exactly like a tote that is tight until you start to plane something challenging with it.

Take the whole thing apart, put it back together and make sure everything is tight and the frog is at least even with the front edge. Ensure that the iron is flat against the frog and not stuck on an adjuster wheel that might be tiny tad too large, lock everything down reasonably tight, check the rear tote (as above), move the chipbreaker back to about a 16th and there really shouldn't be anything else uncovered that would cause a problem.

You might run a straight edge across the frog at the same time and make sure there's no slag or anything on the frog that would prevent ideal bedding at least somewhere on it (i've seen that before, too).

[Patrick Harper]

David, now that you mention it, the front knob does have a split. I never considered that to be a problem because the bolt tights it all up and it feels good when planing softer woods. I'll double check the frog, take a few more pictures and adjust the chip breaker back a little. I might spend a little time re-honing the blade as well.

[David Weaver]

the knob is probably OK, it's easier to tell if they're tight. It's the post on the back handle/tote that's a trouble maker, because when you tighten it, the screw bottoming out in the threads has the same feeling as you get when you tighten a tote correctly. I never fret about hacksawing a couple of threads off of a rod if it's bottoming out - most of those totes have shrunk a lot over the years and the problem just creeps up.

[Patrick Harper]

I just had another thought. How thick of a shaving should I reasonably be able to take out of something like white oak? When I referred to getting thick shavings in the oak earlier, they aren't really all that thick. I can easily get thicker shavings from pine, but the shavings I do get are a little crispy. I'll have to measure one for reference.

[David Weaver]

A flat shaving that you can get out of a common pitch smoother is probably going to end somewhere around 6 or 7 thousandths before you just decide you can't push the plane - make sure you're planing with the grain to do it.

If you're using a lot of camber, you should be able to get more in the middle by a little, but that is an extremely hefty smoother shaving.

[paul cottingham]

If the board is humped, try transverse cuts across the grain where the board is high. If you can't get shavings that way, you have a plane problem.
NB. This is just what I do. If someone here has a good reason not to try this, please speak up. I have a niggling feeling this can be problematic. Just not sure why.

[Chris Vandiver]

Pat,
Check the area immediately behind the blade. Pressure from the levercap/frog cause this are to bulge slightly. It is often an area of concern.

[Patrick Harper]

Pat,
Check the area immediately behind the blade. Pressure from the levercap/frog cause this are to bulge slightly. It is often an area of concern.

Do you mean the area behind the blade on the frog or sole?

[Chris Vandiver]

On the sole. It is a common problem area for both wooden and iron bodied planes and one of the first places to look if you're having problems taking a fine, full length shaving. Set the blade just a shade shy of being exposed and make sure the lever cap has the proper tension, maybe slightly more than normal. Using a straight edge, check to see if the area behind the blade is proud(bulging). If it is, file that area(1/2"-3/4" behind the blade on the sole)down so that it is just lower than the area in front of the blade(mouth). That way it never interferes with the planing operation. I do this on all my planes, including premium planes(which are not immune to this problem).

[Patrick Harper]

I will definitely check that, Chris.

[Patrick Harper]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help. As a result I think I've found several minor issues that have been causing my problems.

After taking the the frog out, I found a small lip on the left rear contact point where the sole meets the frog. I filed that down and things got a little better. Afterwards, I noticed that I didn't need to slam the lateral adjustment knob to get an even protrusion.

I also found that that the rear tote was very lose, if I unscrewed the short, front screw. I definitely need to add some washers to the long bolt.

Above all I think I need to improve my sharpening. I think I overlooked the importance of get a mirror finish on the back for the full length of the edge.

Here's a pic of that lip.

276981

[Adam Cruea]

I just had another thought. How thick of a shaving should I reasonably be able to take out of something like white oak? When I referred to getting thick shavings in the oak earlier, they aren't really all that thick. I can easily get thicker shavings from pine, but the shavings I do get are a little crispy. I'll have to measure one for reference.

This is the max I've been able to take from hickory:

277001

Normal (not hoggin'):

277002

And hickory is about 30% harder than white oak on the Janka scale.

Keep in mind, for that .016 shaving, I had to put some arse into pushing the plane.

[Chris Vandiver]

This is the max I've been able to take from hickory:

277001

Normal (not hoggin'):

277002

And hickory is about 30% harder than white oak on the Janka scale.

Keep in mind, for that .016 shaving, I had to put some arse into pushing the plane.

Is that shaving from an adze?:)

[lowell holmes]

Patrick, I have no reason to post this. I have Baileys, Bedrocks, Veritas, and LN planes.

