Thread: Wooden plane info and advice please

With the chip breaker hone a 45º bevel on the top. This will correct the radius. Then flatten the back so that there is a good tight fit between the chip breaker and the iron.

Just flatten the sole with a plane or sand paper on float glass / granite. A hardwood insert will not make it harder to flatten the the sole. But a shooting plane especially on end grain does not need a tight mouth.

Paul Sellers at 10:00 ... flattening the base ...

The chip breaker does not sit neatly on the blade as it is slightly curved up at the corners. Is grinding the best way to fix this or should a bit more bend be put into the end? I have done some honing under the end but it did not help as the angle was insufficient.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAwMzgs-1Bw

Originally Posted by labr@

........I also noticed that the blade is tapered from the cutting edge to the rear end. What would be the reason for this?........

You'll get different answers depending on whom you ask or which interweb guru you consult, but my opinion is that it's to increase the 'grip' of the wedge. By angling both the blade and the wedge you decrease the effective ramp angle, i.e., you get a longer, shallower angle for the same length. You get the same effect with 'folding wedges' (using two wedges together, inserted in opposite directions). If the angles of the wedges are the same, you get the added bonus that the outer edges of the wedges are parallel, thus distributing the forces over a larger area.

With tapered blades, pressure on the cutting edge also tends to tighten the blade rather than loosen it as it does with a parallel blade. The corollary is that the blade can loosen slightly when you tap it to advance, so you have to develop the habit of, a tap to advance, then a tap on the wedge to re-tighten (I still do this with parallel blades, for insurance). In my very limited experience with wedged planes (I have a single tapered-blade plane & single parallel blade with wedged blade-holding) there doesn't seem to be a significant difference in the holding power of tapered vs parallel when used for ordinary bench-plane activities. However, in theory at least, a tapered blade might be superior for what you intend to use your plane for. Being slammed repeatedly into end grain puts any blade-holding system to the test......

As to the remaining questions, I agree with the others. I would attend to the most important aspects like flattening the back of the blade near the cutting edge & getting the chip-breaker to mate nicely there. Check that the blade is also mating nicely with the bed (particularly towards the mouth) by smearing it with a blue felt-tip pen then rubbing it on the wood. As TS says, you don't need a 'tight' mouth for a shooting plane, so get it working & try it first, then, if for any reason you don't like it for that job, you can either use it as a jack (also doesn't need a tight mouth) or tighten the mouth with an insert, which is not difficult to do, and certainly much easier than re-soling the whole thing. Personally, I think tight mouths are over-rated and unnecessary on bench planes used for initial stock preparation, in fact a tight mouth can be a pita because it limits the size shaving. When you start in on a rough board, you often need to be able to hog off decent, thick shavings & get them to some semblance of straight & level quickly. Save the finessing 'til the later stages. So unless you have a penchant for working with recalcitrant woods you may not need to get too carried away with your plane' sole...

My 2c.
Cheers,

All good input there and helpful.

Interesting to see the plane Paul Sellers was working on apparently had the same blade as mine. The plane body looked the same too but I coudn't make out any name on it.

Yes I Sorby represents John Sorby (of course ) ... maybe you've found this already?

http://www.robert-sorby.co.uk/media/...of_booklet.pdf

I had seen that document but somehow managed to skip over the bit that had what I was looking for - thanks for getting me to look at it again.

The plane is vastly improved over how it was when bought but could easily be better. I find that wide shavings come off in the form of strings instead of 1 wide piece. This has happened on 3 timber types so far, mainly with meranti and jarrah but also to some extent with pallet pine. Have resharpened and checked the blade for nicks and burrs but maybe I'm missing something - will have a look at the blade under magnification tomorrow.


P1030419 [1280x768].JPGP1030418 [1280x768].JPG
The sole is flat enough for use but really needs an insert at the front as there is still a low section there.

I Sorby irons are good quality irons. Wooden planes of the type you're using can do fine work if you track down how to set the cap iron (they are better by a factor of 10 when the cap iron is set properly).

As far as sorby goes, I'd rather have 1 I. Sorby iron than 10 of anything made by robert sorby.

Originally Posted by labr@

I find that wide shavings come off in the form of strings instead of 1 wide piece. This has happened on 3 timber types so far, mainly with meranti and jarrah but also to some extent with pallet pine.

Jarrah for me often makes tiny little rolls rather than a ribbon. This PS video shows maybe the same as you're seeing at 3:40ish ... (in oak)

... and unexpectedly ... another "I SORBY" plane at 5:40. I've never seen or heard of that before.

On the weekend I decided it was time I had a plane dedicated to shooting so went out to buy a second hand wooden one of reasonable length and weight that could be rejuvenated and set up for the task.

When you state "shooting", do you mean 'jointing an edge' or 'using a plane on a shooting board'? "Shooting" can be used for both.

In the first video, Paul Sellers appears to be preparing the plane for jointing in a vise.

For shooting in a board, I would argue that a plane the length of a jointer is too long. What is the length of the plane you have?

Regarding restoration, the priority is determining that the blade/chipbreaker seats firmly and does not vibrate. That would cause chatter. The chances are strong that you have a replacement blade, even though it is worn. It may not seat correctly, in which case you either find another blade (anyway, since it looks close to used up) and tune that up, or sort this one out (because the body is probably not worth a lot of extra expense).

For a shooting board, I would also close up the mouth as much as possible using a hardwood filler. I have also used brass on some planes. They all lap easily on sandpaper. The reason for the tight mouth is that it makes it easier to set the plane for fine shavings, which is necessary on end grain. The mouth size otherwise does not affect the performance when shooting end grain.

Regards from Perth

Derek

That second vid is interesting - all the shaving are coming off split like mine are so it looks like that's nothing to worry about.

Length of the plane is about 17". I think that makes it more of a jack rather than a jointer. Doesn't seem to be any chatter, and the chip preaker seems to sit OK now. From what I've seen in videos and online documents plus how well the blade fits I think the odds are in favour of it being the original blade. There seems to be plenty of blade left on it and it's working well now so I'm quite happy with it either way. It can cut some fine end grain shavings.

End grain shavings [1280x768].jpg

I think the suggestion of adding an insert at the front of the mouth is a good one and is something I should do.