Compass plane

[mantrakalas]

From time to time I try to use my Darex compass plane

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but despite all my adjustments and grinding and honing I always end up with the mouth completely blocked by ... dust (not splinters nor wood shavings, just sawdust. Could it be that the cleft (uh ? right term ?) is too narrow ?

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Thanks in advance
Alberto

[Chris Knight]

Alberto,

I don't have a compass plane, although I am planning to get one. However, from flat plane experience there are a couple of possibilites that come to mind.

We call the opening in the sole the mouth, not the cleft. I doubt this is the problem unless you have an adjustable frog on this plane which I cannot tell from the pictures (the frog is the angled piece on which the blade is bedded and on flat bench planes it can be adjusted forward and backwards which does vary the mouth opening, or at least it moves the edge of the blade towards or away from the front of the mouth). Usually the mouth opening will be sized to accomodate the thickest shaving you want to take during any particular planing operation and on a plane like this I would not expect it to be more than 1mm.

In your case I wonder if you are planing end grain or long grain? Is you problem confined to a particular radius or does it happen when the plane is set up flat, convex or concave? Dust is any case usually the result of a blunt blade, especially on end grain.

Possibly your chipbreaker is set too close to the edge of your blade and it is in fact blocking the mouth of the plane? If this were the case, I guess even a sharp blade might not be able to produce a shaving but only dust. If a chip breaker is not secured firmly to the blade, they can shift whilst raising or lowering the blade with the adjuster. I have had this happen on occasions when I have been a bit careless in setting up my planes.

As my comments might tell you, I am not speaking from direct experience with one of these planes. I might be ablt to advise you better next week!
_________________
Chris

[Alf]

Alberto,

I have the Stanley version of this model, but it's not a plane I use often I must admit. Chris has already suggested all the things that occur to me, particularly with regard to end grain. Compass planes can be rather tricky to use, so don't despair (and you've guessed it; that's why I don't use mine often ). I'll give it some thought, and dig out mine if I remember, and see if I can come up with any other ideas.

Cheers, Alf

[mantrakalas]

many thanks to Waterhead and Alf. Unfortunately there are no frogs around nor mouth openers whatsoever. After closer exam, the chipsbreaker IS a little bit too near to the edge. I will try this...

However, the problem may be structural: because of its ... nature, this plane never go completely along the fibers not end grain. Depending on the radius (and on the wood), every stroke is a mix of both ! Moreover, especially on a convex surface, it is difficult to maintain a constant pressure.

Tricky tool, indeed ... !
Alberto