Show me your plane irons

[Jim Koepke]

How you round the corners to make a smooth transision between the passes.

There are other details of a plane which will also affect the results. Of course my caveat is my experience is mostly with Bailey style planes and others of its ilk.

For smoothing a fairly flat sole is important. One of my planes had a sole which was slightly concave from toe to heel. Pressing down on it would get it to cut, but if the pressure was relieved it wouldn't stay in the cut on a light pass. With the blade adjusted enough to take a cut without pressure, it would pull deeper, dig in and chatter. A very slight concave sole can be very subtle and drive a person to drink if the problem isn't discovered.

Another plane had a slightly rounded sole from a poor lapping attempt. The blade would engage at the sides before touching the work in the center of the blade. Fortunately this was only a couple of thousandths of an inch off.

My #4-1/2 used to give me fits before doing a bit of fettling on the frog and working over the rest of the plane. It is about the worst plane in my fleet for the sole not being square to the sides. It also has one of the thinnest castings. It is a type 6 which all of mine seem to have lighter castings than the later types. My main problem with it was it would all of a sudden start to leave tracks on one side. It was a big slap to the forehead when it was finally corrected. All it took was about a 16th of a turn tighter on the lever cap screw.

For many thin shavings "are a waste of time and effort." This is true if you are trying to scrub plane and dimension a plank. When it comes to the final passes before a stain or finish a beautiful shine can be produced on the surface of many woods. Mostly for my use pulling a thin shaving when setting the blade is helpful in setting the lateral adjustment. It also is helpful in diagnosing the blade condition before starting on the work. Often my plane irons are sharpened before they are put on the shelf. Just as often they are not. Trying to remember if a plane was sharpened after a few days or even a week of not being in the shop is not going to happen. One of my plans in the past was short lived. Just before a plane was put away a shaving would be made. The shaving was stowed with the plane to show how it was set up and to be able to see the condition of the blade. This didn't work for me and was abandoned.

With all else considered, here is the back of a blade from one of my #4 type 6 planes:

Back Side of the Blade.jpg

There may be a slight camber on this blade. If so, it isn't from an effort to do so, it is from the water stones being worn slightly more in the center.

Imagine my embarrassment when after thinking this back was flat, someone (if my memory is working it was Patrick Chase) pointed out the reflection of the over head lamp indicated there was a bit of curvature at the edge. It is also all scratchy looking.

The saving grace is it is the performance that really matters:

Thin Shaving.jpg

This is one of the shavings made while setting the lateral adjustment. The micrometer has a ratcheting clutch to prevent compression of the item being measured. This indicates the shaving is a hair more than two - ten thousandths of an inch or a little more than five - thousandths of a millimeter.

A shaving has to be about half that again to get the folks at Kezu (is that correct) interested.

Can the eye see or the fingers feel such a small difference on the surface of a table?

jtk

[Bob Leistner]

http://ecemmerich.de/wp-content/uplo...talog-2017.pdf Page 15 of ECE's catalog recommends rounding of the corners only for smoothers and try plane blades.

[Patrick Chase]

There are other details of a plane which will also affect the results.

Yeah, I've heard that rounding the corners only works if the iron has 2 degrees of clearance and has been honed to 250# ;-).

Imagine my embarrassment when after thinking this back was flat, someone (if my memory is working it was Patrick Chase) pointed out the reflection of the over head lamp indicated there was a bit of curvature at the edge.

In my defense I believe that was during one of the periodic flamewars about the ruler trick, and I pointed it out to illustrate that a lot of people who get good results with a perfectly flat back are actually dubbing a teeny bit to focus their polishing efforts at the edge.

[Jim Koepke]

In my defense I believe that was during one of the periodic flamewars about the ruler trick, and I pointed it out to illustrate that a lot of people who get good results with a perfectly flat back are actually dubbing a teeny bit to focus their polishing efforts at the edge.

My feeling about the ruler trick is it is another step that isn't necessary.

Of course it isn't necessary, it happens all by itself.

jtk