Stanley 220 block plane.

[Sam_Jack]

Recently gifted a Stanley 220 block plane; seems to be in good nick. I fettled it and ‘sharpened’ the blade, all the usual stuff, but I can’t seem to get it working ‘proper’, or stop the chatter. The blade is truly ‘sharp’, there’s nothing wobbling or floating about, it takes shavings with the grain on an edge beautifully. Then I come to ‘end grain’, dust and the occasional part shaving. My #4 on the same end grain (Oak and Pine) does a great job; not the 220. Why?

The adjustment mechanism seems to working properly – if ‘fiddley’, its set as fair as I can manage, the blade is square and – super sharp; I might add I’ve sharpened to 20, 25, 30˚with the same result. Don’t want to consign the thing to the ‘healing’ shelf, so any help would be - ‘helpful’.

 

[ED65]

The part shavings might be diagnostic here, sounds like it's jumping out of the cut which IIRC can be a sign of poor bedding (iron vibration).

 

[Jacob]

220 my most used plane!
It's basically for fettling, one handed, on the finished item. Ideal for small stuff; trimming off through tenons, dovetails, arrises etc.
But too small and limited for general purposes. I wouldn't expect it to help with end grain on anything of any size, other than very thin boards.

 

[custard]

Sharp for long grain and sharp for end grain are two different things. If you're fairly new to woodworking then I wouldn't be convinced by your conclusion that it's "truly sharp", in that case the first thing you should do is re-sharpen the iron, checking you've raised a burr along the entire edge, then hone and check for the tell tale polish, again along the entire edge. These are categoric yes/no checks. If you can't feel that burr then keep rubbing, if you can't see that polished band then again, keep rubbing. There are no short cuts, you must pass those two tests.

Enter an end grain cut on the skew to avoid chatter.

Keep firm downward pressure on the plane. With long grain planing the iron is pulled into the cut, with end grain planing it's pushed out.

Wax the plane's sole with a squiggle from a candle.

Try a fairly fine cut for end grain. If you're unsure check the setting on long grain, wispy shavings and you're good to go on end grain.

Good luck!

 

[Sam_Jack]

Thank you Jacob; that makes perfect sense. I tried it out on a raised panel (oak) as you recommended, once I got the adjustment right it worked beautifully fettled the almost finished item off a treat. It was risk, but worthwhile and now I know where and how to use my 220, I’ll keep it handy. Made me smile all day that did. Cheers.

Thanks Custard – I can assure you, that blade was ‘scary’ sharp; I eventually compromised and as near as muscle memory serves, managed to end up at 22˚ (measured); that, combined with Jacobs advice, I’m happy to report the little 220 became a well liked, respected member of my plane collection. The end grain I was experimenting with was 22mm thick (American Oak) and 19mm Pine (SPF); once started on the <12 mm stuff, Jacob made good sense. That small raised panel is now pristine, well done the 220. Right tool for the job.

The trick with ‘chatter’ seem to be getting the depth ‘just so’. Seems to me that once you ‘know’ what the plane is supposed to be doing and ‘felt’ it doing just that, it simply becomes a matter of fine adjustment. But once you find that ‘sweet’ spot, Oh boy, it just gets going and does a great job.

Colour me happy.