Help needed with Veritas Side Rebate Plane

[bertikus_maximus]

Evening all,

Having a bit of bother with my Veritas side rebate plane. Although I've had this plane for over a year, I haven't yet had cause to use it. Until now! Only problem is, I can't seem to get the sodding thing to cut.

The cutters seem sharp (and generally, Veritas stuff has been sharp out of the box) and I've followed instructions and the guide video on YouTube. However, I'm not getting anywhere. It seems to me that the cutters don't project past the sole (I.e. the back of the plane with the depth stop on) and indeed, don't seem to be parallel with the plane body either.

Any ideas where I'm going wrong? Perhaps user error? Or do we dare to wonder if this is a rare LV quality control issue?

Any advice gladly received!

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi - are you able to post a photo? Mine works fine (I set it up per the instructions that came with it). Cheers, W2S

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Berti

I suspect that you are setting up the blade so that the lower corner is in line with the lower edge of the plane body. That would be incorrect.

Set up the blade (ignoring that it will project past the lower edge of the body) so that it can take a fine shaving on the face of a scrap of wood. When it does this, it is set for the depth of cut.

Now you will notice that the blade projects past the lower edge of the body. It cannot be left this way as it will dig into the wood when you attempt to use it along the side of a groove. Take a diamond fine and trim it away. This is a once-only activity when first setting up the plane. You need to do this to both blades. Now you are ready to go.

A comparison of the Veritas, LN and Stanley side rabbet (rebate!) planes: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReview ... Plane.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks Derek!

I've got a Record one, and hadn't twigged the geometry: I have got mine nicely sharp with a jig to get the angle right, and cutting, but was also struggling with it digging into the bottom of the rebates, and puncturing fingers on a regular basis (because I forgot abut the pointy projection - just where you want to grip it above, if you're stupid enough to leave the other blade set at the same time).

Of course once the two points are trimmed, it shouldn't affect honing (it's not as if it gets used for hours at a time!).

That tiny-but-vital bit of advice is just what I needed. Thank you!

E.

PS: I found the geometry to be really odd. Because the beds for the irons are at a compound angle, the actual shape you need to sharpen it to is a bit counter-intuitive. IIRC, it ends up more "pointy" than you'd think it should be, but that gives you an edge that is parallel to the surface of the plane in use. They're much trickier things than I thought before I got one.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Instructions (link to PDF is marked "instr"):

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/Page.a ... 0012&cat=1

Here's the televisual equivalent of their instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W7FRPShxCc