Excessive Play in Adjuster Nut on Plane

This happens with my 1880’s stanley #7, but it isn’t an issue with my Stanley #5 and #4 from the late 1970’s-90’s. I’m curious too why this is.

-- - Eric Indianapolis, IN

I have always figured that the “slop” was some wear in the threads of the adjuster wheel and post and the amount of free play where the lever contacts the blade to raise or lower it.
tom

-- "certified sawdust maker"

You can squeeze the wisbone but I sure wouldn’t, lol. I’ve seen that recommended in a few plane books. Dollars for donuts it will break on the first try. Is it the proper depth screw for the plane?

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

Yah, it’s all original parts on a LN No. 6. I’m gonna go home and take a closer look, maybe even take some pics. I was just hoping there was some easy fix out there in the hand tool world. I really think it comes down to the gap in the nut where the “wishbone” rides being too wide. It would seem there needs to be at least a tiny bit of play being the real world and all, but I would expect much closer tolerances from Lie Nielsen. Makes me think I’m doing something wrong. The plane itself works beautifully, just the adjustment takes a bit of time.

-- Dan Chiappetta, NYC, http://www.9x7woodworks.com

If the wishbone is bronze, you could probably cinch it a bit. I’d put in a call to LN. All planes, even the really nice ones like yours, will have a touch of slop. I’ve got some vintage planes with a TON of slop. It’s never really bothered me before; I just tend to retract it too far, then ease into the desired cut. With a premium new plane, you should be happy with it. I’d make a call. If you post this in Handplanes of your dreams, I bet you’ll get some good answers. There are a lot of guys there with a lot of LNs. Good luck!

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

it depends on where the “slop” is. I’ve noticed on some, the hole in the iron is larger than it needs to be. I’ve always been going to try to add a piece of solder. It probably wouldn’t last to long, but it couldn’t hurt anything either. If it works the Y adjuster could also be built up by a good welder, epoxy, or solder.

Al, I think what your refering to is on the block planes. That wishbone “CAN” be sqeezed because its not cast. On a bench plane, like you said, I would guarantee a break.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

ok so looking at a pic i now have a theory. the shape of the wishbone fattens towards the bottom, so maybe there is a mechanism to raise the wishbone, closing the gap in the adjuster. i’ll check it out tonight.

-- Dan Chiappetta, NYC, http://www.9x7woodworks.com

I think the shape is intentional to allow for extremes of setting. Could you bite the “iron grabbing pin” into a differnet “doghole” to set the adjuster at a different default position? I don’t know the proper name for these stupid things. Don, do you think a bronze wishbone would snap? There’s always the chance that you got a bad frog with the pin set too low. It sounds like a very odd thing to happen, though. I expect that the location of that pin is accomplished with supercomputers, lol;)

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

I don’t know about the bronze. Maybe not. I don’t know enough to say. The only LN i have is the low angle, so no issue. I re-read the original post and I guess I assumed we were talking about bench planes (like the #4) but I guess I could be wrong, which could change the answer.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

I think bronze would break. Brass wouldn’t but it would be to soft to use for this part. I think it is mass production and the luck of the draw. Sometimes you get a really tight one and sometimes you get a really loose on.

When you think about how the mechanism operates, a little slop seems predictable. All of my old Stanley’s have it to some degree.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Every one of my planes has slop in the nut. I’m so used to it I think I would have a terrible time with a plane that was tight!

-- It's the best woodworking show since the invention of wood... New episodes Wednesdays at: http://www.stumpynubs.com

All of my planes have varying amounts of slop. It doesn’t affect the functionality of the plane as long as you only set the depth of the blade in the positive direction. I have never considered this to be an issue.

After my initial response above, I went out to the shop and looked at some of my planes. As I see it, the play is due to the fact that the slot on the shaft of the adjusting knob where the ears of the wishbone fit is slightly larger than those ears. So at any range of adjustment, you can still wiggle the wishbone slightly with your finger. I don’t know if this is by design, or if the ears just wear down slightly over time.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Life is sloppy.

The key is what drfunk said: only set the depth of the blade in the positive direction

This applies to other machines as well, such as setting the height of a table saw blade or router bit in a table.

-- "Too much hurry ruins the body. I'll sit easy … fan the spark" - I. Anderson