Thread: Chip breaker and screw for Falcon No 4 Plane

Hi Paul, I probably have a spare chipbreaker that will fit a #4 which you can have. Not 100% certain the toe-to-screw distance of the Falcon matches the Stanley/Record distance, but I think it does. It's probably not that important if you are going to make a scrub plane out of it - if you sharpen the blade with a typical "scrub" camber you have to set the chipbreaker well back from the centre of the edge so you end up with the adjuster thumb wheel in odd places anyway.

I used a very ancient #4 as my scrub plane for a long time until I eventually had a rush of blood to the head & bought a Veritas (our $ was a lot stronger at the time so it wasn't so painful!). It's a good plane & I use it a lot, but the old #4 did a very good job. Being an old (pre-lateral-adjuster) model, it was lighter than more modern 4s, which is a definite advantage for a scrub plane. And before you admonish me for using a 'valuable' antique for so mundane a role, it had a huge chunk missing from one side (some clown must've decided to drive in a few railway spikes with it!), so it was past its 'best-by' date.

Anyway, I'll have a look in the 'spares' drawer shortly & see what I've got...
Cheers,
Ian

PS: I use the "hot spanner" to loosen really stubborn screws like yours. Get the screw good & hot with a propane torch, then dunk it in water, the shock usually loosens rust & scale very effectively. Don't heat the business end of the blade, of course, hold the cutting edge end with pliers with the top up so convection will keep most of the heat up that end. You don't have to get the screw red hot, a couple of hundred degrees usually suffices.

Find a friend with an engineers vise; grip the screw with that ;or; try some neat and tidy vise grips.
T

Just an update. I finally separated them. Figured out if I could not turn the screw I would try turning the chip breaker. Put top of blade in small vice I have then got my old paint stirrer screwdriver and set it on the edge of the chip breaker and tapped with a hammer. It worked. So rather than unscrewing the screw I unscrewed the chipbreaker.

Now I find that the blade underneath the chip breaker is severely pitted and will need to be replaced. Now trying to decide whether it is worth it to keep going or just hunt around the markets for another No 4.

Thanks for help and advise.

Paul

Paul, on most old, neglected planes I've worked on, the pitting was bad on the exposed part of the blade & the part under the CB was fine or very lightly rusted so that's bad luck in your case. If there is any salvageable surface between the existing edge & the 'keyhole', you could grind the blade back (or cut it with a 1mm cutoff wheel, which is much more efficient than grinding). Old blades were hardened to about the bottom of the keyhole so you shouldn't run into soft metal.

I'm sure you can get it working if you persist & at least prove to yourself that the concept works. The condition of the chip-breaker isn't crucial in this instance because if you put a scrub-sized camber on the blade, you have to set it so far back from the edge that it doesn't function as a chip-breaker & the thick shavings don't help either. But it is still necessary for dampening a thin blade and for the adjuster to work, of course. Old blades are not hard to come by - I think I gave the last of my 'spares' away a little while ago, but I'll have a look & see if there is still one lurking in my tray of bits & bobs.....

Cheers,
Ian