Any how to on setting up old stanleys?

[Justin Grow]

So I'm tuning up, cleaning, flattening a bunch of planes. I was wondering if there is a good guide on how to get the frog in the correct spot? Any other tips on setup?

[Randal Stevenson]

I am watching this one. I ordered my number 4 from Clint, to compare to my other one, but started with my number 5 (cleaned, and I hoped tuned). I appear to need to flatten the chipbreaker some more, and the frog appears to be to far forward (chatter, then chips get stuck between the blade and chipbreaker).

[Steve Thomas]

Chatter and chips stuck would inducate, blade too deep (ie shaving to thick) back of the blade some. Also a no so sharp iron will chatter or skate across the timber.
A super sharp blade set fine will cut well in almost any old plane, tuned or not.

[Bob Noles]

Here is my favorite one for the task at hand.

https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/planes101.htm

[Clint Jones]

I am watching this one. I ordered my number 4 from Clint I appear to need to flatten the chipbreaker some more, and the frog appears to be to far forward (chatter, then chips get stuck between the blade and chipbreaker).

Randay are you talking about the plane I sent??? If it isnt working right send it back and I will fix it.

If it is the No.5 you are fixing up try beveling the back edge of the chipreaker so only the edge of the cb is touching all the way acrross the edge of the blade. Also polish the outside of the chipbreaker. A jack plane should be set where the mouth has around an 3/16 to 1/8 inch gap between the edge of the blade and front of the mouth when the blade is projected for a cut. A smoother like the no.4 I sent should be set with around 1/16 gap more or less for a fine cut.

-Clint

[Justin Grow]

so specifically, what is the function of the setback of the frog, and what do I use to ensure when fastened, it is sitting squarely on the body?

[Randal Stevenson]

Randay are you talking about the plane I sent??? If it isnt working right send it back and I will fix it.

If it is the No.5 you are fixing up try beveling the back edge of the chipreaker so only the edge of the cb is touching all the way acrross the edge of the blade. Also polish the outside of the chipbreaker. A jack plane should be set where the mouth has around an 3/16 to 1/8 inch gap between the edge of the blade and front of the mouth when the blade is projected for a cut. A smoother like the no.4 I sent should be set with around 1/16 gap more or less for a fine cut.

-Clint

Yours is fine. Part of the reason I ordered it, is to compare with mine for adjustment purposes.

Should the chipbreaker be flat, or hit the blade in a point? (looking at it from edge)

[Clint Jones]

Yours is fine. Part of the reason I ordered it, is to compare with mine for adjustment purposes.

Should the chipbreaker be flat, or hit the blade in a point? (looking at it from edge)

I dont think it maters much as long as there is uniform contact along the whole blade. I should have posted this link to the OP here is rarebears site, it is one of the best about tuning planes.

https://home.comcast.net/~stanleyplanes/planes101/planes101.htm

Go to iron/blade set up.

-Clint

[Phillip Pattee]

Justin,
I see that you already have a few referrals to Rarebear’s site. Check out the “Hand plane tune up guide.” Near the end of that webpage you can actually read a reprint of a David Charlesworth article, “Hand plane Tune up.” Before you start tearing down your plane and flattening every surface, just read the article. The first thing you need to decide is whether your plane needs a complete tune up, or something less, like a clean up. Clean the plane first and sharpen the blade. Inspect it using what you have learned from the article. You probably don’t need to do all that is in the article to get a nice user. I think that a key is where the bevel side of the blade meets the bottom front of the frog. You want solid contact here to minimize chatter. If you attempt to flatten the frog (should it actually need work), make sure you don’t inadvertently create a slight bevel on the frog face. If you do, then the blade may actually make its contact higher up and leave a small gap between blade and the bottom front of the frog – in which case your blade will never be as well supported as it could be and will chatter easier. A second key is where the cap iron (chip breaker) contacts the blade. You want to make sure that the front most part of this piece is also in solid contact all the way across the blade. This prevents there being any groove where a shaving can get caught. If this fit is right, the shaving will be bent up and curl. The lever cap shouldn’t really be an issue if the chip breaker is right, but a solid fit all the way across is probably a good idea so that shavings can’t jam in between the lever cap and the chip breaker.
Your first question was how to set the frog in the correct spot. If you’ve read any directions, you will note that they say loosen the hold down screws, turn the adjusting screw until the frog is correct, then tighten down the screws again. Obviously this advice is not helpful if you don’t already know what “correct” looks like. I like to set mine so that it is right in line with the back of the mouth and there is a smooth, continuous surface all the way to the bottom of the plane. If the frog is farther back, the blade will bed on the mouth and not the frog. If the frog is farther forward (which I think is what you are really asking about) then the blade is supported by the frog, but not the back of the mouth – this leads to a lack of support for the blade at the critical place where it is flexing due to the force of the cutting action. This promotes chatter just as if you didn’t have good contact with the frog at the bottom front. The LV design and low angle bevel up designs avoid this issue. The LV has a frog that extends down into the mouth opening, and bevel up designs don’t have adjustable frogs – they set the mouth by moving a plate in the toe of the plane.
In my experience (limited and weak though it may be) chattering blades ruin my wood surface much worse that tear out. I can avoid tear out by being careful to plane in the direction of rising grain. If tear out is still a problem, then I can switch to a scraper. I may be a minority opinion, but I don’t worry so much about mouth opening size—many types of planes don’t have adjustable mouths (The purpose of the adjustable frog is to adjust mouth opening) and they work just fine. More important is to make sure you set the blade’s cutting depth appropriately. Back the blade out and start planing. You shouldn’t get any shaving. Turn the adjusting knob about ¼ turn clockwise and plane again. Do this until you just get a shaving. Don’t worry that you don’t get a shaving all the way across the blade, or whether you can shave one continuous chip off of the length of the entire board. This won’t happen until you have a very smooth surface. If all of your shavings are coming off of one side of the blade, then move the lateral adjustment lever to get the shavings where you want them near the center (sometimes you will want to shave more off of one side).
Here are two websites that might be of some help to you.
http://sawdustmaking.com/Hand%20Planes/hand_planes.htm (http://sawdustmaking.com/Hand%20Planes/hand_planes.htm)
http://planetuning.infillplane.com/ (http://planetuning.infillplane.com/)