Mujingfang smoothing plane issue

[Steven Mikes]

I've tried sharpening, re-sharpening, and flattening the cap iron mating surface, but I can't get the plane to take nice smooth continuous shavings. It slices nicely into the wood, but the shavings are bunching up into accordion-like structures and getting clogged in the mouth. Anyone have experience with these planes? I'm not sure how to diagnose the problem, maybe the mouth is too narrow and need filing open?

[John Crawford]

I'm not an expert, but I'll add my experiences, and let others comment further. Do let us know which of the Muji planes you are working with, that might make some difference. I have the one that Lee Valley sells as the "Hong Kong Style High Angle Smooth Plane"

* The plane as designed seems made for very thin shavings. IME this plane will not do what your typical #4 smooth plane will do. Mine definitely clogs with anything but very fine shavings.
* Quality control on these planes is also not great. I returned one that I received with multiple chips in the wooden body. My current one has a shaving trap inside the plane (didn't discover this until months after purchase). Always clogs on the left side unless I clean it out manually with every swipe.
* If/when you get it set up and applied to a suitable task, it seems to work well!

Edit: I think you may be discussing a metal plane, whereas I thought you were referring to one of the wooden Muji planes (I read "cap iron" as "wedge" when I first saw your post).

[Jim Koepke]

Accordion shavings can indicate the chip breaker is set too close to the blade's edge for the thickness of shaving being taken.

There also could be a burr or gap where the chip breaker meets the blade impeding the shavings path to freedom.

jtk

[Steven Mikes]

The specific plane is the "MujingfangRosewood 7" Smoothing Plane for Hardwoods 15887" from Japan Woodworker. It was on sale when I bought it, don't think they have any right now. It looks just like this one though:
https://www.japanwoodworker.com/products/mujingfang-rosewood-6-1-2-polishing-plane
except that the blade is bedded at 45 degrees on mine.

John I think I might have similar issues as you. The quality was definitely not great, when I received it the wedge didn't hold one side and the cap iron surface was ground really rough and not straight and only touched a couple spots on the blade. I think I've fixed those two issues but your comment about a shaving trap sounds spot-on. The shavings in mine keep getting caught on something at the left side of the mouth. I'm not quite sure what, they seem to jam between the edge of the mouth and the blade corner. If too much shaving folds itself in there I have to dig it out with a sharp tool. Is there a way to fix it?

[John Crawford]

If too much shaving folds itself in there I have to dig it out with a sharp tool. Is there a way to fix it?

I think folks who make and tune wooden planes are familiar with methods of dealing with shaving traps, so it might be fixable. They have specialty tools of course. You might try some of the wooden plane making sites. Sorry I can't be of more help! If the plane is brand new, I would think that a shaving trap would be a reason for exchange (not sure if they all have this problem). I suspect that these planes do need to be cleared of shavings more carefully than a metal plane, but mine sometimes gets clogged after just one swipe....

[Andrew Hughes]

I would check the shape of the edge and work on the chip breaker smooth it and set it back. Make sure your edge is not concave. That will make the shaving bend in.