I recently ordered the blade and chip breakers from LV and put them on my 604 Bedrock. The results were remarkable I was happy with the plane before, but the results were such, that I have added the combo to three more planes.

I think the major improvement is chip breaker.
The iron only required about three minutes of honing to be ready to use.

You might want to consider replacing your old iron.

[Patrick Harper]

Patrick, I have no reason to post this. I have Baileys, Bedrocks, Veritas, and LN planes.

I recently ordered the blade and chip breakers from LV and put them on my 604 Bedrock. The results were remarkable I was happy with the plane before, but the results were such, that I have added the combo to three more planes.

I think the major improvement is chip breaker.
The iron only required about three minutes of honing to be ready to use.

You might want to consider replacing your old iron.

lowell, I've actually been considering that. Thanks for the input.

[Patrick Harper]

This is the max I've been able to take from hickory:

Normal (not hoggin'):



And hickory is about 30% harder than white oak on the Janka scale.

Keep in mind, for that .016 shaving, I had to put some arse into pushing the plane.


Thanks Adam. It was cool to see a pic of the shaving a long with the thickness. I'm not getting anything nearly that clean off of anything harder than Cypress. I reground my primary and need to hone a secondary tonight. I'm hoping for better results.

[Steven Lee, NC]

with red oak I tend to get more veiny shavings with lots of gaps and dust because of its porous nature. I haven't tried white oak yet. The same depth on pine or maple will get me a nice whispy shaving.

[Patrick Harper]

I've been playing around with the plane and I've found some improvement, but I'm still having issues.

I discovered that the frog rocked slightly when not full tightened. I removed some material on one of the pads on the sole and the rocking stopped. I also reflattened the frog. I resharpened the blade, until I could easily shave hair off my arm. I cut a few threads off of the long bolt on the rear tote to remove some play.

Things are noticeably better, but still extremely difficult. I tried some 8/4 hickory and that planed a little easier, but I still get inconsistent shavings. I'm wondering if this white oak board is just really rough, or maybe the sole isn't flat enough. I'm on a shoestring budget. Are there some easier hard woods I could test that won't blow the budget?

Thanks again guys!

[Patrick Harper]

Also, despite reflattening the frog, there is still a gap between the blade and frog with the lever cap tightened. The blade mates up nice and flush at the base of the frog. Is this okay?

[Steve Friedman]

Patrick,

It's possible that your plane needs more fettling, but the fact that you were able to make it work on another board would indicate that it's probably fine. You may already be doing this, but I would suggest watching the Lie-Nielsen video by Deneb Puchalski showing how to set a plane blade with a small block of wood. For me, it's a great starting point to be sure that the blade is sharp and that it's protruding equally on both sides of the mouth. If you can't get the blade to do that, you may need to do more fettling of the plane. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpQSDI0SNIc&list=PL1E4A85B18EB8D8BA

Also, you didn't say how out of flat the board is, but the next step is to use a straightedge and winding sticks to see where the high spots on your board are. I usually mark them with chalk.

Finally, start planing across the board, but at an angle. Start at one end of the board and work your way to the other end, with one pass every 2" or so (the width of the blade). When you get to the end, reverse the angle and start planing back up the board to the starting point. As you do this the first time, you should try to have the blade protruding just enough to hit the highest spots on the board. Most of the time your blade will not be touching wood. Keep planing up and down the board, but resist the urge to increase the depth of cut. As you knock down the high spots, you should notice the blade contacting the wood more of the time. When the plane cuts continuously from one side of the board to the other, you're flat in that direction. You still need to flatten the board along its length, but the hard work is done. In addition, depending on the length of the board, you may want something longer than a #5 to flatten the length. This is my favorite video on how to flatten a board with a hand plane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mg0jUWJPweg

Happy planing,

Steve

[Max Withers]

I just spent a lot of time flattening some white oak that I had resawn by hand, poorly. I used a Bailey no. 5 that I bought for a song, then had to spend a small fortune fixing up. I got it to the point that it did what I needed on poplar, then left it until my encounter with white oak.

After about 10 seconds I thought, oh sh*t, I am not good enough to work hardwoods by hand. Then I took it apart, fiddled with the frog, resharpened the iron, tried it again. And again. Mostly, I just worked on the iron. After an hour or two, all the while thinking about more things I could buy, and adjusting my ideas about flatness, I got it to work. Maybe 90% sharpening, 5% fiddling, 5% planing. YMMV.

I'm no expert, this is my first attempt to hand plane hardwood. I don't have fancy new planes or thick powdery irons or honing jigs, and my finest stone is currently an extra fine DMT, which is not very fine at all. But my conclusion is that you can do it without those things.

