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NO 7 JOINTER PLANE

Blog entry by POPLARFOREST posted 555 days ago 657 reads 1 time favorited 10 comments Add to Favorites Watch

I AM LOOKING TO TALK TO ANYONE THAT KNOWS THERE WAY AROUND A NUMBER 7 PLANE. I AM HAVING PROBLEMS GETTING IT TO WORK PROPERLY. I BOUGHT IT OF OFF EBAY A FEW YEARS AGO AND AM ABOUT TO JUNK IT IF I CAN’T FIGURE IT OUT. THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING IS THAT THE THROUT CLOGGS UP AFTER JUST ONE PASS. I HAVE PUT A NEW HOCK BLADE ON IT AND IT IS THICKER AND I THINK THAT MAYBE SOME OF THE PROBLEM. I HAVE TRIED TO ADJUST THE FROG TO OPEN UP THE THROUT BUT IT DOESN’T SEEM TO ADJUST ANYMORE. ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS OF WHAT I AM GOOFING UP?


10 comments so far

View Chris 's profile

Chris

1469 posts in 884 days


posted 555 days ago

Have you tried adjusting the frog back? If it is clogging like that it may be that you are taking to large a cut with to small a mouth opening.

-- Chris

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

20603 posts in 715 days


posted 555 days ago

The one thought that I had is to check and see if the plane iron bevel is down. If you try and plane with the bevel up it will just clog the throat. When I pulled my #7 out of the cabinet that I had stored it (it hadn’t been used in over 50 years) it had been configured wrong. The plane iron was bevel up and so was the cap iron. Another problem with it was that the cap iron screw was missing and I could not adjust it. I, too, was about to give up on it but put a Hock cap iron and plane iron assembly in it and it now works fine.

Hope this helps.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View tenontim's profile

tenontim

1319 posts in 638 days


posted 555 days ago

Ditto Chris and Scott. The Hock blade is a good upgrade. I also changed out the chip breaker for a Lie-Nielsen and the plane works great.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

View ChicoWoodnut's profile

ChicoWoodnut

895 posts in 709 days


posted 555 days ago

if the chip breaker doesn’t sit flat on the blade the shavings will get caught between the blade and breaker and cause this problem. Flatten the edge of the chip breaker where it sits on the top of the blade. Set the blade to take a very thin shaving. This is not a rough plane.

Here is the chip breaker. Make sure there is no gap between it and the blade. If there is, you must lap it flat.

Here it is again from the edge. Adjust it close to the edge of the blade so it can do it’s job (move chips away from the blade)

Now this is just my opinion because I havn’t used one of those Hock blades, but you should be able to get really good performance from this plane just the way it was manufactured if you tune it up well.

Of course, if you get really discouraged you can always send it to me ^o^

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

View GMman 's profile

GMman

1358 posts in 591 days


posted 555 days ago

Email reunde@aol.com he will help you he knows all about hand planes

-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--

View jcees's profile

jcees

552 posts in 692 days


posted 555 days ago

Have you attempted to ”tune” the plane yet? Have you at least lapped the sole flat?

If not, you’ve got to do that first to get any accurate OR pleasurable planing out of it. Also, it sounds like you’re trying to take too heavy a cut for the mouth opening. Personally, I use a Clifton Stay-Set chip breaker but have gotten fine service out of a Stanley if you’ll tune it too. As Scott says, there should be no gap along the contact point of the chip breaker. Also, it needs to be set back from the cutting edge between 1/32nd and 1/16th of an inch. The blade isn’t enough by itself either, it has to be prepped properly too.

It’s been done in several magazines but I’m thinking I might do a step-by-step blog on tuning a #7 that includes retrofitting it with a new blade and chip breaker. I’ve got a type 11 corrugated #7 in need of such a tune-up. Might as well take the pics and post ‘em with a bit of verbiage, what say y’all?

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein

View smitty1's profile

smitty1

33 posts in 592 days


posted 555 days ago

Along with what has been already said, a few things I ask is-
1) at what angle did you sharpen the blade?
2) did you file and set the frog and throat.
3) setting the chipbreaker is important also and depends on what wood your going to plane, I set mine at a 1/32” After the above are corrected and set , adjust the blade by sighting down the sole looking at the blade front. adjust the blade so it just starts to stick out from the throat. using a piece of paper slid along the body it should just catch on the blade. Take a pass on a piece of wood and check your shaving, adjust accordingly.
Have a Good One,
Smitty

-- Smitty, Alabama, http://www.firstdesignwoodworking.com/

View marcb's profile

marcb

696 posts in 567 days


posted 554 days ago

A thick blade means you need to set the chip breaker back a bit further than you might normally do. The chip breaker also needs to be flat as demonstrated.

David Charlesworth had a good article in Fine Woodworking on plane tuneups. Including a back bevel on the throat to keep clogs at bay.

Also the shaving should be really fine, its a jointer so its a fitness plane even though its big.

View Gofor's profile

Gofor

109 posts in 680 days


posted 554 days ago

A picture of the sole of the plane showing the throat opening would help immensely in figuring out the problem. For instance: If the sole is worn down in front of the mouth, it will cause the wood to split further forward from the iron, causing big tear pieces that will clog the throat. Even with a hock blade, you should be able to get the 1/32 to 3/64” mouth opening needed on most Stanley-type planes with an adjustable frog providing the iron is bevel down. If you are also using the hock chip-breaker, you may need to back it up a little more (1/64 to 1/32”) from the cutting edge as it is also thick and may be causing some throat restriction.

Go

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730

View johnjoiner's profile

johnjoiner

153 posts in 787 days


posted 553 days ago

I have an old corrugated Stanley/Bailey #7 off ebay with a Hock iron. I’m still using the original chip breaker and the plane works like a charm. That chip breaker needed a lot of work though.

I’d start with checking that there’s enough of a gap for the chip to fit now that you’ve added the thicker blade. You might have to move the frog back as others have suggested.

Then I’d work on the chip breaker like woodnut suggested with the helpful photos. The chipbreaker is most often the source of clogging problems.

You should be able to get an idea of what the problem is by looking closely at the first chip that starts the clogging: Where is that getting stuck?

-- johnjoiner

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