Stanley 271 - blade slightly skewed?

[Allan Speers]

I never owned a router plane before, and thought I'd try a little Stanley 271 before diving in head-first.

I got one off Ebay, and it seems in fine condition, except the blade doesn't quite point straight ahead:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31826742/%20271%20%20-%20A.jpg



What the hey? Is this normal? It does this in both the front and back positions, so it can't be the plane itself. Did Stanley sometimes cut the slot wrong in the blade? Could this be the wrong blade?

- Or is it somehow supposed to be like this, to give a slight skew?

[Ralph Boumenot]

It looks to be the result of sharpening. They aren't the easiest to thing to hold and sharpen so it's easy to get a skew while doing the deed.

[Allan Speers]

Thanks, Ralph, but I don't think so. It's a little hard to see in the pic, but the entire "foot" of the blade comes off its shaft at an angle. The edge is cut fairly close to 90º. (Not quite, as if the last user was trying to compensate for the problem.)

Maybe this shows it better:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31826742/%20271%20%20-%20B.jpg



I agree these are hard to sharpen, though. That's gonna' be my next question / thread!


If I knew that the blade was bad, I'd order a new one from St James Bay (or LV if they fit) And try to grind this one down to either 1/8" or a point, for inlay work. But I'm really puzzled here.

[ken hatch]

Allan,

I'm not knowledgeable about the 271 so I can't answer your question about the cutter but, I do use router planes both small and large and can say that within reason a slight slew of the blade will not affect the use of a unfenced router plane. Unless you want to try and get your money back I would just put 'er to use. They are handy little suckers.

ken

[bill howes]

Allan
I looked at mine and although the blade isn't as skewed as yours its not truly at a right angle. Looking at my 271 I'm not sure its really 90 degrees either although its closer. Seems that Stanley quality control was lacking in these.
In use it doesn't matter. In fact when you use it your eye will line up the blade to follow where you want it to go.
Bill

[Nicholas Lawrence]

It looks off, but I agree it should not make much difference. I think you will find your eye focusing on the blade when you use it anyway, and it should be a simple matter to keep the blade aligned that way.

[Stewie Simpson]

The toe of the cutter needs a clearance angle of around 1 to 2 degree's. Measured when the toe of the cutter is set flush to the sole of the router. As Brian B. suggests, you can skew the body of the router to compensate for the misalignment of the foot.

Stewie;

[Brian Blackburn]

I skew planes by turning them slightly any time I get tear out, as a first correction. You can skew the body to correct or you can just use it. I don't see a downside.

[Greg Wease]

I have three of these and 2 have cutters skewed slightly, only in the opposite direction from yours. One is "Made in Eng" like yours, brand new in the box ($5 at a tool swap last week; stealth gloat) and it has the worst skew. I think it is just Stanley's inability to consistently locate the slot. It doesn't really affect usefulness.

[Mike Cherry]

I have three of these and 2 have cutters skewed slightly, only in the opposite direction from yours. One is "Made in Eng" like yours, brand new in the box ($5 at a tool swap last week; stealth gloat) and it has the worst skew. I think it is just Stanley's inability to consistently locate the slot. It doesn't really affect usefulness.
Whoa whoa whoa, where was this tool swap? We have those around San Diego? I thought all the vintage tools were on the east coast hahah

[Greg Wease]

Whoa whoa whoa, where was this tool swap? We have those around San Diego? I thought all the vintage tools were on the east coast hahah

Yeah, San Diego Fine Woodworkers sponsor a tool swap meet 3 times a year in the Rockler parking lot. Next one is 1st Sunday in April.

By the way, Lie Nielsen will have a hand tool event at Palomar College in San Marcos January 22-23. Hand tools are alive and well in San Diego. Just rare and expensive.

[Mike Cherry]

See I need to join your woodworkers club down there. We got nothing up here in Temecula. I might have to go to the LN event too!

[mike holden]

The only thing that matters in a router plane, is that the cutting edge is parallel with the base.
What the router does is create a plane parallel to another, the base references one plane, the cutter creates the second.
Hence, the orientation of the cutting edge relative to anything other than the base plane is immaterial.

[Robert Engel]

I wouldn't worry about it.
I have a Lee Valley version and there is no groove most of the time I deliberately set the blade skewed to get into corners better.

[James Pallas]

Check how the screws is hitting the slot of the iron. It may be hitting the back edge of the slot and twisting it a little. A bit of filing may correct it.
Jim

[Allan Speers]

The only thing that matters in a router plane, is that the cutting edge is parallel with the base. What the router does is create a plane parallel to another, the base references one plane, the cutter creates the second.
Hence, the orientation of the cutting edge relative to anything other than the base plane is immaterial.

So then you suggest that I re-grind the edge, correct?

How I would do this, I have no idea ....

[mike holden]

Allan,
Sharpening router plane blades is something that is a can of worms. Everyone seems to have their own (difficult, awkward, etc.) way of doing it.
The best known method is by Derek Cohen found at inthewoodshop.com
I think his method of sharpening the upper surface of the blade is the simplest, neatest way I have ever seen.
Sharpening the lower surface I do by the method my instructor, Joe Trippi, taught me.
That is using a flat surface, granite, glass, etc. with sandpaper.
Leave an area uncovered with abrasive. This area is where the back of your router will rest. The blade should be lowered so the edge strikes the abrasive, but not so much that the entire bottom strikes the abrasive. You will be creating a second bevel, see the pics.
The geometry is such that this will create an edge that lies in a plane parallel to the base plane. It will cancel out any variation in the angle of the blade post not being exactly 90 degrees (or normal ) to the base plane.
The pics show a Stanley 71, and from them you can see that the plane must have been dropped at some point in its life as the bladepost is no longer 90 degrees to the base, it is also possible that the base has been polished out of 90. Does not matter as this sharpening method cancels it all out.
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This method will work with your 271 as well as with any router that has a straight back edge to rotate the body. My instructor claimed that that is what those "ears" were designed to do.
Mike