Phil Stone
02-24-2015, 7:07 PM
I recently received Lee Valley's Stanley replacement iron and cap iron combo for my Bed Rock 604. I'm a relative newbie with hand planes, so setting this up has raised a few questions.
I moved the frog back as far as it will go without changing the bed angle. I.e., if I move it back any further, the blade will contact the back of the mouth before it is fully seated/coplanar on the frog. I can advance the blade enough to get very thin shavings, but the mouth is practically closed. Small chips easily get stuck. Am I doing something wrong with the frog/blade adjustment, or will I need to open the mouth a bit?
I wrote to Lee Valley customer service, and they quickly replied that although the blade/iron set is meant as a direct replacement for Stanley planes, the mouth width is somewhat hit-or-miss, so I may need to open it up.
Now, this 604 is in decent shape, but it's a user (I found it at a yard sale for fifteen bucks a few years ago!); I'm not a collector. Still, I don't want to screw up what seems to be a valued vintage plane. Should I file the mouth? If so, should it be the back or the front of the mouth?
Thanks for any advice.
I moved the frog back as far as it will go without changing the bed angle. I.e., if I move it back any further, the blade will contact the back of the mouth before it is fully seated/coplanar on the frog. I can advance the blade enough to get very thin shavings, but the mouth is practically closed. Small chips easily get stuck. Am I doing something wrong with the frog/blade adjustment, or will I need to open the mouth a bit?
I wrote to Lee Valley customer service, and they quickly replied that although the blade/iron set is meant as a direct replacement for Stanley planes, the mouth width is somewhat hit-or-miss, so I may need to open it up.
Now, this 604 is in decent shape, but it's a user (I found it at a yard sale for fifteen bucks a few years ago!); I'm not a collector. Still, I don't want to screw up what seems to be a valued vintage plane. Should I file the mouth? If so, should it be the back or the front of the mouth?
Thanks for any advice.