Stanley 71 spear shaped cutter

Do you mean the “business end” is angled below the plane of the horizontal? Yes, that’s how its supposed to be.

I think that I’ve seen this question arise before and on that occasion I was prompted to have a look at my own Stanley pointed cutter…… (that I must confess I had never used in anger).

Unlike the straight-edged cutters that are made in one piece, it has a cutting tip that is fixed to the shank with a screw.

Normally the straight-edged cutters are ground with a flat sole, bevel upwards and a sole that is presented at an angle of a couple of degrees to the work so that only the cutting tip is in contact. It is essential that the edge is ground dead square otherwise the cut will not be flat.

When I took it apart, on my cutter, I found that the mating parts of the upper side of the cutter and the under edge of the shank are ridged so that it can be mounted in one of two configurations.

One way provides an angled-sole approach like the straight cutters; slacken the screw and rotate the edge 180 degrees and it sits square on the shank with the sole in full contact with the work. Cutting with the former configuration gives a cut where only the pointed edge sits on the work, in effect digging a ploughed shape. The latter way cuts flat and allows the point of the cutter to reach into corners.

As I said, I’ve never needed to use this Vee-shaped cutter but I can understand the occasional need to reach into corners, (sole flat), but I personally can’t see a use for a ridged finish from the pointed tip (sole angled).

Hope that this doesn’t confuse the situation, but it’s worth having another look at the cutter with a screw-driver to hand ……….