Plough plane nicker

[quixoticgeek]

I have a delightful stanley 13-052 plough plane that I bought off a member of this forum which is perfect for cutting rebates along the grain, but for a project I would like to try, I need to be able to cut across the grain. An examination of the manual that came with it and the tool itself suggests that a nicker can be added to the front of the device to enable it to cut across the grain. The slot for said nicker is 10mm wide, and has space for a thumbscrew to hold it in place. The only thing is, I can't seem to track down anything that would be suitable. I am wondering if anyone here would be able to point me in the right direction of something suitable?

Thanks

J

 

[AndyT]

You've not shown us a picture, but this thread has one, and Alf has a scan of the manual here which shows that you need a fairly slim piece of steel of about 1mm thick and as you say 10mm wide, with a hole through it and with the bottom ground to a sharp edge. I'd look for an old jigsaw blade - it should be about the right size, and be the right sort of steel to take an edge. A piece of hacksaw blade might do as well and would have a suitable hole. I think you will find that grinding to size and shape is fairly easy, but drilling holes in tempered steel can be challenging.

That said, do be prepared to find that you'll get better results by making a cross-grain cut with a saw first, then planing down to the bottom of the cut; or else repeatedly cutting across with a knife and a square.