stanley 39 setup help needed

[justin sherriff]

I have a nice looking 3/8 Stanley #39 now I think it looks so good because it does not work all that well. I have looked but can not find much on the 39. Are these planes more collectible than users?


Is there a write up or video on setting it up?
I think I know what my problems are.

1. The skew angle of the blade is just slightly off.
2. how long should the knickers be? Are the knickers just to score the top layer or are they needed the keep scoring the wood all the way down a dado? 1 of the knickers was proud of the body so I removed it but that did not help.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Patrick Leach doesn't particularly like them.

[Mark Rainey]

Justin, dado planes are very challenging to set up & use. Once tuned up, they are an enjoyable hand tool. There have been a few recent discussions if you search the forum. Get that skew blade a little closer by marking it with a sharpie when the blade is seated in the plane & just proud of the mouth. Get the nicker set up to be a hair to 1/32 of an inch beyond the blade. Get those nickers really sharp - they score the top layer but also continue to score the wood as the plane cuts deeper. https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....g-a-Stanley-45

[Jim Koepke]

Patrick Leach doesn't particularly like them.

He also states his reason:

I don't like these planes at all, not because they're metallic planes, but because they are difficult to put any bearing pressure on their toes. There simply isn't a nice surface for your forward hand.

At the end of the write up he says this:

When the cutter and spurs are set just right, you can peel off crossgrain shavings of a length equal to the length of the dado and leave the adoring public speechless over a feat thought impossible by the paint by number woodworkers out there.

Not long ago a #39-3/4" was offered at a price to difficult for me to refuse. One screw of the screws holding a nicker was missing. My attempt at making one was workable. Since an original replacement has been found. It looks like the spurs on mine have quite a bit more spread than the edges of the blade. This can be corrected with some careful use of a file. My round-tuit to set up this plane and get it working has not yet materialized.

jtk

[justin sherriff]

Got it working good now!
sharpened the blade and got the skew right this time and sharpened and adjusted the nickers.
blade.jpg that was a hard pic to take autofocus was not my frend.

A few things I have learned so far 1. wax the fence and plane makes a big difference for the good 2. round over the top corner of the fence. I cut my fingers on it a few times. 3. I do not like the skirts on my Nicholson work bench.

plane on chery.jpg

oak dado.jpg

chery dado.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

No oaking about it those two dados do look cherry.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

My first impression of my #39-3/4" dado plane was that it may need some fettling before it could be used. Checking the width with my dial gauge indicated it was 0.725" at the blade and the outside of the nickers measured 0.763".

One of my rules of plane evaluation is to give it a try before doing any thing else. This plane did have a little nick in one edge of the sole that created a little snag. A fine stone was used to smooth this. After setting a batten across a piece of scrap fir my first check indicated the nickers weren't nicking. They were give an adjustment.

The results surprised me:

#39 In Use.jpg

After the dado was started, the batten was removed:

#39 With Batten Removed.jpg

This made a pretty good dado rather quick:

The Dado.jpg

It is a little ragged at the far end because the batten wasn't held secure enough and slipped a couple of times. It still looks pretty good. It holds a piece of my usual 1X material:

Holding Fir Piece.jpg

This plane will likely do a touch better if the blade and nickers are sharpened.

The next challenge will be to see if it can do a stopped dado.

jtk

[Mark Rainey]

My first impression of my #39-3/4" dado plane was that it may need some fettling before it could be used. Checking the width with my dial gauge indicated it was 0.725" at the blade and the outside of the nickers measured 0.763".

One of my rules of plane evaluation is to give it a try before doing any thing else. This plane did have a little nick in one edge of the sole that created a little snag. A fine stone was used to smooth this. After setting a batten across a piece of scrap fir my first check indicated the nickers weren't nicking. They were give an adjustment.

The results surprised me:

#39 In Use.jpg

After the dado was started, the batten was removed:

#39 With Batten Removed.jpg

This made a pretty good dado rather quick:

The Dado.jpg

It is a little ragged at the far end because the batten wasn't held secure enough and slipped a couple of times. It still looks pretty good. It holds a piece of my usual 1X material:

Holding Fir Piece.jpg

This plane will likely do a touch better if the blade and nickers are sharpened.

The next challenge will be to see if it can do a stopped dado.

jtk

I am interested in your attempt at a stopped dado - that seems impossible.

[Marinus Loewensteijn]

I've got a 1/2", a cut down 1/2" and a 3/4". The first 1/2" I bought had a severly bent body so I sawed off the part from the nicker forwards leaving a skewed bullnose plane. The other two are also slightly bent but not so much as to impact functioning.

The 1/2" is used for typical dado work, move it a tad over and you can make a wider dado. The 3/4" I use as a rabbet plane with one nicker and I use a side handle of the Stanley #803 drill as a handle on top where the depth screw goes. I also use these instead of a shoulder plane (due to arthritis I have difficulty holding a shoulder plane).

Don't try to bent the nicker's, they'll snap. The ones I have all sit proud of the body, just have them sharp and sitting a tad proud of the blade. Removing the screw on the depth stop is first turn it all the way up and then while holding the depth stop up start turning the screw in the other direction until the screw is out.

I've tried to use it without the nickers but it did not work as expected.

If I remember correctly Paul Sellers has a video on how to use them, start at the far end pulling the plane backwards to score the timber. After a few of those pulls start cutting forwards from the far end before planing the whole length. For a dado the depth stop is necessary, I would not want to do without it.

The 1/2" #39 is one of my favourite planes.

[justin sherriff]

I am interested in your attempt at a stopped dado - that seems impossible.

Just thinking out loud on this.
Mark where the dado stops place the nickers at that spot pull back a few times making nice score lines then plane out a few passes being careful not to go to far. Then chisel out just that last bit at the stop (the distance from the iron to the toe of the plane) now you can go back the plowing out the rest of the dado with the plain.

[Jim Koepke]

Just thinking out loud on this.
Mark where the dado stops place the nickers at that spot pull back a few times making nice score lines then plane out a few passes being careful not to go to far. Then chisel out just that last bit at the stop (the distance from the iron to the toe of the plane) now you can go back the plowing out the rest of the dado with the plain.

That is pretty much the same as my "thinking out loud."

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Started a new thread on cutting a stopped dado with the #39 > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?278928

jtk