Missing plane part

[Ken Peluso]

I bought a 'bedrock' No.7 a few weeks ago on another forum. Its missing the little disc that keeps tension on the lateral adjustment bar. You can see what I mean between the main photo and the inset.

Can this be replaced, maybe with a washer? or should I be looking for a new frog?

sorry for the crappy cell phone quality!
http://kpdg.com/images/tools/missingPlanePart.jpg

Thanks!
Ken

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Ken, its fine. It didn't come with one.

[Sean Kinn]

Ken, You lost me with the inset. Is it a close up of what is wrong on your plane, or a closeup of another plane? It looks like your pics are of the bottom of the frog...mine is a pin just like yours. The only "disc" is on the top side that rides in the groove on the iron to do the lateral adjusting.

Here'e an old bedrock pamphlet...not the best pics/drawings, but you can see just the pin sticking through.

http://www.antique-used-tools.com/brpamphlet.htm

Here is another picture used for dating (standard planes, not Bedrocks...but still an example) that shows the disc was present in some years/types and not others.

http://www.antique-used-tools.com/Bailey4_5FrogCompare.jpg

[Ken Peluso]

The both photos are of the bottom of the frog where it meets the lateral adjustment lever. The main photo is my No.7 and the inset is a shot of my No.5

Hmmm, so it possibly did not come with one. My purpose of even bringing this up is that the lateral adjustment bar on this plane is so loose that it flops around in every direction and if I even get near it, it moves the iron. No matter what i've done, i cant seem to keep the iron set square.

[Tom Henderson2]

The both photos are of the bottom of the frog where it meets the lateral adjustment lever. The main photo is my No.7 and the inset is a shot of my No.5

Hmmm, so it possibly did not come with one. My purpose of even bringing this up is that the lateral adjustment bar on this plane is so loose that it flops around in every direction and if I even get near it, it moves the iron. No matter what i've done, i cant seem to keep the iron set square.

Hi Ken-

I'm not an expert by any stretch, and I've never seen a Bedrock, so take my comments with several grains of salt.

BUT--

I have a Bailey plane that had a "floppy" lateral adjustment lever. Without an iron installed, it would flop from one side to the other just with gravity.

So I peined it a bit, and now it is nice and firm. I just put the bottom part of that pin on a small anvil, and tapped the top part with a hammer and oversize punch. Just enough to tighten up that joint. Easy-peasy.

NOW -- I don't see how a floppy lateral adjustment lever would lead to difficulty keeping the blade adjusted though. With the plane iron and chipbreaker installed the spring pressure from the lever cap SHOULD keep everything in place.

SO -- I'm wondering if perhaps the lever cap screw may need to be screwed in a bit to increase the tension, or perhaps the lever cap is worn so that it doesn't properly tension that stack when it is flipped down.

Perhaps some of this makes sense....

-Tom H.

[Ken Peluso]

Tom,

Thanks for the input. This lever flops around even with the plane fully assembled. Ill check again on the tension applied from the spring pressure.

I had played around with the lever cap screw but I'll break it down again and check everything I can. My concern does stem from the fact that it is so easy to move the iron laterally with almost no pressure on the arm and the amount of travel the arm has.

Hopefully it is just improper tuning or a worn cap. Its just frustrating since I seem to have great results with all of my other planes; well enough in fact to completely flatten my new benchtop with no trouble at all.

[Jim Koepke]

When adjusting the cap screw, I push the blade from side to side by hand or sometimes using the lateral adjusting lever. Can not explain the actual feel of this, but when it is not real hard to push the blade, but it can still be moved, this is where it is left.

Works for me.

jim