SIEGLEY ADJUSTABLE PLANES (a slight obsession)

**lightwood** · 15th August 2013, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by Repliconics

Hi Peter,
What I was after is whether or not the Siegley Patent in question, in any way making reference to the cap being utilised as a chip breaker.
Derek's first thought was that my No.3 Siegley had no chip breaker, then after seeing the patent he was thinking that the chip breaker
was some how biult in too the cap.
But looking at the patent I can't see Siegley making any reference to the cap working as a breaker.
I was just wondering how you read the patent?

Trevor.

Trevor,
I'm not sure when the term "chipbreaker" came into common usage.

The Siegley back iron and lever cap are combined, (like on the early Chaplin Patent planes) and Siegley states his design enables the proper adjustment of the back iron to the cutting iron. I guess that would be as close to the edge as the user desires.
Here is the patent from Bailey when he made the lever cap push down at two positions at the end of a thin blade. He claims it stops warping of the thin blades and hence "buckling" and "chattering".
Dec 24, 1867. #72,443.
I think he knew what he doing with plane design.
http://www.google.com/patents/US72443?printsec=drawing&dq=patent:72443

That part of plane was universally called a "back -iron" it obviously has a couple of functions. I'm just mildly amused by the current discussion around the WW forums with the strident, evangelistic, born-again proponents of it.
From memory, the Siegley irons are a little thicker than a Stanley Bailey type ...not certain.... I might have a couple in a box somewhere??
That would help with the deformation of the blade, as would the lowering the angle of the cutting blade.
I tried a Siegley plane on some wood years ago, and thought it worked quite well...relatively easy to push.

I think it would have been ok for the purpose, perhaps not as good as some, but better than others of the time period...on the wood they were using.

Regards,
Peter

**Repliconics** · 15th August 2013, 03:20 PM

Thanks Peter,
The reason I asked for your opinion was that you read patents very well, and have a greater understanding of the way in which there structured.
Most people seem to be of the opinion that a patent is in some way an instruction manual, which could not be farther from the truth.
Patents aren't describing what an object is, but more how it is.
In fact theres no requirement that the object in the patent, as in this case a handplane even work.
The patent is simply describing the structure of the plane.
The better written and more accurate it is the less likely it is that others will be able to reproduce it.
Its the market place that decides whether it works or not.
A lot of people when reading a patent will try to make interpretations of the information.
The fact about patents is that there is nothing to interpret, it is exactly what it says it is.
Many may argue but I think the best Patent ever written for a plane would have to be the Stanley 55.
Its the most accurate I've ever read, you would have had a hard time breaking that one!

Trevor

**Claw Hama** · 16th August 2013, 12:11 AM

I think the cap iron was originally a chipbreaker. Capping irons were around well before Stanley and other thin iron blade planes when it would not really have been there to support the blade. Many of the the pre Stanleys etc had blades 4mm thick or more but some still had capping irons as do some of the thick blade Japanese planes. I think Stanley and friends just utilised the cap iron as a brace for their thinner blades. Some of the old moulding planes had double irons that acted as chip breakers and were a suport for the blade but were not tensioned, only wedged in. Garrett Hack and some of the other tool book authors do discuss some of these points in their books from memory.
The advantage of a tensioned chip breaker/cap iron is you don't get as many annoying little chips between the blade and chip breaker/cap iron.
Some of these old names and terms might be a bit like the loss of the reason for the tapper on the saw files. Once upon a woodworkers or plane makers time, it may have been taken for granted that a capping iron was for breaking off the chips and curling the waste so not referred to in patents etc just taken for granted. If only planes could talk

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