# Jointing with a #4 stanley baily hand plane



## spooled (Feb 1, 2010)

I recently bought a used stanley bailey #4 plane. I tried jointing a 
4/4 piece of cherry for a bed I am building. I couldn't get it to plane smoothly, it chatters. What is wrong< me or the plane? should I be using a different type of plane?


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## Smile_n_Nod (Jan 20, 2011)

Lots of things could be happening.

How old is the plane? Can you figure out what type number it is? (http://home.comcast.net/~rexmill/planes101/typing/typing.htm).

Chatter can be caused by a frog surface that is not flat, a cap iron that is not tight enough, grain that is difficult, insufficient pressure on the plane, and probably many other reasons.

A Stanley #4 plane can joint just fine when it is properly tuned and used, but it is probably inadequate for jointing boards that are longer than 2 or 3 feet. Jointing with a #4 can be done if you have an extremely accurate (and long) straightedge (the tool, not a straight edge of a board) to use as a reference, but obviously a longer plane (a #7 or #8) will make things easier.


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

The #4 was/is designed for final smoothing of the surface.

For jointing, a #5 or better yet a #7 will give much better results. The "rule of thumb" is that a plane can joint a board about three times as long as it's length.

Sharpening of course is a whole field of study in itself. Chris Schwarz's book "Handplane Essentials" has a wealth of information that can shorten the learning curve.


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## planepassion (Nov 24, 2010)

First thing to do is to tune up your new plane. There's plenty written here on lumberjocks on how to do that. Search on "rehab", "restore" and/or "tune" handplane and have at it.

If you still get chatter on that cherry board make sure that you're planing with the grain not against it.


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## ITnerd (Apr 14, 2011)

The general rule is you can joint a piece of wood 2-3 times longer than your hand plane, so a 4 limits you to a pretty short piece of wood, it is more a smoother than a jointing/try plane.

Chatter is a seperate issue, and could be the result of several things; I've listed them in the order of things that caused my chatter problems in the past, from most to least likely:

Not sharp enough - to paraphrase Chris Schwarz' book 'Sharp fixes almost everything'.
Too deep a cut - back off the iron completely, and move it down until it barely kisses the wood.
Going against grain - you will also get tearout in most wood if this is the case.
plane iron not bedded properly to frog - some lapping may be required.
frog not mated properly to body - some lapping may be required.

Try running down this list, and see if you get any improvement. If nothing works, show us some pics of the wood that you're struggling with. try to get a raking (slanted) light on it, so we can see the results of your planing effort.

Hope this helps,
Chris


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Chris is dead on and I'll add, the frog bolts are loose, the frogs not flat are and the caps mot tight.


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## spooled (Feb 1, 2010)

Thanks guys for all the info. I will check everything out that was mentioned and give a report .


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## spooled (Feb 1, 2010)

After reading all the advice, making sure all screws are tight, sharp blade. all adjustments ok, I questioned myself if the blade could be installed upside down. My only other planes are a couple of block planes, one cheap, one more expensive. The #4 Stanley Bailey plane I bought had the blade oriented the same as my block planes so I assumed it was correct?! I found a stanley PDF parts breakdown and noticed the blade in mine to be upside down. Assembled it the correct way and it works great. I just need to flatten the sole some more and work a little more on the sharpness. Thanks for all the help.


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## Smile_n_Nod (Jan 20, 2011)

The blade on a Stanley Bailey plane is thin, so the cap iron is essential to maintain stiffness. If the blade were installed upside down, the cap iron could not support the blade just behind the cutting edge. I think that is what allowed the cutting blade to flex and chatter.


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## CplSteel (Jun 22, 2012)

make it sharp and bevel down. Oh and the cap iron needs to be close, but not too close to the end of the blade. And then make it more sharp.

Link!


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