Just discovered I was using the plane wrong..

[Pvt_Ryan]

As you know I have a No 4 and a No 5. So I took the No 4 apart without really thinking but when the no5 arrived I decided to actually look at it and noticed the chipbreaker was attach to the iron bevel down.. Wait.. I have been using my No 4 with the bevel up.. so which is right?

After a bit of research it seems I should be bevel down.. DOH!!!! Seems to cut some test pieces better now..


Thought that might give you lot a few giggles..



Ryan

 

[jimi43]

(homer)

:wink:

Don't worry mate...we've all done it...not on a Stanley maybe but on other planes....I challenge anyone to say they haven't!

(waits patiently....)

8)

Jim

 

[big soft moose]

(homer)

:wink:

Don't worry mate...we've all done it...not on a Stanley maybe but on other planes....I challenge anyone to say they haven't!

(waits patiently....)

8)

Jim

I havent :lol:

That said when I first started on this slipperly slope i did wondedr what the funny leaver sticking out the top was for (the lateral adjuster that is), not to mention ignorantly refering to my late grandads giant wooden smoothing plane as a "block" plane on the grounds that it was made from a block of wood

 

[GazPal]

(homer)

:wink:

Don't worry mate...we've all done it...not on a Stanley maybe but on other planes....I challenge anyone to say they haven't!

(waits patiently....)

8)

Jim

Challenge gladly accepted.

I haven't done it (Apart from the odd inadvertant bevel down instead of bevel up insertion of a shoulder/chariot plane blade - Quickly corrected before clamp down), but that's probably due to my being under constant adult supervision and nothing to do with common sense on my part. :lol: :wink:

It's an easy enough mistake to make. Especially if assuming a feshly aquired plane was set up and assembled correctly by it's previous owner.

Probably the best piece of advice I can offer is for you to strip each plane on delivery. Basically to check for damage/missing parts AND to inspect the blade for set up and sharpness, before making any adjustments. :wink:

 

[Richard T]

I have often started to merrily put chainsaw chains on back to front - which is worse.
If a plane has a fixed mouth wide enough for bevel down, it can physically go in either way up, but generally (I think) if it's wide enough for bevel down then it's bevel down. Also a steep angle of blade would be far too steep if put in bevel up ... and if the blade logo is underneath, it's probably not what the maker intended.
As GazPal says, a confused previous owner can be contagious. The world is full of tools "improved" beyond repair.

 

[Alf]

Not done the plane blade thing, but have managed to put a bandsaw blade in with the teeth facing the wrong way... #-o

 

[jlawrence]

Like Richard, I've put the chainsaw blade on the wrong way on numerous occasions - you soon realise when it doesn't cut much though.
I always test a chainsaw on a small bit of wood before using it in anger.

 

[jimi43]

Like Richard, I've put the chainsaw blade on the wrong way on numerous occasions - you soon realise when it doesn't cut much though.
I always test a chainsaw on a small bit of wood before using it in anger.

You know when you put a chainsaw blade in the wrong way when they start calling you CHIP.

Jim

 

[cambournepete]

Not done the plane blade thing, but as confessed a while ago on the turning forum I have tried to turn a piece with the large spinning the wrong way nag then wondered why the wood wasnt cutting very well

 

[Fromey]

I've probably also done this, and worse by not realising it!

This reminds me of the time I took ages to drill a hole in a wall and only discovered after all the straining, sweating and cursing that the drill was in reverse!

:duno:

 

[studders]

How about trying to do up a slotted screw with a pozi bit?

Does that count as a 'D'oh' ?

I 'thought' I'd changed the bit, and it was getting dark... honest.


BTW I've the odd thousand other 'd'ohs' if you have the time.

 

[tekno.mage]

I've done the drilling with the drill in reverse a couple of times - and stared at it stupidly wondering why it wasn't making much of a hole before I realised! I've also run the lathe in reverse and wondered why the tool wasn't cutting before realising.

Not done a plane blade upside down as yet - but I'm sure there is still time for me to try that one by mistake :lol:

 

[CHJ]

Spent 20 mins, sorting out all the 3 Ph.extension leads in Germany workshop and checking nobody had wired them up wrong only to discover the pillar drill that was running in reverse had a change over (reversing) switch fitted.

Back home spent 2-3 minutes plugging lathe and other items into alternate sockets and checked a fuse to sort out why they had lost power the other day only to realize the emergency stop button controlling the machine spur was propping up a wood blank.

 

[Plumberpete]

I've not put a plane blade in the wrong way round but I just chiselled a sawing channel the wrong side of my marking line (ie. not in the waste) while rushing to finish a job. Doh!

 

[Acanthus]

A decade or so ago, a mate of mine gave himself some grief with his new corded power drill, no matter what he did he could not get it to drill holes in a wall, until we discovered that the new drill had a reverse function, and he was going backwards! But he always was a bit strange, but had good taste in beer.

Dave

 

[Digit]

I've not done any of that, but before I gloat I have to admit to fitting my TS blade in back to front! :lol:

Roy.

 

[urbanarcher]

ok so for us newbies that have acquired planes from family and boot fairs and just rebuilt them the way they were when we got them, is there any basic rules for say smoothers, blocks, jointers, combis etc?

 

[Digit]

The biggest single improvement to modern commercially produced planes that you can make IMO is junk the thin iron and replace it with a decent after market one.

Roy.

 

[AndyT]

ok so for us newbies that have acquired planes from family and boot fairs and just rebuilt them the way they were when we got them, is there any basic rules for say smoothers, blocks, jointers, combis etc?

If the blade is at 45 degrees or steeper, the blade will be bevel down, and you can see that it will tidily fill up most of the available space. (Fit it upside down and there will be a much wider gap, which should look odd.)

If the blade is bedded lower - as in most block planes, shoulder planes, mitre planes, chariot planes - then the blade will go bevel up.

 

[Alf]

As mentioned further up the thread, as a general rule the maker's mark tends to face upwards. And, as far as I'm know (And at least, as far as commonly found varieties are concerned) no-one ever made a bevel-up combi. Oh, and the odds are heavily against finding old bevel-up bench planes anyway. If you do, you'll be universally regarded as a jammy so-and-so. :wink: