camber

[phil harold]

I have just cleaned up an no. 5 n 1/2 type 9 plane last night an am wondering how much of a camber/radius to put on the iron
your opinions please
thanks

[Joe Bailey]

This will be dictated by the purpose, for which, you are cambering the blade in the first place.

A more aggressive camber (say an 8" radius) if you're trying to use it as a scrub plane; a far lesser camber (slightly more honing pressure on outside edges) if you're just trying to avoid leaving tracks.

[Joshua Hancock]

This was addressed a couple years ago:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?183264-Jack-Plane-Iron-Camber

Try these as well:

He'll explain reasoning here.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/video/the-proper-camber-on-a-handplane-blade.aspx

On this one, read the comments at the bottom as well. As having a 5 1/2 will mean youll have differing radii from a regular 5 :

http://logancabinetshoppe.com/blog/2009/08/camber-on-plane-irons/

Hope this helps

[Roger Rettenmeier]

Think about a common 8" camber. Put it on a 1 3/4 wide iron vs a 2 1/4 or larger iron? What will hog more wood when set at a max depth?