But I am going to get a finer stone. And learn how to resaw better.

[Patrick Harper]

Patrick,

It's possible that your plane needs more fettling, but the fact that you were able to make it work on another board would indicate that it's probably fine. You may already be doing this, but I would suggest watching the Lie-Nielsen video by Deneb Puchalski showing how to set a plane blade with a small block of wood. For me, it's a great starting point to be sure that the blade is sharp and that it's protruding equally on both sides of the mouth. If you can't get the blade to do that, you may need to do more fettling of the plane. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpQSDI0SNIc&list=PL1E4A85B18EB8D8BA

Also, you didn't say how out of flat the board is, but the next step is to use a straightedge and winding sticks to see where the high spots on your board are. I usually mark them with chalk.

Finally, start planing across the board, but at an angle. Start at one end of the board and work your way to the other end, with one pass every 2" or so (the width of the blade). When you get to the end, reverse the angle and start planing back up the board to the starting point. As you do this the first time, you should try to have the blade protruding just enough to hit the highest spots on the board. Most of the time your blade will not be touching wood. Keep planing up and down the board, but resist the urge to increase the depth of cut. As you knock down the high spots, you should notice the blade contacting the wood more of the time. When the plane cuts continuously from one side of the board to the other, you're flat in that direction. You still need to flatten the board along its length, but the hard work is done. In addition, depending on the length of the board, you may want something longer than a #5 to flatten the length. This is my favorite video on how to flatten a board with a hand plane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mg0jUWJPweg

Happy planing,

Steve

Steve, thanks for the videos. I'll watch them both on my lunch break today. The board was supposed to be S2S. Unfortunately, it's cupped pretty badly after letting it sit in the shop for a week. I've only been concentrating on the high spots.

[Patrick Harper]

I just spent a lot of time flattening some white oak that I had resawn by hand, poorly. I used a Bailey no. 5 that I bought for a song, then had to spend a small fortune fixing up. I got it to the point that it did what I needed on poplar, then left it until my encounter with white oak.

After about 10 seconds I thought, oh sh*t, I am not good enough to work hardwoods by hand. Then I took it apart, fiddled with the frog, resharpened the iron, tried it again. And again. Mostly, I just worked on the iron. After an hour or two, all the while thinking about more things I could buy, and adjusting my ideas about flatness, I got it to work. Maybe 90% sharpening, 5% fiddling, 5% planing. YMMV.

I'm no expert, this is my first attempt to hand plane hardwood. I don't have fancy new planes or thick powdery irons or honing jigs, and my finest stone is currently an extra fine DMT, which is not very fine at all. But my conclusion is that you can do it without those things.

But I am going to get a finer stone. And learn how to resaw better.

Max, I know what you mean. Part of my problem was definitely sharpening, but I think I have that under control. I can easily shave hair off my arm and I can slice paper with little more than the weight of the blade. I think something else is wrong with the plane or my technique. After a fresh honing, I get a few nice thin, but inconsistent shavings. I fiddle with the blade depth and get a hard bite and skitter, which sufficiently dulls the edge.

I know that the sole isn't perfect. I need to get a feeler gauge to determine just how bad it is towards the toe, but I have a very small gap towards the toe, right up until the spot just before the mouth. It's dead flat their. I wonder if I'm getting a small amount of rocking that's pulling the blade out of the cut or something.

[David Weaver]

But my conclusion is that you can do it without those things.


Definitely, and you can do it every bit as well, the learning curve might be slightly steeper but the conclusion will be the same.

The best thing you can do to get faster at dimensioning by hand is literally to just keep doing it. Keep a cambered iron for coarse work, and maintain a rhythm at about 80% of the heaviest setting that will allow you to maintain it. Work the board in different directions if it's wide enough to allow, and when you have a reference face mark from it and work toward the mark.

It will all come together pretty quickly to the point that it becomes a pretty thought-free process.

[Adam Cruea]

I've been playing around with the plane and I've found some improvement, but I'm still having issues.

I discovered that the frog rocked slightly when not full tightened. I removed some material on one of the pads on the sole and the rocking stopped. I also reflattened the frog. I resharpened the blade, until I could easily shave hair off my arm. I cut a few threads off of the long bolt on the rear tote to remove some play.

Things are noticeably better, but still extremely difficult. I tried some 8/4 hickory and that planed a little easier, but I still get inconsistent shavings. I'm wondering if this white oak board is just really rough, or maybe the sole isn't flat enough. I'm on a shoestring budget. Are there some easier hard woods I could test that won't blow the budget?

