Reply To: Stanley #4 restoration issues
Sven-Olof gives good advice. Just bend the lever down a little until it doesn’t rub. The lever should be a slightly sloppy fit when the iron isn’t in the plane a drop of oil helps. Use a plyers near the frog and don’t use the frog or pivot rivet as a fulcrum. The picture below shows what to shoot for.
The plane needs to be flatter. It’s not unusual for planes to wear around the mouth and you should have plenty of metal, so don’t worry about taking off two much. Right in front of the iron is important for a smoother, less important for a scrub plane.
The very front and rear of the plane should also register flat ( except maybe the last 1/4” or so). A hollow in the central portion behind the iron is less important. Japanese planes are hollow there on purpose to reduce friction.
Start with 60 grit and make sure your downward pressure is uniform along the length of the plane. You might be concentrating too much towards the front. Only after it is flat should you go through finer grades until you achieve the level of smoothness you want. I usually stop at around 200 grit. Finer grades will scratch back to that level almost immediately. Cast iron is soft.
And check that your frog isn’t too far back. The iron really doesn’t need to touch the body of the plane, and won’t if you have the mouth set fine. One picture shows the iron might ride on the body. That makes adjustment dodgy.
