Tuning & Setting Bench Planes

Sunday , Sept 20, 2009

Bench Plane Tuning, Setting, and Sharpening.

Seventeen members of The Hand Tool SIG met Sept. 20, with William Johnston acting as facilitator. His outline follows. I have added additional comments in bold type. – John Beal.

Links will be posted on the guild Web site for articles from various journals that cover tuning wooden planes and fabricating replacement totes.

Robert Young showed a small, fine-toothed dovetail saw he said was available for $10. He took orders for several from SIG members, but later advised that he would have two more available for Guild members at $10 apiece.

Participants were asked to bring a bench plane, box (important) and/or zip lock bag to secure removed parts, and a screwdriver for disassembly in order to better follow the tuning and setting discussion.

Also participants were asked to prepare to demonstrate their favorite method of sharpening - Oil Stones, Water Stones, Sandpaper, Powered Sharpening Devices.

Other tools for Show & Tell were welcome.

The meeting agenda:

	Hand Tool “Show and Tell.”
	Discussion of bench planes tuning, setting, and sharpening
	Program - Robert Young will present a short program on flattening a bench plane sole.
	Demonstrations of tuning a bench plane and sharpening.

Discussion:

Acquisition …

Older Bailey style bench planes are still readily available at garage sales, flea markets, specialty tool sellers, some antique stores, and, of course, eBay. Pricing will vary. But most of these planes are plentiful and can be bought in some condition at a reasonable price. I usually target $10-$15, the low end of the price scale. With patience I have been able to purchase a number of planes within this range. Sometimes I have to purchase 2 or more for parts to assemble one plane. Sometimes I have had to live with a cracked tote that I’ve epoxy glued while I wait for a better one. Most of the time I have had to completely restore the plane, remove rust, regrind the blade, and generally tune the entire plane.

For those with more money than me (and less patience) you can purchase any of these planes off of eBay or inspect and buy a better plane in excellent condition from a specialty dealer, again, for even more money.

About half the members indicated they were still in the acquisition phase.

Ritter Auction Co. is often a good source for used tools.

Important points for buying on EBay: Decide how much you want to bid and stick with it; refine your searches (don’t forget alternate spellings, such as mitre or miter, etc.) to make sure you don’t miss out on something.

Midwest Tool Collectors Association can be another good source.

When looking for used planes, be sure to distinguish between planes valued by collectors because of their rarity and older planes that are not especially collectible, but still capable of yielding good results.

Collector Planes …

The collector generally prefers a plane in good condition and would, other than a light cleaning, leave the plane in the condition found, even if unusable. It is important to know when you have a collector plane and it may be worth more than several user planes.

The woodworker is looking to acquire a plane that can be restored to a user friendly condition. The user friendly plane is restored, tuned, sharpened, and set to be used … not set on the shelf and looked at.

So lets reverse engineer the Bailey Pattern plane…

	take the plane apart,
	break it down into it’s components, and
	ask ourselves what each part does to contribute to the function of the entire plane,
	what tuning needs to be done to each part to make plane work, and
	what modification should we make so that the plane will perform.
	Finally we will decide what shape to give the cutter for each task and
	Decide what shape cutter is suited for each plane.

When restoring and tuning a plane, I usually start with a wooden box for all the parts. There are surprising large number of parts from the plane body to the frog, tote, blade and cap iron, lever cap, and numerous screws, bolts, washers, and nuts By the way, should you loose a screw, damage it, or find it missing, you won’t find a replacement at your local hardware store. Keep track of the parts and purchase a cheap parts planes when you come across one. You or someone you know will need that part.

Let’s look at the plane body first. Of course, it’s a metal casting. Perhaps the most important part is the sole. So here is the first question.

How wide do you need the sole be? Why? A #3 has a narrower blade than the wider #4.

	A narrow blade is easier to push.
	A wider blade removes more wood in a single pass but with more resistance.
	Sometimes it is better to turn the plane at a slight angle to the direction the plane is moving.
	This effectively lowers the cutting angle and also provides a sheer cut. On some wood and some grain, this will work better.
	In this case the wider width of the #4 comes in handy allowing you to take off a decent width shaving even at an angle.