Thanks again guys!

Getting consistent shavings with hickory is like trying to dance on a razor's edge. It can be done, but I would suggest not using a stock iron on that stuff and use A2 or PM-V11.

I doubt that the white oak board is tougher than your hickory, though. What you might have is interlocked grain. How far forward do you have the cap iron on? Also, how tight is the screw that holds the cap iron on? How tight do you have your lever cap?

I crank down the screw as much as I can for the cap iron, and for the lever cap, I flip the lever down and tighten the screw. Once it starts dragging against the lever cap (I go by using a very light grip to hold the screwdriver, and if my fingers slip, the screw is where it should be) I release the lever cap and give the screw 1/8 - 1/4 of a turn tighter, and lock the lever back down.

Also, I know it's a tad odd for me to say, but make sure you've adjusted your frog properly front to back. What I do is lay down a steel rule on the frog without the blade on and with the adjustment screws loose, then push the frog forward or back until the steel rule lays completely on the frog and just kisses the mouth of the plane. Then tighten down all your adjustment screws well so things don't move.

Another trick to test for sharpness is to take the blade and drag it perpendicular to your fingernail, no pressure except the weight of the blade. It *should* leave a white mark and pull up a fine dust if it's well sharpened. Back when I played bassoon, this was usually how we tested our reed knives for shaving the reeds.

[Patrick Harper]

Adam,

I was wondering if I might have some interlocked grain.

I've played with the cap iron, but I think I had it about 1/32 last night. The cap iron is secured as tight as I can get it. I honed the edge so it meets up nicely to the back of the blade. The lever cap is set as tight as I could get it and still move the depth adjuster with one finger.

I try your sharpness trick as well.

How about the frog flatness. I flattened the face of the frog on a diamond stone. However, you can only flatten so much due to the depth adjuster. When the blade is secured, there's a gap in the middle, but its nice and flush along the bottom edge of the frog.

[Patrick Harper]

Is there a better hard wood for a beginner to start with?

[David Weaver]

White oak is fine. Cherry, walnut and soft maple will be eaiser to deal with, though. I'd mention mahogany, but good luck finding good mahogany for a reasonable price.

[Patrick Harper]

Thanks David. I had been considering some walnut.

[Adam Cruea]

Adam,

I was wondering if I might have some interlocked grain.

I've played with the cap iron, but I think I had it about 1/32 last night. The cap iron is secured as tight as I can get it. I honed the edge so it meets up nicely to the back of the blade. The lever cap is set as tight as I could get it and still move the depth adjuster with one finger.

I try your sharpness trick as well.

How about the frog flatness. I flattened the face of the frog on a diamond stone. However, you can only flatten so much due to the depth adjuster. When the blade is secured, there's a gap in the middle, but its nice and flush along the bottom edge of the frog.

You can use a hammer and 5D nail (I think) to pop the pin out of the depth adjuster collar so that you can flatten the whole frog. Or you can flip it up and out of the way, and tape it down once you take the adjuster knob off.

Honestly, on the planes I have, I've never flattened the frog or done half of what some guys do. I almost always just swap out the old iron/cap for a LV A2 iron/cap because they're heavier and will last longer as well as being more consistent. The couple of planes I use the old irons in are planes for heavy work where I know I'll be sharpening and I need something sharpened super-quick.

Also, I know this is daft, but when you retract the blade, do you make sure and make up for the slop in the adjuster? I've had it happen a couple of times that if I retract the blade and forget to account for backlash, the blade will chatter a little as it moves back to settle against the depth adjustment.

[Patrick Harper]

I want to think that I had trouble getting the depth adjuster out of the way no matter what I did. I might see if I can pop the pin out.

I'm starting to seriously consider an LV A2 or PMV-11 blade/cap.

Yeah, I always try to remember to take the backlash out of the depth adjuster. Occasionally, I forget, but I probably always will.

[Patrick Harper]

I got myself a feeler gauge, so I could measure how convex my sole actually was. With pressure on the heel, I can a .0025 slide about a half an inch in from the toe. Is his enough to give me trouble?

[Kees Heiden]

It is pretty normal to see light between blade and frog because the capiron bend the blade a little. And a bit of space under the toe of the sole won't harm.

I think your plane is fine. The rest is practice.

[Kees Heiden]

This is my favorite video on how to flatten a board with a hand plane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mg0jUWJPweg

Happy planing,

Steve

Thanks for sharing this video Steve. It was fun to watch, because it reminds me of my efforts last spring in making a similar table from wallnut. Like he sais, it's a lot of work! He uses a rabet plane as a scrubplane, which isn't ideal of course.