Mujingfang Jack Plane

[Jeremy Finke]

I just received my Mujingfang 11" Jack Plane andRosewood Small Polishing Plane from Japan Woodworker. However, there are no instructions on how to set them up.

Does anyone have any tips or any links to sites?

Thanks!

Jeremy

[Richard Magbanua]

Jeremy,
Congrats on your new planes. I have the Jack and the short smoother. I've found them to be really really good and really cheap! I think they perform better than any of my Stanleys. The only problem I've found is that my Muji's aren't as comfortable to use as I'd like. I may round off or ease some of the corners a bit someday.
As far as adjusting for use I was very surprised at how easy they are to adjust. You can look on YouTube under wood planes and find a few vids to watch. The one from phillyplanes is pretty good even though it reminds me of a film from grade school. There is also a very good video here: http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=30138
Be sure to get a plane hammer. I got the one from LV. It's brass with a wood insert. Also, I place the planes down on a flat piece of hardwood when I insert my blade and chipbreaker and then tap to tighten. This gives me a straight angle and a good place to start when adjusting the depth.
You will find that using a wood plane is very simple and straightforward.
Good luck and have fun!!

[Jeremy Finke]

Thank you, sir.

I will check it out.

[michael osadchuk]

Jeremy, I'm sure the plane hammer from Lee Valley is very good but I find that a 3 or 4 dollar small, double faced mallet with hard rubber on one side and high impact plastic on the other, also work well, i.e., causes no damage to either the plane iron or the ends of the plane...... I have the high angle smoother sized plane from Lee Valley; it is also a great buy and the blade takes a good edge;it takes a bit of time to get the knack of adjusting the blade

good luck

michael

[Brian Kent]

Jeremy, do you have a way to sharpen the blades? If not, look for a thread on "scary sharp". If so, great.

Those are two of my favorite planes.

[Jeremy Finke]

I do have a red diamond wet sharpening "stone". Is that enough?

[Brian Kent]

I don't know what the grit is on that stone. I looked it up and came up with a couple of variations.

Look up "Scary Sharp" for a full description.
Here is one descrition of the process.

http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/

I use a good quality sandpaper - 3M microabrasives from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=33004&cat=1,43072

…or from "Tools for Working Wood":

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=toolshop&Category_Code=THS

Most people put them on a thick sheet of glass. I found a polished piece of marble at Home Depot for about $4 and put them all on that.

Can you tell what the grit is on your diamond stone?

[Jeremy Finke]

I think that it is the fine version of this:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4340&mode=details#tabs

[Jeremy Finke]

Well, I got the jack plane working ok... I was getting some nice shavings for a while.. But, then it was closer to sawdust. Plus, it was starting to jump.

Any ideas?

[michael osadchuk]

I think that it is the fine version of this:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4340&mode=details#tabs

jeremy.....that is a 600 grit media

the typical approach to sharpening - as with sanding wood - is to use a series of sharpening media with increasingly finer grits (eg. 200, 1000, 4000 and 8000 for plane irons)

but you might want to check out derek cohen's ten cent sharpening system which jumps from 600grit to green honing compound which has a grit rating of about 9000

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/The%2010%20Cent%20Sharpening%20System.html

brian's suggestion of micro-abrasive papers (or fine grit wet n dry papers from auto finishing supply places) would fill in the gap between these your red diamond stone and green honing compound is a good one

I have gone thru a number of sharpening methods and now use waterstones with a Lee Valley mk 2 honing gig.

There's lot of good reading on sharpening methods and how to sharpen on the internet and I encourage you to read them

good luck

michael

[Brian Kent]

OK, according to the website for that diamond stone, it is a 600 grit, 25 micron stone. That is a good grit for flattening or shaping the blade. You will have a problem with stability because of the limitations of sharpening a 1-3/4 " wide blade on a 2" x 3-1/4" stone.

The scary sharp sandpaper on glass system gives you the room you need to flatten the back of the blade and to hone and polish the front.

See if you can find one of the threads on blade sharpening with sandpaper. Here is another one:

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/The%2010%20Cent%20Sharpening%20System.html

Here's a variation on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8TNuXSuYGM&feature=related

[Richard Magbanua]

Well, I got the jack plane working ok... I was getting some nice shavings for a while.. But, then it was closer to sawdust. Plus, it was starting to jump.

Any ideas?

Well, make sure the chipbreaker is tight. Also, did you see if the sole was flat?
A few swipes on sandpaper takes care of it if it isn't. You'll also have to experiment with holding positions to see what works.
As far as sharpening goes, scary sharp works pretty good. I used to use it but I now use a ten dollar jig and a combo waterstone 4k/8k I think. I follow up by hand on MDF coated with metal polish from Autozone. It's pretty cheap and it works very well. It takes very little effort to produce a mirror finish for my blades and chisels. I haven't heard or read of anyone else using that method yet. I saw it one day and thought it might work so I tried it. I probably just gave away my million dollar idea but oh well, have at it. Just send me a check someday, ok? :o

[Jeremy Finke]

Thanks everyone.. I will give it another try tonight...

Man, I have not had to sharpen anything since the boyscout days.. lol..

[Ted Jay]

Thanks everyone.. I will give it another try tonight...

Man, I have not had to sharpen anything since the boyscout days.. lol..

The boyscouts will never sharpen anything as sharp as what everyone is talking about... unless they're a boyscout needing a shave.
Ted

[Joel Goodman]

Also set up instructions for wooden planes at HNT Gordon website. Just google it and there's lots of info.