Shaving width.

[Stewie Simpson]

Specific to users of wooden bench planes with traditional wedge abutments; if your struggling with a build up of shavings within the abutment lines of the mouth opening, the correct use of camber to restrict the shaving width should alleviate this concern.

Stewie;

[David Eisenhauer]

Nice illustration Stewie.

[Warren Mickley]

Both the abutments and the wedge arms are quite tapered. This is specifically done so that wider shavings are guided out. An escarpment is a steep drop off at the edge of a plateau.

I have routinely made shavings nearly as wide as the iron for forty years.

[Derek Cohen]

I am re-posting this reply to the thread on the Oz forum, as I believe it opens up the discussion.



Stewie, and all ...

Are we discussing smoothers or jack planes?

There are a couple of factors that stand out for me. Firstly, if this is about a blade in a smoother, the shape given to the partial camber is different to what most people are told to do as an alternative to cambering. Generally, I hear/read recommendations to "knock off the corners". Taken literally, this means just that - and the argument against this is that the transition is not changed. The track lines remain. What the drawing shows is a rounded corner, and I recall this being the method that Chris Schwarz advocates. He does this with a file (which begs the question how hard his blades are?! But that is by the way). The problem I see with this method is the bevel remains flat, but it is just a narrower bevel, and the issue now lies with maintaining a perfectly parallel blade to avoid a different type of surface treatment.

My preference has always been a full camber, since this permits a full width shaving (in theory - in practice one may over do the camber and limit it to the centre of the blade), with a minimal transition.



The camber here resembles one from a jack plane rather than a smoother. It is not made clear, Stewie, whether this is one or the other. The distinction is relevant, however, since a deeper camber demands a deeper shaving to become wider. A shallow shaving leads to a narrow shaving - the situation to which I referred above.

If the objective is to create a jack-type camber to take deeper shavings, then the clipped "corner-type approach" (even rounded clipped corner) is no longer a valid alternative; it is a separate type of blade treatment altogether and one may as well use a narrower plane with a narrower blade. If the target is a smoother, then I see a bunch of negatives.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[brian zawatsky]

Aaaaaaaaaand we’re off....

[Jim Koepke]

Specific to users of wooden bench planes with traditional wedge abutments; if your struggling with a build up of shavings within the abutment lines of the mouth opening, the correct use of camber to restrict the shaving width should alleviate this concern.

My two acquired wood body coffin smoothers did have a touch of a problem with jammed shavings. Trimming and reshaping the tips of the wedge helped. Next after a bit of clean up of the area to remove spots that would snag shavings both seem to be able to take full shavings without jamming.

Coffin Smoothers.jpg

The blades will likely need more work to get rid of a few pits on their edges.

jtk

[Phil Mueller]

Thank you Stewie. What this appears to indicate, is that regardless of whether a smoother or scrub, the partial camber will reduce the cutting width, but provides an evenly thick shaving across the remaining width. The full camber also reduces the width of the shaving, however it is a more concave shaving. Makes sense to me and if the end goal is to reduce jamming, certainly worth trying.

[Stewie Simpson]

Appreciate the positive feedback Phil.

[Stewie Simpson]

There are 2 critical areas on a traditional wooden bed that need to be making sound contact with the back of the plane iron. At the bottom of the bed (the given height should exceed the plane irons primary bevel), and at the very top of the bed (1/2" as a general rule). The remaining surface of the bed is of less importance and is worked back lightly to achieve a slight clearance.

Within the following photo the chalk transfer marks have highlighted there is excellent contact being made within those 2 critical areas of the bed, but the less critical area (marked X) needs some further working back to achieve an ideal clearance.



Getting closer.



Now showing correct contact is being made across the full surface of the bed.