Bevel up or Bevel down ? No.7

[Seth Poorman]

Well Guys
My used Record No7 arrived in the mail today and Im in the process of cleaning it up, little rust not much ,blade needs a little honing.
But the real question is , should I set this plane up simular to my LN No4 ?
Bevel down? Mouth opening (distance ?)
Thanks for any info you can give me.. :o

[Robert Trotter]

Seth, I just happen to have a bit of time on the computer. I am not a Record expert or a Stanley plane one either, but I'd say it is not a low angle plane so bevel down. I am assuming you don't know a lot about setting the plane up or you wouldn't be posting. I think that your LN is a lot easier to adjust the mouth.(you're spoilt :) ) It will be a bit different to the Record so some of the other experts will hopefully let you know about adjusting the mouth. I think you will have to half pull it apart to adjust the mouth where as the LN you can adjust it as is. So the pros can give you an idea of the mouth opening which I would think you would want to set up for jointing and then just leave it set up that way. What you will be using it for will probably make a difference as to the mouth opening, so let the others know so they can help.

Good luck with getting all set up and taking nice shavings.

Robert
(low angle plane owner)

[Raney Nelson]

No. 7 is a bevel down plane.

I'll let the experts give you more specific feedback, but I went through the same questions a few months ago and the guidance I got was that a jointer mouth is much less critical than a smoother... smoothers need a very tight mouth opening for whisper-thin shavings, but jointers usually are set for somewhat thicker. (I think the figures I was given were something like 4-6 thousandth shavings for a jointer vs. 1-2 thou for a smoother).



I wouldn't sweat the mouth too much. To be honest, I just set mine up for 'good enough for me'. when you're getting the sort of cut you wnat, if the mouth is clogging, open it a bit. If you're getting excessive tearout, close it up some.

Hope that helps some until the big guns happen by ;)

[Seth Poorman]

Thanks guys for the info, Im mainly going to be using it to rough edge join and face plane high spots on boards before making final passes on the long bed jointer,since I keep my jointer set at 1/32" it can take alot of passes to get a edge or face straight and or flat.
I think this system setup will speed things up and keep my jointer knives sharper longer...