I mostly use regular Stanley’s, but I splurged and got a western-style HNT Gordon smoothing plane with a Norris adjuster. When I’ve got it set well and sharpened, I really like using it. Because it is wood it is really light and glides really smooth. However, once I get it set I really hesitate to make any adjustments to the depth of cut until it is time to sharpen again. When I re-set the blade, especially after sharpening, it can take me a lot of tries to get it set properly. Basically, for anything more than the smallest depth adjustments if find that my lateral adjustment might get off a bit. I’ll loosen the cap screw and adjust laterally, but I find it tricky to not overshoot when adjusting by hand. Then, sometimes as I’m dialing in my lateral adjustment the depth changes slightly even though I haven’t dialed the depth adjuster in or out, then I have to start the cycle all over again. Sometimes I get it set fairly quickly, then sometimes I want to just put it on the shelf and grab my no5 Stanley and get back to my project.
I’ve watched the videos Terry Gordon posted about setting and adjusting his planes. They’ve helped, and this may just mean I need to dial in the feel for how tight the lever cap needs to be. I’ve also got a little plane adjusting hammer, but I’ve been hesitant to use that for making fine lateral adjustments because I don’t want to damage the mechanism.
Do people with Norris adjusters use plane hammers for lateral adjustments?
Any other tips from people with experience?