The sole should be flat. Why?

	The sole should be as flat, at key spots, as the thickness of the finest shaving you wish to take.
	If you are flattening a board the sole must be as flat as the board will ever be.
	If, for example, if the sole in front of the blade indented to the extent of .002 in, you’ll have a difficult time, in setting the blade to take off a wafer thin whiff of a shaving of .001 inch.
	If the sole is warped or twisted it will be difficult to plane at all.
	A slight curve across the sole might not be much of a problem. I’ve heard that some woodworkers would actually like a slight curve to the sole.
	Fortunately an out of flat sole on an older plane is a rarer problem and much less serious than other tuning issues that we will find.
	You may find newer planes to have serious sole problem starting with warp.
	If, in checking the sole with a engineers square or winding sticks indicates a problem, and after other tuning, the plane is not performing, than flattening the sole will be necessary. This is usually done through lapping.
	A plane with a concave sole just ahead of the mouth will not press down on the wood properly and facilitates tearout.

I generally would not care much for a plane with a cracked sole casting or one where the sole had been repaired. Instead I would strip it for usable spare parts. A chip may be unsightly but if not on the sole, it may be acceptable for a user plane. If I were buying it I would point it out and offer to pay less. If the chip were on the toe or heel, I would make sure that I smoothed with a file and than a hone to make sure it did not mar the work with a burr or rough spot.

The mouth should be milled smooth and have no burrs or paint or build up of gunk on the milled surface. If necessary defects should be corrected by cleaning and burrs removed by filing. Any burr should also be removed from the throat so that the chip can pass through unimpeded.

There will be a rosewood knob and tote. Usually the knob will be in good condition. If not you can generally find a good knob on a parts plane to replace it. Turning a knob is also an option if you have the screw is not missing.

	The tote will often be broken. Why? Keep your eye out for good totes on otherwise junk planes. The tote will not rust, of course, even though the rest of the plane is deeply rusted and useless.
	However, since the tote shrinks along it length and the screw does not, it is not uncommon for the tote to break. Until you find a better one, you can epoxy glue the tote which will provide very satisfactory results even thought unsightly in most cases.
	If you have a loose tote you must tighten it before use or it will brake. Unfortunately, I’ve found that the bolt is bottomed out. Grind some of the thread off the bolt on the grinder until the tote will bolt down tight.

While on the subject of rosewood, I will, on a user plane, or any other tool for that matter, remove the lacquer from the wood with acetone or lacquer thinner. I don’t like the way lacquer finishes feel, and with prolonged use lacquer will raise blisters. I finish the handle with a penetrating finish followed by a mixture of bees wax and lanolin (sold as a leather waterproofing). If you don’t have any beeswax product, Cherry Chapstick will do though more costly.

These Stanley planes have a removable frog. What is the function of the frog? What is important about the frog. What tuning needs to be done?

First the frog is adjustable, moving back and forth toe to heel. This allows you to adjust the mouth, the opening through which the wood shaving passes to the throat. When the wood shaving is cut by the blade, along with cutting action, the lever action of the blade will try to lift the chip as well as cut it. This lifting causes tear out. You can easily observe tear out when planing against the grain. But even with the grain or on straight grain stock tear out is possible if the mouth is too wide. Of course, the mouth opening must be wide enough to allow the chip to pass through. If it is tight (in relation to the thickness of the chip) the sole will press down on the wood and help to prevent tearout by allowing the cutting to get an edge over the lifting.

The frog supports the blade. Firm support of the blade is very important. If a thin (1/8^th inch) Stanley blade is not properly supported it will chatter, turning a smooth cut into a series of stop & start gouges. The frog is milled smooth on the top, where the cutter lies, and on the bottom where it mates a milled area on the sole. Hopefully, Stanley milled these flat, in the same plane, and without burrs. Also, hopefully none of the black japanning spilled over on the milled surfaces. Anything on the milled surfaces and their mates must be removed, burrs must be removed with a fine file. The surfaces must be flat. In the unlikely event they are not they must be filed flat or the blade will be hard to set and to square and will chatter. The milled surface on the bottom of the frog must fit within the milled surfaces on the inside of the plane body.

