Thread: First jack plane for an apprentice carpenter?

So I finally got a jack plane

Thanks again for all the advice, I was keeping an eye out for a 5 1/2 at garage sales and antique stores, picked this up the other day.

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Hardly seems like it's been used, if at all, everything is still very crisp and sharp. It's made in England like my granddad's, so making a nice little set.

The date stamp on top of the box says 1942, not sure it that's the same era as my granddad's, as all the type/age studies I have found are geared towards the US planes.

I really like the size/heft of the thing, fits my hand better than the tiny (by comparison) number 4.

I am having one issue though, even though the lever cap screw is bottomed out, the iron is still a little loose. A guy at TAFE had this issue the other day, I suggested he take it over to the bench grinder and take a thread off the bottom of the screw, which he did and fixed the issue. Is this the best course of action for this plane? It just seems a shame to alter anything as everything is so original

Cheers,

Ken.

Does any one have any tips on getting the lever cap nice and tight besides grinding the screw down?