Reply To: wood planing, marks and tool setup
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I’ll give your questions a go also, but much of what I have backs up what Alien8 said.
1. I see in a photo that the tear-out is in an area of knots, which means swirling grain. Your only recourse here is either an extremely sharp plane or a well-tuned cabinet scraper. And with the plane, there are those who say you should have the mouth very tight (small opening) – more on that in #3.
2. No idea what might be causing the grey streaks. Maybe try planing a scrap board for a few minutes and get back to the oak. See if it goes away.
3. In general, the smaller your desired shavings, the smaller the mouth opening and vice-versa. I know Paul says in recent blogs that you can do just about anything with the plane iron set so that its back is flush with the rear aspect of the mouth. That is, the frog is positioned so that its slope is in line with that rear aspect of the mouth. But in trying to “keep it simple” and not complicate things, Paul says many things that are not the whole truth. He has stated that there are situations where you want a tight throat.
You ask what needs to be done to adjust the opening. That is controlled by the frog position. Loosening the two screw on top of the frog and turning the adjusting screw at the bottom back of the frog will tighten the mouth (don’t forget to re-tighten the two top screws). I know it’s a drag, but this is just something you have to do when adjusting your mouth. But fear not – once you have it where you want it, you typically don’t need to change it.
4. Router irons are tricky. Little more to add to what Alien8 said. But I remember seeing a blog or video from Paul on this topic. Maybe you could search for it. Another idea is to look for router iron sharpening videos on YouTube. I’d seen one by Mitch Peacock on hi channel called “WOmadeOD” (“Made in Wood”).
5. Nothing more to add.
6. Not sure I know what’s being asked here, so I’ll pass on this one.
Remember: practice, practice, and then a bit more practice will help. And then maybe some more practice. Let us know how it’s going.