Historically,jointer plane,bevel up or bevel down

[David Ryle]

,So a wooden bodied 22" jointer came into my possession,slight checking on ends,ragged mouth,coated in dirt,all the usual indications of general use,age,and neglect. The iron has a slot for a chip breaker screw,and yes,there is a slot cut for a screw head, but there isn't one the iron being securely held by a wedge,and when it came to me iron was in the b.u. position. The iron has writing that looks like Chapin or Chapelle although it's feint,the iron looks a fair age,cast steel I think and it's quite thick, tapering to more than 3/16ths at the cutting edge. My question is was it common to have jointers with a b.u. Iron or was it b.d.mjust curious.

[steven c newman]

Bevel down.

[Bruce Haugen]

With no pic to help, I'd say bevel down. I'm thinking that bevel up didn't start on bench planes until the Stanley 60 (and block planes). Oh, also shoulder planes.

[Jim Koepke]

Most likely the blade was installed improperly when handled by someone not knowing much about it.

One easy check would be to determine the bed angle. If the bedding for the blade is ~45º or more, it is unlikely it would have been used bevel up. A blade with a typical 25º bevel would be difficult to push in such a plane.

jtk

[John Vernier]

Bevel up wooden planes are quite rare. The only ones I am aware of are one type of low-angle mitre plane, and even among mitre planes a lot of examples are designed to be bevel down. Common pattern bench planes are bevel down, with no exceptions I can think of. Your 22" plane is a try plane, the shortest and most useful size of jointer. You will want to find a chip breaker for the iron to get the best performance out of it.

[Jerry Olexa]

Bevel should be down

[Joe Bailey]

The blade should be installed such that the makers' mark is facing up/outward (visible)
The only complication would arise if, at some point, someone ground a bevel on the side opposite that originally ground (unlikely)