Thread: Adjusting a wooden plane

Originally Posted by wai

Hi all,

I have just started woodworking not long ago. I know you guys are kind enough not to laugh at me when I say something stupid, aren't you ?

Heaps of thanks,
Wai

Plent of stupid things get said on this board so I wouldn't have any worries there.

I've only had a bit of a play with my MujingFung. The metal wedge goes on the front of the blade.

Lay the plane flat on the bench or block of wood, insert the blade, put in the wedge and give it a light tap. Helps if you have a small wooden mallet.

The blade should be set.

HTH. Welcome to the board

Craig

Wai

Craig is quite correct. Follow his directions.

A couple of points:

(1) The mouth (gap between blade and brass insert) is meant to be so small. That is the way you get very thin shavings and avoid tearout.

(2) To deepen the cut, drive the blade in more deeply.

(3) To raise the blade, tap the rear of the body (firmly).

(4) You must check that the blade is sitting squarely, otherwise it will cut grooves. Tap the side of the plane to move the blade.

Enjoy. This is a very good plane. I have one exactly like it.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Wai,

I've got an old wooden, metal-soled smoothing plane and I find it pretty difficult to get adjust the blade upwards for a shallower cut. Tapping the back works but it loosens the wedge a bit.

I've settled into a habit of setting the blad a good 1mm inside the plane. When the wedge is tapped into place it will drive the blade down a little bit. Then I just keep tapping the blade (or the front) and testing the depth until it starts cutting a floaty thin shaving.

It's not scientific, but like al WW technique, you do what works!

Originally Posted by LineLefty

Wai,

I've got an old wooden, metal-soled smoothing plane and I find it pretty difficult to get adjust the blade upwards for a shallower cut. Tapping the back works but it loosens the wedge a bit.

Adam - try clamping your thumb across the top of the wedge when you're tapping the back of the plane. This should stop it from loosening.

Originally Posted by LineLefty

I've settled into a habit of setting the blad a good 1mm inside the plane. When the wedge is tapped into place it will drive the blade down a little bit. Then I just keep tapping the blade (or the front) and testing the depth until it starts cutting a floaty thin shaving.

It's not scientific, but like al WW technique, you do what works!

Setting the blade in a wooden plane isn't a science, mate, it's an art! If this technique works for you then keep on using it.

Col

You're right it is an art and as there were hundreds of different planemakers, generic advice is difficult to give.

I bought mine from an old italian bloke a a swap meet who showed me how he had adjusted it for the last 40 years. It was quite nice actually, he was really reluctant to part with it and by the end of his 10minute demo, I noticed that there was about 15 blokes standing behind me watching this bloke plane shavings of a piece of 4x2.

Through his broken english, I managed to get the message that you cant be afraid to give it a good whack!

A few pictures here just in case you haven't got the hang of it yet,
http://www.hntgordon.com.au/bladesettingsmoothtry.htm

That is one thick blade! I've never noticed how thick they were. Grinding the primary bevel must take forever on one of these babies.

When I was at the Sydney Show, Terry went through his sharpening routine. He specifically mentioned that the primary bevel should be hollow ground so that you don't have to spend forever honing it.
I was surprised at how thick his blades were too. They must be at least 6mm.

Craig

Yep 6mm or just a shade under 1/4inch, when the bevel is hollow ground it is very easy to balance the bevel on your stone, no honing guides required.

I have the same plane. Not an expert by any stretch, but I read (probably Terry Gordon's site I think) that you should keep a nice flat, smooth block of hardwood to set the blade on. Place the plane on it, drop the blade in place, drop the wedge in place, then tap the wedge to seat it. The harder the hardwood block the finer the set of the blade and the finer the shavings. Works for me anyway.

Thanks very much guys, I used the plane for the long weekend and I really love it! Thanks for all your helps!!