wooden plane setup

[Wes Ramsey]

I don't post here often, so please forgive me if this is covered frequently. I don't use planes often, but when I need one it is because nothing else will get the job done as well. I picked up a couple of CHEAP wooden hand planes at the Grizzly tent sale in Springfield on Saturday, and would like to get an idea of how best to tune them up for use. One was a shoulder plane, returned because the blade was 'ground at the wrong angle'. An ebony (what the box says anyway) plane for $10 I couldn't pass up. I didn't see anything obviously wrong with the angle or machining on the blade, and I figure at the very least I have a good start to a decent, seldom-used tool that I otherwise would not have in my arsenal. The other was a $7 'rosewood' bullnose plane, which hopefully will help soften edges faster than my current sandpaper method. If it turns out to be junk I'll mount a handle on the blade and have a decent beading tool for the lathe :D

Anyway, what is the best way to get these tuned up for use? For the shoulder plane I assume I need to lightly plane the sides and get them as parallel as possible, then make sure the bottom is flat and square to the sides. Anything else to it? I don't know that the bullnose plane needs much of anything other than a good edge and maybe sand the globby finish out of the channel.

[Jim Koepke]

It would be much easier to help with your planes if we could see them. It would also be good to see how they are doing in action.

I am not sure if my recent post on molding planes would be of any help:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?242156-Old-Molding-Planes-and-the-Rehab-Enthusiast

One of the hardest parts of getting wooden planes to work is setting the blade. There is not a whole lot of difference between the blade taking a good shaving and being hopelessly taking too much of a shaving. Before making any comments on how to adjust your blades I would want to see the planes to avoid useless instructions.

If you do not have the equipment to post images can you find a link to the planes and post that?

jtk

[Bob Glenn]

As the saying goes, "sharp fixes most problems". I'd start there. Good luck, Wes.

[Wes Ramsey]

Thanks guys. Here are the links for the planes I have:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Flat-Profile-Shoulder-Plane-Ebony/T10266?utm_campaign=zPage

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Rosewood-Bull-Nose-Plane-1-4-/T10256?utm_campaign=zPage

I know they're cheap, but I need something simple and functional on the rare occasion I need it. I'd like to get a nicer shoulder plane, but need to see how much I will use it first.

[Roy Lindberry]

Thanks guys. Here are the links for the planes I have:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Flat-Profile-Shoulder-Plane-Ebony/T10266?utm_campaign=zPage

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Rosewood-Bull-Nose-Plane-1-4-/T10256?utm_campaign=zPage

I know they're cheap, but I need something simple and functional on the rare occasion I need it. I'd like to get a nicer shoulder plane, but need to see how much I will use it first.

Start by sharpening. That's the most important thing. If the iron in your shoulder plane is oriented as in the picture, flip it so the bevel is down. Otherwise, you won't have any luck with it at all.

[Andy McKenzie]

I have a very similar shoulder plane. It needed sharpening, and the setup of the wedge encouraged jamming. I tried reshaping the wedge, but in the end I found it was simpler to just put my thumb over the hole on the left side, and poke the shavings out after every few passes. Other than that, it's worked out very well.

[Wes Ramsey]

Start by sharpening. That's the most important thing. If the iron in your shoulder plane is oriented as in the picture, flip it so the bevel is down. Otherwise, you won't have any luck with it at all.

Thanks Roy. Should the bevel angle match the angle of the iron so the bevel rides flat on the wood? Seems logical to me, but all the pics I've seen of these planes have the iron facing bevel-forward.

[george wilson]

Hopefully some day Grizzly will figure out how to NOT put their plane blades in UPSIDE DOWN. They did that on the 2 planes I could see the blades in.

Strange how you could not buy the ebony to make that ebony plane for the price of the finished plane. Probably not the East Indian looking rosewood,either.

[Roy Lindberry]

Thanks Roy. Should the bevel angle match the angle of the iron so the bevel rides flat on the wood? Seems logical to me, but all the pics I've seen of these planes have the iron facing bevel-forward.

Not quite. I don't know the bed angle for the blade, but it is likely 45°. The angle ground on the blade should be somewhere around 25° (some are more picky than I about the exact angle) to the flat face of the blade, which leaves a clearance angle between the blade and the wood of about 20°. Only the cutting edge should touch the wood.