Skewed Hollows and rounds

[Michael Stadulis]

Hello friends,

I'm looking at a full set of skewed H&R's and I'm wondering if anyone here uses them. My concern is whether the skewed iron gives the plane a tendency to slice relative to the skew angle and therefore go "offline". My current non-skewed planes don't do that at all.
Any commentary would really be appreciated.

Michael Stadulis.....who's wishing he bought them 20 years ago when he was buying his sidebeads.

[Dave Anderson NH]

My primary set of H&R are a 50 degree bedded skewed set. they work very well though there is a little more work when the time comes to sharpen or reprofile the irons. Because of the skew you have to trace the profile of the iron and then regrind it to a shape which is not symetrical. On the other hand the extra work pays off with a better and cleaner cut on hardwoods. The higher bed angle of the iron is also a benefit for use in hardwoods. Generally speaking the 45 degree unskewed sets were produced for use by carpenters doing trim work in houses and were expected to be used in softwoods like white pine. Almost all of the skewed iron wooden molding planes with bed angles above 45 degrees were made for cabinetmakers while the 45 degree planes without a skewed iron were for carpenters. This doesn't necessarily hold true for rabbets, plows, spills, and other types of general use planes though.

[Michael Stadulis]

Dave, Thanks. Does the skewed blade have any tendency to wander in the cut?

Mike

[Michael Stadulis]

Dave,

I got this reply to my question from someone at WC. ..........

" The downside is that the skew makes free hand, no fence work, all but impossible, and I steer clear of skewed H&R for this reason....."

Do you have similar "wandering problems" that warrant a fence for say a crown molding? I understood that the skewed blade's purpose was to compensate for the extra muscle required to push the blade through the wood at the higher pitch. It was suggested that it was to help fence the plane, which seems difficult to imagine for molding work.

Mike

[Dave Anderson NH]

I sometime have a small amount of problem with the planes wandering if I don't pay adequate attention to what I am doing. A low bench helps with control, but a temporary fence is a help or alternately use a rabbet plane or a plow to produce a groove as a guide. This also has the benefit of minimizing the wear on your planes cutting edge. Like with any other tool practice helps to decrease any problems.