Crazy Idea?

[Robert Rozaieski]

I got to thinking recently what a pain it can be sometimes to tune a chipbreaker that keeps clogging. So I thought what if you could eliminate the chipbreaker from a bevel down plane similar to a bevel up plane. That would eliminate the annoying clogging that a chipbreaker can often cause. You would still need to have some mechanism for engaging the yoke to advance and retract the iron but this could simply be slots cut behind a hole similar to a block plane. The hole could be smaller because it would not need to accomodate a chip breaker screw, just the lever cap screw. The iron itself could be massively thick to conquer the chatter that chip breakers were originally intended to eliminate (which they don't always do that well anyway), similar to the old thick laminated single irons used in old woodies (maybe in the area of 1/4" thick). The slots for the adjustment yoke could be cut incrementally into the iron and when you needed to go to the next slot due to grinding back the iron, you could simply cut or file away the metal between the screw hole and the slot to allow the iron to be shifted down farther along the frog. I'd like to try making one of these irons to see if it is feasible but is 2" wide by 1/4" thick O1 steel available? Would the cost of making such a thick and complex cut iron be prohibitive to doing so (like would it cost way more than say a LN 0.125" iron and 0.125" chipbreaker combo)? Is this a crazy idea? A crude drawing is attached.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I seldom use the subblade in my Japanese planes, using the abutments to hold the main blade, works great.

Pam

[John Goodridge]

Robert, The purpose of the chipbreaker is not so much to strengthen the blade, but to cause the shavings to crack or break (and curl up) to help avoid tearout. I would suggest tuning and keeping the chipbreaker. Getting a thicker iron could be done as well. Just my thoughts on it.

[Bill Houghton]

Most of the Clark and Williams woodies, which always earn rave reviews, are single irons. It seems like it would be a worthwhile experiment. Note that you'd want to temper the iron so the slot area's soft enough to file.

[Glenn Crocker]

Robert,
Interesting idea, should work with minor modifications to the body, keep us posted.
One source for O1 flatbar is any distributor for Starrett products.
Starrett.com - Products - Specialty Products - Flat Stock - Product List.
Part #54076 for 1/4x2x18", should run about $15.00 if I remember correctly. That length ought to net you 4 blanks, pretty economical.
FWIW, Starrett carries 1/4 flat up to 5 inches wide, should make a great smoother iron, just be sure to add a tow hook to the plane's knob. :eek:
Glenn

[John Schreiber]

My impression is that making a blade like that would have its challenges, but wouldn't be all that difficult. What you want to read up on is heat treating the steel. It has to be hard when you use it, but it can't be hard when you shape it.

Chip breakers' stated purpose is to break the shaving so that it will curl, but obviously that's not necessary on some planes, so I'm not sure how necessary it really is.

[Eddie Darby]

You might like these links:

http://www.planemaker.com/articles/dblirn.html

http://cablespeed.com/~sgelliott/plane_tuning/html/chipbreaker_study.html

That is if you haven't already read them.

[Chuck Hamman]

Robert,
Steve Knight will sell you a 2" wide 1/4" thick blade but sans the grooves for the depth adjuster. I built this woody around one this past summer. It'll set you back about $40 or so. My plane works great.