Wooden fore plane – question about the cutting iron …. help!
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If anyone can help me with this I would be eternally grateful. I just purchased a wooden fore plane, in good shape. But the wooden wedge extends beyond the length of the cutting iron. Any wooden plane I’ve seen (I’m a beginner) the cutting iron extends beyond the wedge so that you can hit the iron with a hammer to increase the depth of cut, etc.
Do I need to buy a longer cutting iron or is there a trick to working with this?
Any advice most appreciated,
MarkDoes your plane have a chipbreaker? That may be why the wedge comes down so far.
This video shows some details.
Colin, Czech Rep.
Hi Colin –
Thanks very much for your reply and the link. In fact it was the Mortise & Tenon magazine piece that got me interested in buying a wooden fore plane.
Yes, it has a chip breaker, in good condition. And it all fits together snugly. I just can’t for the life of me figure out why the wooden wedge extends beyond the cutting iron … baffles me.
Just re-watched that video, Colin, and at one point it is mentioned that the plane iron can wear down over many years of use. I wonder if that is the issue I have here – the plane iron wore down over decades of sharpening and that is why it does not extend beyond the wooden wedge. Is that possible? (as I beginner, this is all a puzzle to me).
It is also possible that the plane you have was actually put together from components from different planes. Blade length wear wouldn’t affect the wedge. It pushes the blade and cap iron in to the body of the plane.
Does the wedge show any marks / different shades from where it was assembled to the plane, and do they match to the plane body you have? If you match the marks to the plane body, do the ends of the wedge extend below the plane bottom?
You could do one of several things. Add some material to the edges of the wedge, so that it stops higher in the plane, or make another wedge that does fit, using the existing one as a template.Colin, Czech Rep.
Just re-watched that video, Colin, and at one point it is mentioned that the plane iron can wear down over many years of use. I wonder if that is the issue I have here – the plane iron wore down over decades of sharpening and that is why it does not extend beyond the wooden wedge. Is that possible? (as I beginner, this is all a puzzle to me).
It’s even more of a puzzle to me, since I can’t see the plane.
Pictures? One of the plane assembled and of the iron and cap iron would be a start.
Old wooden planes (British and American ones, anyway) normally had tapered irons, very thick at the bevel end and getting thinner toward the opposite end. If your iron is uniformly thin, like those in most cast iron planes, its a replacement.
Dave
Dave
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