Steve H Graham
08-09-2015, 6:09 PM
I got a nice #5 Stanley plane on Ebay, and then I dropped it and chipped a corner. I could not stand to look at it and be reminded that I had damaged a tool that had made it 100 years without incident until I got ahold of it. I decided to sell it and get another one.
I am working on the second plane today, and I am using a piece of Home Depot pine to test it. It's a piece of 2 x 6 on its side in a vise.
Here's what I want to know: is the lever on a plane supposed to be used when you're trying to joint an edge?
I checked the pine with a combination square as I planed, and the edge was not square, so I started trying to hold the plane at a slight angle. then I thought about that handy lever, and I decided to see if it would speed things up. I tilted the blade so it cut deeper on the left side when the plane sole was against the wood.
Seems like it worked, because the edge is square now, but I'm wondering if this is standard technique or something I just made up in order to get it over with.
On another note, I tried an experiment today. The cutter on the plane arrived with a pronounced camber that was crowned about 1/3 of the way across the blade. It was much deeper on one side. The cutter also had a burned spot. I decided to fix it, and I thought it might be good to try the oscillating belt sander to rough it out. I put the blade up against a 120-grit belt, and it did the trick quickly, BUT it cambers the edge. The belt is flexible, so it puts more pressure on the edges of the blade. If you use a pulley to support the blade, things get jittery, so I decided to live with the camber and fix it with the bench stones.
Seems to have worked well. The cutter didn't get hot, and it was very easy to control. I don't have a low-speed bench grinder, so this seems like a useful substitute.
Final question: what could make a blade tilt when the edge is square to the sides? I checked the blade with a square as I shaped it, so I know it's square, but the lever is off to the side when the blade is flat against the work. I took the frog off and sanded the crud off, and I made sure everything looked like it was lined up. I think this is a Type 11 plane.
I am working on the second plane today, and I am using a piece of Home Depot pine to test it. It's a piece of 2 x 6 on its side in a vise.
Here's what I want to know: is the lever on a plane supposed to be used when you're trying to joint an edge?
I checked the pine with a combination square as I planed, and the edge was not square, so I started trying to hold the plane at a slight angle. then I thought about that handy lever, and I decided to see if it would speed things up. I tilted the blade so it cut deeper on the left side when the plane sole was against the wood.
Seems like it worked, because the edge is square now, but I'm wondering if this is standard technique or something I just made up in order to get it over with.
On another note, I tried an experiment today. The cutter on the plane arrived with a pronounced camber that was crowned about 1/3 of the way across the blade. It was much deeper on one side. The cutter also had a burned spot. I decided to fix it, and I thought it might be good to try the oscillating belt sander to rough it out. I put the blade up against a 120-grit belt, and it did the trick quickly, BUT it cambers the edge. The belt is flexible, so it puts more pressure on the edges of the blade. If you use a pulley to support the blade, things get jittery, so I decided to live with the camber and fix it with the bench stones.
Seems to have worked well. The cutter didn't get hot, and it was very easy to control. I don't have a low-speed bench grinder, so this seems like a useful substitute.
Final question: what could make a blade tilt when the edge is square to the sides? I checked the blade with a square as I shaped it, so I know it's square, but the lever is off to the side when the blade is flat against the work. I took the frog off and sanded the crud off, and I made sure everything looked like it was lined up. I think this is a Type 11 plane.