Stanley 60 1/2 mouth alignment

[Mark Rios]

Thanks to all your wise advice and admonishments, I have started looking more closely at my 60 1/2. One thing I have noticed so far is that the adjustable mouth is not flush with the sole(?) of the body. I seems to be flush at the back of the sliding part, at the mouth, but it's definately lower, recessed, at the front of the plane.

Is this a bad thing? Is this something that needs to be fixed or is it an adjustment that I know nothing about?

Also, I don't think that I have it fully sharp right now but this low-angle plane seems to work better taking small amounts of wood (which is what I normally use it for) rather that trying to remove alot of wood at a time. Is this normal?


Thanks again to all for your halp and advice.

[tod evans]

mark, yes the adjustable piece must be flush with the sole, before you take the plane to a sander remove the front piece and be sure the milled surfaces are clean and making contact. if they`re in good order crank the blade back above the sole leaving it under tension and lightly sand the sole checking frequently for an even scratch pattern. once you have an even pattern run through the grits to 220 or higher, wax and try the plane. as for removing large amounts of wood.....it`s a block plane? .02 tod