New HF 33 plane and Bailey 6.25 blade orientation

[Rick Johnston]

My Bailey works with the blade sharpened chamfer up as it goes in the plane.
I flattened the sole of the HF and sharpened the blade to a 25 angle.
The testing of the HF went horrible. All it did was chatter.
There are no instructions so I put the blade in with the sharpened edge up just like the Bailey.

I flipped the blade with it down and it made shavings pretty well.
What gives?

[steven c newman]

Because it is a bevel down plane. It will also make a dang good scrub plane, when you grind a 3" radius camber to the edge. Have one set up as a scrub, best scrub plane I ever had.

Maybe a photo of this Bailey plane.......do you mean a #62 low angle Jack? The SB4 looks almost the same as the Windsor 33. The 33 is a #3 size, the SB4 is a #4 size.
337137
The Windsor #33 scrub plane I have, and..
337138
The Stanley # SB4 after a tune up. It has since been sold.

[Rick Johnston]

It's a Stanley 12-920 block plane. Thanks.

[Mark Gibney]

Bought a HF #33 a few years ago out of curiosity. Flattened the sole, lapped the blade, honed it, cuts well. It's small enough that I use it somewhat as a two handed block plane.

It's a bevel down plane, not sure if that was your issue?

I have a Stanley scrub plane, otherwise I would think about making the HF #33 into a scrub.

[Patrick Chase]

I flattened the sole of the HF and sharpened the blade to a 25 angle.
The testing of the HF went horrible. All it did was chatter.
There are no instructions so I put the blade in with the sharpened edge up just like the Bailey.

I flipped the blade with it down and it made shavings pretty well.
What gives?

As other have alluded, the HF 33 is designed to have the bevel (the correct term for what you call the "chamfer") face down. It has a 45 deg bed, so with the bevel facing up the cutting angle is 45 + 25 = 70 deg, which is too high for all but some specialized applications like toothing. With the bevel down the cutting angle is 45 deg, also known as "common pitch".

Your Stanley 12-920 is designed to have the bevel face up. It has a 21 deg bed, so the resulting cutting angle is 21 + 25 = 46 deg, or just a hair above common pitch.

[Rick Johnston]

Thanks for the great explanation.

[Rob Matarazzo]

I also turned my HF 33 into a scrub plane. Works great.