WS No 4 cap iron - advice

matt_southward · 9 Nov 2014

I was hoping that there might be a few people on here who own a similar WS No 4 (or 5 as they'll likely be the same) to the one I bought on ebay last month. I've had a few issues with getting it fettled as it seems a bit temperamental and I was wondering whether the cap iron on mine was the right shape as it looks a bit flat to me, relative to a Bailey design and so doesn't put the blade under as much tension.

To show you what I mean, I'll try and post a few pictures of the WS iron and cap iron alongside my old Stanley 4 ½

So here you can see the difference in curvature between the two. So my question is whether this is normal or not? You can see some banding on the metal of the WS cap iron and I wondered whether it had been flattened? I did manage to get it working nicely yesterday, but it has been a bit temperamental so I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks as ever for the advice on here - a great resource!

Matt

bugbear · 9 Nov 2014

The cap-iron doesn't supply a lot of tension - the lever cap does that. As long as the cap iron is a good fit on the iron (no gaps, this is CRUCIAL) everything else will work out just fine.

BugBear

MIGNAL · 9 Nov 2014

I'm not familiar with WS but I've seen plenty of cap irons that are examples of both those types. I have some myself. Both types work fine providing they fit the blade without any gaps. Just make sure shavings aren't getting trapped, as BB states.

G S Haydon · 9 Nov 2014

I would also agree with BugBear. imagine a two piece cap iron from Record of old or Clifton. They apply no tension and work like a charm. Keep working on a tight fit. A few things to try http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodw ... ipbreakers

bugbear · 9 Nov 2014

G S Haydon":3m1q256t said:
imagine a two piece cap iron from Record of old or Clifton. They apply no tension and work like a charm.

Excellent reference - obvious when you point it out.

BugBear

matt_southward · 9 Nov 2014

Thanks for the feedback - the Clifton example should really have occurred to me as I have one!

I think it's easy to over-analyse the technical aspects (at least for me). I think it was the banding in the metal that distracted me as it looked to me as though the metal had been flattened as I would have thought that it would be simply pressed into shape at the manufacturing stage. Also, the cap iron and blade do move a little when fully tightened - so I figured more tension was needed, though I guess the lever cap sorts that too.

The plane is almost there, so with this is mind I think I'll be able to get it fully working now.

Cheers, Matt