Plane Adjustment

[SteveF]

I have a record \ irwin 060 1\2
I have a few hand tools but never really used them
I have started taking an interest in using them instead of power tools

can you tell me what angle the blade should be
it also has an adjuster at the front which increases the blade gap.....why ?

sorry about the noobie questions...but i always just reached for a power plane in the past

Steve

 

[Peter Sefton]

For standard work I would grind the blade at 25 degrees and hone at 30 degrees, the adjuster at the front is the sliding toe of the plane which can be adjusted close to the blade for fine work.

 

[SteveF]

thanks peter

 

[tobytools]

Make sure the back of the iron is flat, say about an inch from edge.
Have fun
TT

 

[SteveF]

polished to an inch of its life

 

[Peter Sefton]

This maybe one of those straight forward questions that runs and runs.

 

[J_SAMa]

I have a record \ irwin 060 1\2
I have a few hand tools but never really used them
I have started taking an interest in using them instead of power tools

can you tell me what angle the blade should be
it also has an adjuster at the front which increases the blade gap.....why ?

sorry about the noobie questions...but i always just reached for a power plane in the past

Steve

That "gap" is the mouth adjuster. If you want to take a heavy shaving, open it up. If you want to take a smoothing, fine shaving (especially in difficult grains), you have to close the mouth so that the part of the sole in front of the cutting edge supports the wood fibers closely, preventing tear out.
Another way to reduce tear out is to increase the cutting edge's angle.

 

[SteveF]

sorry to continue this thread

should i do anything to the lever cap or bed ?

do i adjust the blade by eye or is there a method for putting the blade in straight and to the correct depth

seems a bit fiddly

my power plane has a big knob to set depth

 

[Cheshirechappie]

With the plane dismantled on the bench in front of you, put the blade into the plane body, and see if it sits nicely on the bed without rocking. If it does, the bed's fine - no need to do anything to it. Then put the lever cap in place, and lock it up.

Now, turn the plane over, and sight along the sole. When the plane is nicely adjusted, you'll see the edge of the blade as a thin, even black line at the plane's mouth (you may find that a piece of white card or paper on the bench makes sighting easier). If it isn't (and it's very unlikely that it is yet!) fiddle with the adjuster until it's something like. If the line is thicker on one side than the other, you may have to correct the blade by sharpening it a bit more to one side than the other - one up for the bench planes with their lateral adjusters. Once you've achieved the thin line, you can adjust the frontpiece to give you a nice thin mouth opening. Then try the plane out on a piece of scrap, and adjust again until it gives a nice even cut.

You'll find that the plane can cope with a heavier cut taking long-grain shavings of softwood than it will taking end-grain cuts in a hardwood. You adjust depth of cut and mouth opening until the plane cuts comfortably in whatever circumstances you're working - one setting does not necessarily suit all tasks.