Plane tuning
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Hi everyone
I was doing some work on my Stanley no.4 plane the other day, flattening and sharpening and all of that and somewhere during that time something got messed up. I’m currently fiddling with the frog distance and everything because now there are a few problems such as even though the blade is very sharp it doesn’t take thin shavings and it gets stuck in the wood quite a bit.
It was definitely something I did because before I did the flattening and everything the plane was taking thin shavings.
It was also like this when I bought it, I spent a few days just fiddling with it and it turned out OK but for some reason I can’t get it like that again.
Any tips?
Is the cap iron too far back from the edge of the iron (cutter)? if it is this may be stopping you retracting the iron sufficiently to get thin shavings. If you moved the frog, it too may have been replaced too far forward, closing the mouth and causing blockages and causing too much iron to be exposed below the sole.
raze,
I know this is a little off the wall…..but,
The cap iron/chipbreaker needs to be installed on the BACK side of the blade and the blade installed bevel down.
This mistake happened to me and was really frustrating til I figured it out..embarrassing,actually. 🙂
Best,
Craig28 January 2015 at 8:11 pm #124014If you are still having the problem it may help if you could post a few photos
OK here are some photos. All seems well to me, just for some reason it does not work all that well like it did before. It takes very thick shavings and due to that it is very hard to push it along. The transition from really thin (Almost taking off nothing but dust) to thick is very quick so its hard to adjust.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.28 January 2015 at 9:06 pm #124028Hello Raze, the frog looks too far back to me. I don’t think your iron is sitting flat against the frog and that’s throwing the angle out.
Edit: I’m not very good at explaining myself sorry. I think your blade is touching the back of the mouth and the very top of the frog only, whereas it should rest against the whole length of the frog.
28 January 2015 at 9:16 pm #124031I don’t know if you can see what I mean in this picture, it’s not very clear.
Thank you James
I slightly sanded the front of the frog with some sandpaper and I resharpened the blade this time really grinding it down first on the course paper. I also moved the frog forward a bit. It has improved a lot although it is not quite up to the level it was at before. Thank you though, your advise has made it much better.
I will continue trying tomorrow hopefully. My vice is going to arrive tomorrow too.
Edit: Thanks for the picture. I see the frog on your plane is still much closer to the front than mine. I will see how I get on with it that close tomorrow.
28 January 2015 at 9:38 pm #124037I am glad it has helped. If you slide the flat of a steel rule down the length of your frog it should slide out through the mouth of your plane without hitting the inside of the plane body.
When I first got my plane I struggled setting it up, anything that could be set up wrong I set up wrong 🙂 .
You’ll soon become familiar with it.29 January 2015 at 5:51 pm #124067Raze, I agree that your frog was set way too far back. In your second and third pictures above, I see there is still too much space from the blade’s edge to the front of the mouth. For a smoothing plane where you normally take thin shavings I aim for about a 32nd inch gap. If I try to take too thick a shaving, they can clog in the mouth, but it is important to have a small gap there.
Also, in you fourth picture, it looks like your chip breaker is not close enough to the blade’s edge. I aim for about 1/32″ there, too.
I struggled with these things for a long time and still struggle from time to time. You will get it. Just keep reading and practicing.
There is also a possibility that the nib on the plane body (which aligns the frog) might be protruding too much. Normally for a smoother not really an issue.
Somewhere back Paul did mention that in his blog.The slide a rule trick might help identify this.
Have fun!
DiegoThanks for the help guys
The problem I encounter is that when I set the frog closer to the mouth than it is now, pretty much everything gets clogged in there no matter how thin a shaving it is.
Also, it somehow has improved itself while I was using it to install my vice today. Still not great but better than it was yesterday.
30 January 2015 at 12:47 am #124075I have had the problem you describe where tight mouth settings cause the plane to clog. In my case he shaving was getting jammed between the chipbreaker and casting. A little work with a file to relieve the casting sorted the problem, I have attached a sketch to show what I mean.
Also, though it hardly needs saying again, your frog is too far back.
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