Harry Rosal
08-10-2005, 9:26 AM
<o =""></o>First I’d like to say that I’ve learned a lot from the collective wisdom here; I can’t find much fellow woodworkers here (<st1:country-region><st1 ="">the Philippines</st1></st1:country-region>) to learn the hobby from, hence you guys have been especially helpful in getting me started. I mean, months ago, I thought all I needed was a block plane, a 7T crosscut saw, and a ¾ chisel for fine woodworking and it was all I got! ( I indeed managed to make a rough footstool with those, but that bookcase project was sidelined because I couldn’t make the dadoes, and that dovetailed box was a horror! :p )
Anyway, I’m in the process of restoring a type16 #4 bailey these past few days and today I flattened the back of the cap iron/chipbreaker, so that it will not have any clearance with the plane iron when assembled. I successfully managed that because when I press it using my fingers against the plane iron & other flat surfaces, I don’t see any light coming from a gap. Job done?
<o =""></o>The interesting part is that when I screwed chipbreaker to the iron with the cap screw, I could see a gap on the sides which was ≥ .0015 (.04mm!) (I got that measurement via a feeler gauge.) The middle part was fine- it was touching but has the gap increasing to its left and right. I tried sanding it several times dead flat again (checked with a ruler) but with a finer 600 grit to no avail.
I later figured it out that the cap screw presses the chipbreaker harder against the blade than my fingers can, and it contorts either the iron or chipbreaker (or both) creating that gap. And that the screw being positioned in the middle doesn’t put much pressure to the sides as it does in the middle. I confirmed this when the side gaps disappear whenever I unloosen the screw, and gradually return again when tightened. I did manage to file the chipbreaker to a non-perfectly flat profile to compensate for that but having limited tools and knowledge I could only reduce the gap down but not totally eliminate it.
Then I remember the lever cap! The level cap should press down on both against the solid frog solving out iron-chipbreaker peculiarities. True enough, gap gone! (of course you couldn’t inspect anything if the frog’s connected to the body so I removed the frog)
...Perhaps there’s truth to the notion that the sole flexes too when the lever cap is flipped? Anyway with the way the bailey type plane works, I was fussing over this for hours when actually I don’t have to. Gotta hand it to leonard bailey and (plane type) evolution =)
Anyway, I’m in the process of restoring a type16 #4 bailey these past few days and today I flattened the back of the cap iron/chipbreaker, so that it will not have any clearance with the plane iron when assembled. I successfully managed that because when I press it using my fingers against the plane iron & other flat surfaces, I don’t see any light coming from a gap. Job done?
<o =""></o>The interesting part is that when I screwed chipbreaker to the iron with the cap screw, I could see a gap on the sides which was ≥ .0015 (.04mm!) (I got that measurement via a feeler gauge.) The middle part was fine- it was touching but has the gap increasing to its left and right. I tried sanding it several times dead flat again (checked with a ruler) but with a finer 600 grit to no avail.
I later figured it out that the cap screw presses the chipbreaker harder against the blade than my fingers can, and it contorts either the iron or chipbreaker (or both) creating that gap. And that the screw being positioned in the middle doesn’t put much pressure to the sides as it does in the middle. I confirmed this when the side gaps disappear whenever I unloosen the screw, and gradually return again when tightened. I did manage to file the chipbreaker to a non-perfectly flat profile to compensate for that but having limited tools and knowledge I could only reduce the gap down but not totally eliminate it.
Then I remember the lever cap! The level cap should press down on both against the solid frog solving out iron-chipbreaker peculiarities. True enough, gap gone! (of course you couldn’t inspect anything if the frog’s connected to the body so I removed the frog)
...Perhaps there’s truth to the notion that the sole flexes too when the lever cap is flipped? Anyway with the way the bailey type plane works, I was fussing over this for hours when actually I don’t have to. Gotta hand it to leonard bailey and (plane type) evolution =)