Hand Plane info for a beginner.

[Noel Patterson]

I will be buying a few older hand planes soon and will be refurbishing them. I have a basic understanding about cleaning them and flattening the soles, but what does "fettling" mean. Hope I spelled that correctly. Thanks

[Sean Hughto]

I've always understood it as a variety of little maintenance and improvement tasks undertaken on a tool - with a plane it might include cleaning off old grime, filing little burrs, oiling, maybe sanding off rust spots, etc. - just kind of cleaning up a plane and making sure everything mates cleanly and properly and is tight and adjusted well.

[Jim Koepke]

Noel,

Welcome to the Creek. Your profile doesn't list your location. You may live close to another member who would be happy to help you with fettling.

Here is my take on fettlilng:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?114373-Fettling-A-Plane-from-Junker-to-Jointer

My advise is to not do anything to the sole unless it actually is in need of something being done.

Fettling something and fiddling with something are about the same thing. Fettling is in hopes of making an improvement. Fiddling could be out of boredom.

jtk

[Noel Patterson]

Sean and Jim,
Thanks for your help. I will attempt to upgrade my profile. I see from Jims post that there is much for me to digest. I have been reading SMC for a while and it seems that there are many of you guys that have a wealth of knowledge and are willing to share with other. I would like to thank you for your assistance. I am computer challenged so expect many mistakes. Again thanks. Noel

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for your help.

You are welcome.


I am computer challenged so expect many mistakes.

I am computer challenged and I used to repair the darn things! :eek:

jtk

[Jim Matthews]

A word about refurbishing older planes.

Have a good look at the cutting iron, before you start.
If there's not much left between the cutting edge
and the slot in the center - don't bother.

You'll be sharpening frequently, and each time the blade gets shorter.
Start with a blade that has plenty of real estate remaining.

In my opinion, the hardest part of getting a plane to perform well is sharpening the blade.

[bob blakeborough]

I will be buying a few older hand planes soon and will be refurbishing them. I have a basic understanding about cleaning them and flattening the soles, but what does "fettling" mean. Hope I spelled that correctly. ThanksI would say that fettling is another word for "tinkering" or maybe better yet, a description of "tinkering for improvement of performance"...

[Patrick Bernardo]

If I might, let me just add some encouragement and a bit of advice.

I'm a newb as well, so take this for what it's worth - Jim's guide is incredible, and will be absolutely useful to you. But Jim is an experienced user, and we're still learning. If you go down that road too soon, you can end up with three planes in your basement, disassembled, with nothing to show for it but a bunch of parts strewn around, worn out sandpaper, and not much else. If you don't know what a plane is supposed to be like, then all the fettling in the world won't help, because you don't have an end in sight. I spent months 'tuning' a Stanley 5 plane that never saw wood and ended up with a cracked frog because I was stupid and frustrated in trying to get it 'super-tuned'. The reality is I didn't even know what a working plane was like, because even if the plane was technically 'tuned', I didn't know how to hold the damn thing. I bet that plane was fine and that I just didn't know what to do with it.

When you get your planes, start by doing three things only:

1) Hone the blades. Get them as sharp as you can. Unlike lapping a sole, time spent here is invested in a skill that will serve you in all your woodworking.
2) Check the fit of the breaker. If there's any gap between the blade and the chipbreaker, it definitely will clog and you'll get frustrated. Tune that to get a nice tight fit.
3) Wax the sole. Use furniture paste, like SC Johnson.

Then take the plane to some wood. Try to learn how to hold it and move it so you're not scooping the wood, and try to find 90 degrees. You'll be at this awhile. Do it so that you can start to get a flat edge on a board that's about 90 to the face. I did this with a 2x4 that I shaved down to about a 2x2 just by planing one edge. Then I moved to a piece of 1x6 Borg pine that I also shaved down, just to work on a narrower board. I had to sharpen the iron several times, so I got better at that too. Go on to Youtube and find somebody who is good at planing - Charlesworth, Sellers, Renaissance woodworker, whoever, it doesn't matter - you want to hear what a proper plane sounds like when it cuts wood. It's hard to describe, but there's a smooth shearing sound. It's crisp and unmistakable. Get that sound in your head, it's what you're looking for.

You will almost certainly find it difficult to get the blade laterally adjusted square in the mouth. You will almost certainly have the plane set to either take too deep of a cut (sounds like a zipper) or no cut at all. You will almost certainly vacillate between those two settings for a while. You will wonder what people mean by 'backlash' because you won't be able to feel the difference between the adjuster moving the iron and not. You will get familiar with the 'chunk' and thud of slamming a plane into the wood crooked and set too deep. You will almost certainly have an epiphany. You will hear the plane, and see the shavings. You will see the board start to shine, and you'll notice the difference between tear-out and shimmering planed wood. You will know what a plane is able to do.

If, after trying with a plane for a little while, and getting the feel of the tool in your hand, you can't get quality shavings; if, after really doing this and working on your sharpening, it's just not right, then try a different plane. You need to know what a proper plane feels like first. I have a second #5 that won't take a good shaving. I know this because I have a #5 1/2 and a #7 that cut like butter. I never 'fettled' either plane. Heck, I never even checked the soles on those. I just took them straight to wood. The #5 will need work. It's on the agenda for the full Jim K. treatment - I suspect it's a problem with the frog, though I haven't had the energy to really check it. But really, don't waste your time sanding down a sole or trying to dissect a frog without knowing what you need to get out of process. Oh, and it'll be awesome when you first hear that sound coming from your plane. Get there as soon as you can.