setting hand plane depth

Hmmmm. I’ve not used the paper method. I normally just turn the plane over and sight down the body of the plane and adjust to eye. I then take a practice pass or two and adjust from there. Perhaps, you could try setting the plane down with the lever cap locked, unlock it, adjust, and then re-lock.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Hi Ben,

The method you describe is the way I set a #112 or # 80 scraper. I just look on a smooth plane. Put a block of scrap wood in the vise edge up. . Make sure the grain is running away from you. Look down the plane from the front and show just a little of the iron. Make sure it is paralell with the sole of the plane. Try it. Adjust and try again. Stop when you are getting a shaving that is almost thin enough to see though and as wide as the edge of the board. If the iron is as sharp as it should be, the surface will be smoother than you can sand. It will feel SLICK.If it doesn’t feel slick then you need to do more sharpening.
Good Luck,
Tom

Wayne, we were both typing at the same time. Same response. LOL

-- Thos. Angle

Lol – Hey, it works… Also, Ben, if you have $25, David Charlesworth’s video on plane sharpening is worth the money (all 3 in the series are recommended). It demonstrates how to sharpen using water stones and set up planes.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1320

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Oh and a word of caution – handplanes are a slippery slope. Second only to festool.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Thanks guys. I did get a video covering a few subjects that included a Mike Dunbar segment (20 minutes) about cleaning and tuning up an older plane, as well as sharpening, but obviously it is not as in depth as a video dedicated to planes.

It seems like the issue I’m having may be due to the way the iron sits on the frog (I have not flattened the frog’s face) or some other type of tuning issue (like how far back the frog sits), because when I tighten the lever cap, it moves the blade out enough to make a big difference, but maybe I just need to try sighting it down. I also just got my first two waterstones (800 and 4000) along with some green honing compound, so that’s the other part that I need to practice. I can hardly wait for the paper thin slivers to curl out! I have yet to experience that satisfaction.

Is the frog aligned correctly with the mouth? There could be an issue there.

I have a tuned Bedrock 605 with a hock blade and chipbreaker….. Almost addictive…..

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I’ll have to check that Wayne. I could not say for sure, especially since I’m not certain that I know the exact way that it is supposed to be aligned.

Basically, it should align with the back of the mouth. Let me look for a picture.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I found a good photo in this pdf file. It show a cutaway of the plane. you can see how the frog aligns with the mouth. You can then use the adjustment screw to open or close the mouth depending on how fine a shaving your planning to take.

http://www.tooled-up.com/Artwork/ProdPDF/DRA56628ins.pdf

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I was thinking alignment of the blade. I have a crappy Mastercraft block plane that once the blade depth is set, tightening causes it to creep a few thousandths making it really hard to set depth.

I also set handplane depth by looking down body…practice pass and away I go.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

What kind of plane is it? Any chance you could post a photo?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Thanks for that photo, that makes sense. I would post a photo, but my “workshop” is not at home and I only get over there 1 day a week :-(

It’s a cheap plane, but the build feels solid.

Ben, if it’s no good, can it and get a Stanley Bailey. They’re solid and have been at it for over a 100 years. At least you are learning about planes.If you can make a $5 flea-market special work you will be on the way to really getting into the planes. Oh, Lordy, we might have created a monster!!!!

-- Thos. Angle

Thanks Thos. Angle, I will keep that in mind. I have been looking for old Stanleys/Baileys at the flea market also, but there are very few where I have gone, and overpriced for what they are too (cracked handles, missing parts, etc). I’ll still look every time though.

I’m gonna take out the frog, flatten the face, then make sure it’s adjusted to be flush with the back of the mouth and take it from there.

Thanks everybody.

Ben,
Go to E-bay.
Tom

-- Thos. Angle

I would agree. Ebay would be a good choice. Inspect them carefully. Look for ones that include 1910 patent dates on the body of the plane if you can (simple guidance).

