Just doing some thinking about Frog Angles

[Jeff Ranck]

My only smoothing plane is one of the "old style" LV planes. I like the plane a lot and I've definitely benefited from all the work that has gone into cap iron placement. So now that I can get good results with a close set cap iron at a 45 deg. frog with almost any wood, is there any reason to go with a higher angle frog? I have been working some "mystery wood" that I picked up when a lumber wholesaler was going out of business. All I know is that it is probably african, the wood is pretty hard, it is brown, and it has these "ribbons" that run through it that make it look really cool, seem softer than the wood, and that are difficult to plane without tear out. Oh, and I have quite a reaction to the wood in dust form.

So I'm not sure I need something different than what I have, but the new LV smoothers where you can choose your frog angle is sure tempting. But I surely don't need a 45 deg. frog, and so that means either higher or lower (55 or 40 are the standard angles). Given that my only smoother is set at 45 and I haven't ever used a different angle on a smoother, is there a reason to have a smoother with a higher or lower angle?

jeff.

[Jim Koepke]

If you have a spare blade you may be able to answer the question yourself. If you can, hone a back bevel of 10º on a spare blade and see if the new angle of attack provides any benefit.

Keep the back bevel small. Too much back bevel and you will start to loose any advantage provided by the chip breaker as it won't seat on the back bevel.

If the plane you have can use a 2" blade there are replacement blades at the Orange Borg for $3 or at least they used to be. I haven't looked in a long time.

jtk

[bridger berdel]

Im building a 35° bevel down plane and documenting it on my blog. Link in my sig line.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Jeff

In a nutshell, choose either a high cutting angle or use the chipbreaker, but not both. I can get equally good results with a 40 degree frog and chipbreaker (in one of the Veritas Custom planes) and a BD high angle frog or BU with a high cutting angle.

If you plan to go the Veritas Custom route, my recommendation for you would be a custom 42 degree frog (more clearance angle than the 40 degree frog) for the slightly better finish off the plane. But keep in mind that it is probably not going to show a difference once you add a finish to the wood's surface.

The reason to go for a high angle frog is if you do not want to be bothered setting the chipbreaker, which does have a learning curve. Since you are already using the chipbreaker on your Stanley, you are part way there.

The decision is whether to get one of the Custom planes vs the Stanley is another matter. There are a lot of good things about the Veritas that become apparent when you use one. But more of these later when I write about them.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[don wilwol]

Why not go straight to a scraper plane?

[Brian Holcombe]

The lower cutting angle will produce a better surface finish but has a higher possibility of tear out.

[Jeff Ranck]

Thanks all. I appreciate all the info. It seems like there isn't really a reason to go with a higher angle frog from where I am. I do have a LV BU Jack, so I guess I could always increase the angle and use it as a big smoother if I ever need a higher angle. So maybe I'll just keep that 42 deg. frog custom LV smoother in mind!