Can't Get Plane to Bite When Surface Planing Hardwood
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**Let me know if this belongs in the Tool category of the forum. Didn’t really know where to place it**
I’ve done several projects with pine using my trusty 1920’s Stanley Bailey No. 4 and No. 5 and not had an issue. I can get super thin shavings no problem.
However, I recently started a new project and chose some red oak to build it with (first time using hardwood). When I went to surface plane the oak to get rid of manufacturing marks with a freshly sharpened plane, I couldn’t get the plane to bite at all! (in either direction). I flipped the board on it edge and tried planing that and had to push down really hard to get a shaving. I tried adjusting the depth and squareness of the blade to the wood but nothing helped.
My plane sole is flat and the blade can shave the hair from my arm, so I don’t really know where to go next. I see Paul effortlessly shaving oak and I try to sharpen my planes exactly like him, and its worked until now.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
John
Well, I’m stumped. Usually sharpening is the fix to most problems.
Are you sure you have the blade facing the right way? Don’t rule user error.
Pictures are helpful. Sorry I can’t offer much more yet.
Did your frog shift back? Can you see the blade protruding through the sole if you flip it over and sight down the sole?
I did not try shifting the frog back. I will tomorrow. How far should I shift it back? I think right now it meets the bed just behind the top of the back slant of the mouth (like 2 mm away from it if that makes sense)
And yes the blade does protrude through the sole. I’ve tried to take thin shavings all the way to way-too-thick of a shaving and the plane just doesn’t want to bite.
Also what angle is your blade sharpened at? If too high on the last sharpening its possible that the heel of the bevel is touching before the edge? That would be pretty rare I would think, but I’ve seen it before on used planes.
Are you sure the board is not bowed? Are the front and back of planes touching the board and the middle (where the blade is) is skipping over the board?
Have you tried planing across the grain, or twisting the plane at a 45 degree angle?The board is one very slightly bowed, that’s one thing I was trying to remove. I’ll try planing across the grain today as well as the other suggestions and give everyone an update.
hi jbdriggers, i had this issue once and i resharpened the blade angle as i was over 35degrees and it fixed it instantly. i aimed for between 25 and 30 degrees
Sounds like too steep a bevel to me, as Charles and Jimbo have already said. Even a blunt plane should do something.
Matt
The wrong angle sounds resonable. But I had the same problem once. I resharpened and reset the angle a couple of times and it didn’t fix the problem. Then, as someone else suggested, I noticed I had put the blade in upside down. Turning the blade over fixed it for me. :-). Post some pictures.
Good luck!
@Sandy – ha ha! Yep, been there with the upside down iron. Why is my plane just skidding over the surface? Oh. Funny.
Just had this happen to me recently too on an old Bailey #5! I am a big fan of Paul’s convex macro bevel but I guess I overdid it a little the last time I was sharpening and got an angle that was too large right near the blade (I believe) so that the plane actually rode the bevel. I resharpened with a shallower convex bevel which solved the problem. Hope that helps!
Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. I didn’t get a chance to get out in the shop today but I definitely will tomorrow and I’m confident I can fix the problem with your suggestions.
UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED!
As it turns out, the issue was indeed the steep angle at which I was sharpening. The hump of the convex bevel was preventing the cutting edge from making contact with the wood so it just glided over. I suppose the reason it worked on pine for so long is because when I pushed down, the pine just compressed, but the oak is too hard for that.
Anyways, thanks to everyone for helping!
Great news, John. The message board works!
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