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Yeah, don’t go for the collector types, just good user planes. You can get a good one sometimes for around $25. Make sure it has a long iron too.

-- Thos. Angle

If I get some time, I will do an ebay search and recommend some to consider.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Thanks Wayne, that’s very kind. I did notice that hartville tool carries a few “economy” planes that they speak pretty highly of. If I can get my #4 in order, I may consider their jointer and block planes. What are your thoughts of these? One is a low angle block ($25), and the other is a #7 jointer ($60). I think Grizzly also carries these exact same two, but for $10 less each.

I’m thinking more along the lines of

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stanley-No-60-1-2-Low-Angle-Block-Plane_W0QQitemZ140157951443QQihZ004QQcategoryZ13874QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/STANLEY-BAILEY-5C-SWEET-HEART-HAND-PLANE-NICE_W0QQitemZ270165960866QQihZ017QQcategoryZ13874QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/wood-plane-tool-STANLEY-7c-corrugated-jointer-bailey_W0QQitemZ200145989589QQihZ010QQcategoryZ13874QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I would need to get my hands on the planes to render a verdict. The new ones I have seen recently outside of LV and LN are not nearly the quality of the older planes.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I’m also trying to learn the nuances of hand planes and have had a very positive experience so far. Despite my signature, I would recommend biting the bullet and getting a Lie Nielsen (LN) or Lee Valley (LV) plane*. I know this is not the frugal way to go but hear me out.

I bought the low angle smoother from LN. All there tools are ready to go out of the box and this one is no exception. The only thing I had to do was advance the blade a little bit. I Learned to use that one tool for a little while. I figured out how much you need to turn the advance knob to get the shaving you want; how big to make the mouth for various tasks and condtions (it surprised me how small it needs to be to prevent tear-out on some walnut I have with reversing grain.) I learned what the plane can and can’t do. I recently got the LN low angle rabbet block plane for my B-day. I used to use the smoother on end grain (works well) but it was a bit large to get a good register on smaller boards, plus I’ll want the rabbet function for a table I’m building. I now feel comfortable with the planes I have. I’m by no means an authority but I feel confident I can flatten and smooth faces and end grain. I’m currently shopping for a no. 7 or 8 on ebay because I don’t have infinite funds. But, because I have some experience with a good, properly set up tool when I encounter a problem with the used no. 7/8 I’ll have a much better chance figuring out if the problem is with me or the tool and how to correct it. If I had bought a used tool first and had a bunch of tear-out or chattering or uneven cuts or any of the other potential problems I wouldn’t necessarily know if it was me or the tool or how to correct it.

• I don’t own a LV plane so I can’t attest to there “out of the box” performance but I’ve only heard good things about them. I need to get one to try out.

• I really think a low angle smoother is the perfect first plane but if you don’t want to duplicate what you have (in case you get it to work) go for the low angle block plane. The adjustable mouth will be handy if you work with boards with reversing or wacky grain.

-- Che.

Thanks again Wayne, I gotcha. And thanks Che for that input also.

Your welcome. Here is a better example of a smoothing plane with a 1910 patent date. You can find planes of all sizes with these dates. Look for these or ones with 2 1902 patent dates and a 1910 patent date (Type 11). If you look carefully, you can probably find one for $10-15 over time. This one is a bit higher in price. Also keep you eyes out for bedrock planes (602-608). You might get lucky. Hard to get a cheap bedrock on ebay though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Stanley-Bailey-No-4-Woodworking-Plane-APR-1910_W0QQitemZ320159358855QQihZ011QQcategoryZ13874QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here is a nice little 4c. You can see what I mean by 3 patent dates on the body.

http://cgi.ebay.com/STANLEY-BAILEY-No-4-Plane-Clean-No-Reserve_W0QQitemZ150161699419QQihZ005QQcategoryZ13874QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Happy hunting.

P.S. Che has good advise for when your ready to take the plunge and invest a bit more money in planes. The low angle planes are nice.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov