Thread: Stanley no 3 problem

Set the cap iron appropriate for the shaving thickness you're aiming for as this mostly controls tearout effects.
Try it, it should be good.
(move the frog forward if the aesthetics of an open mouth bother you)

Originally Posted by kwigly

Set the cap iron appropriate for the shaving thickness you're aiming for as this mostly controls tearout effects.

Strong disagree here. The timber needs support from above to prevent tearout just as much as a chipbreaker when taking fine cuts, especially if working against the grain or with figured timber.

I'd be moving the frog forward to try to close the mouth up.

In addition to the above comments: Was the Hock blade thick-ish? If so, either put it back or find another the same thickness.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Strong disagree here. The timber needs support from above to prevent tearout just as much as a chipbreaker when taking fine cuts, especially if working against the grain or with figured timber.

I'd be moving the frog forward to try to close the mouth up.

no, a chipbreaker could be used with an inch mouth and be far better than sole support in front of the cut.

Notice that the K&K study was done without any plane body or mouth - the cap iron and iron were used in isolation, at least in view of the film.

Closing the mouth is unnecessary extra resistance unless you choose not to use the cap iron for reasons that would be beyond me.

In order to get decent performance from a plane mouth, it has to be about double the opening of the shaving size. If it gets wider than that, you still get tearout, but you're also doing the work to bend the chip around the mouth. It's just not very good compared to the cap iron.

It's nicer on something like a smoother to keep the opening around 1/16th and get the mouth out of the way, and on a heavier work plane, just slightly more and a jack somewhere around 1/8th.

Originally Posted by heydo6

I picked up a no. 3 from ebay a while back. The price was right and it had a hock blade. I took the blade and put the plane on the shelf.

Couple days ago I finally got around to cleaning and tuning that no. 3. The mouth is filed open further then I've ever seen before.
Even with the hock blade it's so far away.

I was hoping one of you might have a great idea on what I could do?

Not sure how well a no 3 scrub plane would be.

No fix other than moving the frog forward, but the support for the iron is better if it's a type where the frog meets the casting and you leave the frog and casting flush.

There are some inferior designs that have a significant unsupported area between frog and casting so that if you move the frog forward, there's quite a distance of unsupported iron. they still work, but not nearly as well as the typical stanley design. More ideal if the mouth opening is tolerable with the frog set flush to the casting.

Not sure how much of a gap you're talking about, but overzealous filing is a but of a conundrum. you can chase an even thicker iron, use it as a roughing plane, or just tolerate it.

If the mouth gets too big, it can do things like allow catching at the front of a board (inadvertently) or splitting off of bigger bits working across/diagonally on wood.