Questions about hand plane usage

I love planes, but I’m pretty ignorant myself. I found some good stuff in books long ago – I’ll try to dig it out.

Have you tried asking the Lie-Nelson people where to learn more? Maybe they could point you to some good resources.

First off, let me start by saying that Buck-Bros is a very low quality plane – but if you tune it up properly – you’d be amazed at what this plane can do – I was. there is more to tuning a handplane than lapping the sole and sharpening the blade… I highly recommend Garrett Hacks' - The Handplane Book

now as far as usability –
yes- everytime you unlock the knob and loosen the blade, you’d have to realign it’s direction as it WILL shift sideways…. after a while it’ll become a second nature- it’s just part of the unlocking-(align)-locking sequence.

I personally unlock the blade to change depth of cut – but since you’re not changing it that often, I don’t find it too big of a deal. like yourself find that when its locked, the movement is hard.

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

for depth and left right adjustments – use a hammer. you’ve probably noticed the “plane adjustment hammers” available at any fine woodworking store or website. (they are brass so as to not damage the iron). but this is only for micro adjustments of course.

and as far as how to use a plane – use constant down pressure, move it forward at a constant speed, and skew it for better results. beyond that its really up to you. if you have heard of the north bennet street school, one interesting project they make their students do is to make a board foot (1’x1’x1”) only using hand tools. try it, or just practice on scrap, you would be surprised as to how quickly you get a real feel for it in a couple days.

good luck friend

If depth changes are too hard you have the cap on too tight

For left right I use a light hammer and a piece of brass as a punch if the plane doesn’t have lateral adjustment built in.

Plane adjustment hammers are for wooden bodied planes that use a tapered iron and wedge arrangement

Go here :http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1221 scroll down and there you will find the directions. Just loosen the spin wheel a little. Use a little wax or tallow for ease in cutting. I personally like the tallow better, but most are offended by the smell. But I was lucky enough to go to Penland last year and I became a convert. Someone once suggested to me to ease the corners on the blade less than a hair and it did wonders. Chatter could be caused by incorrect pressure. I used to have a problem with planing until I lowered my work surface. God built the ground too close to my backside. Run the plane with the grain -you have to learn to read it. I have a lot of planes, some may call it an addiction – each one has a learning curve.

Good luck

-- Elaine, Conover, NC

Those planes are not a single second worth of tuning.

Stanley toolworks sold to us the idea of making adjustments “on the fly” without releasing the Lever Cap. WRONG! that’s why is common to find those bronze Deep Adj. Wheels with to much “play”.
You must release the large wheel ENOUGH before making any adjustment.

So what I do is this:

Place the plane infront of your face upside down, that way you can see how much blade you feed and hold the cap with your index finger.

A very important thing on Handplanes, that many people just ignore, is to camber the blade. straight edges will leave marks on the work piece…..a nice cambered edge not only will leave nice and clean “strokes” but also will help to perform the plane much better….take a look on this interesting study:
http://www.inthewoodshop.com/WoodworkTechniques/TheSecretToCamberinBUPlaneBlades.html

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

Thanks Elaine! I’m an idiot! it was right there the whole time. I even got that in a print form with the plane and even read it and didn’t think twice! Wow , huh. I had been over tightening the blade. Only takes a quarter turn to loosen. As far as making fine adjustments i think I’ll steer away from tapping the side with a metal hammer even if it is brass. Maybe a wood hammer or something similar? Hmm…. I did take a hair extra off the sides of the blade and that helps to not get stuck and not have the noticeable lines either.
Thanks for the tips!

-- LAS

You’re most welcome Skywalker01! I have never used a plane hammer on a metal plane -only my wooden planes. The little knob on the very back should help with fine adjustments as moai has pictured. Keep working on the other two planes, you may find that they come in useful for more than trash

-- Elaine, Conover, NC

Brass will not mar steel and I’m pretty sure it won’t touch ductile iron either, that’s why they make brass hammers for seating things in machine shop work.

I find it a lot easier to have the blade 1/2 tight and tink it with a tiny hammer and a little piece of brass than fiddle with the plane and eyeball it. I can get it straight in 2 tink’s usually.

One of my first memories of my grandpa was him asking my dad to hand him his plane when they were working on something. I remember those white curls flowing out like clouds floating by. :-)) His plane must have been tuned pretty well, huh?

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

marcb -2 tinks, that’s wonderful! Thanks for the suggestion -I believe I’ll try it next time

-- Elaine, Conover, NC