(Toothing planes have serrated blades and were used for removing material in large amounts; historically, they were used for preparing surfaces for veneer.)

	The frog has a screw, for the lever cap, easily removed, that can be adjusted to allow proper pressure on the blade by the lever cap. This screw should be removed, cleaned, and lightly lubricated to allow ease of adjustment and prevent rust. I often find this screw with some corrosion and will lightly wirebrush it taking care to see that is does not go flying and end up buried in a pile of sawdust and shavings on my shop floor. For this reason I usually keep spares from a parts plane on hand.
	The frog usually will have a lateral adjustment lever (after about 1885) that allows movement of the blade from side to side (lateral) to square it up in the mouth. If the blade is ground square to the sides and the frog has been replaced square to the sole, use of the lateral adjustment will be minimal. Minimal lateral adjustment use is desirable. When all is right … frog replaced properly, blade shaped properly, the blade will protrude symmetrically through the mouth. If not it can be made to protrude symmetrically by moving the lateral adjustment from side to side. The lateral adjustment lever should be clean and made rust free. It should also be lubricated lightly and move side to side easily.
	The frog will have a vertical adjustment permitting setting the depth of the cut. You should not attempt to remove the screw with the vertical adjustment nut. However its threads must be clean and lightly lubricated. With care you can remove the pin holding the yoke. Remove the yoke and nut and clean a few years of gunk from the screw. Generally the pin will only come out one way and go back in the same way. Heavy handed removal could easily crack the frog casting. I’ve removed many and not cracked a frog yet, but there is always potential for a disappointing first.
	It is worth noting that the screw and yolk have a lot of play or backlash. You will know backlash and how much when you turn the nut a turn or more and notice that the blade has not move. All screw threads have backlash. If the manufacturer tried to remove the backlash the nut would be hard to turn on the threads. Also, the yoke does not perfectly fit on the groove in the nut. You deal with the backlash by adjusting the nut so that you stop when pushing the blade down, not pulling the blade back up.
	Newer planes will have a screw to move the frog to adjust the throat. If yours does make sure it is clean, lubricated, and moves freely.

One of Bailey’s inventions was the lever cap. There is little to do here other than clean and remove rust from the cap. The end of the cap should be smooth so as not to impede the movement of shavings.

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for … the blade.

Stanley blades are too thin less than 1/8 inch but more that 1/16. Some say that is so that they can be easily sharpened. Frankly, I think Stanley was cheap with their carbon steel. You’ve probably heard it said that the best way to improve a Stanley plane is replace the blade. A thicker blade will go along way in reducing chatter and transfer the pressures on the blade to the cast iron body and frog. Hock blades are thicker but not thick enough. 3/16 would be desirable but a thick blade will not let the vertical adjustment pin engage the cap iron hole so thicker blades can’t be used. The Stanley cap iron screw is barely long enough to attach the Hock blade to a Stanley cap iron. Hock blades are available directly from Hock and also are sold by Woodcraft Supply. When using thicker blades in may be necessary to open the mouth with a file to accommodate the thicker blade. It is not correct to move the frog back so that it is behind the bevel at the back of the mouth.

What is the function of the (Cap Iron) Chip Breaker? Ah! To break chips! That’s too easy.

Here we go. When cutting through the wood at a 45 degree angle there are forces trying to shave the wood. But the shaving is being pushed up as well separating the wood along the grain (not necessarily with the grain.) Shaving is smooth cutting but if we lean toward separating the wood through upward pressure we risk chipping out the piece leaving “tear outs”.

Now think of the sole of the plane pressing down on the wood just ahead of the cutting edge. This pressing down keeps the wood from splitting and gives the “edge” to cutting. This helps prevent “tear outs”. Keeping the sole as close to the blade as possible gives the greatest advantage. Just enough for the chip to pass freely on a smooth plane.

Now the chip passes through the mouth, it meets the curved leading edge of the chip breaker placed very near the bottom of the sole. The chip is forced upward and breaks removing leverage and allowing the shaving force to exceed the wedging and splitting action. How close is the chip breaker? Remember we have the blade proud by .003 inches, the sharp edges are honed round. Just where the honed edges meet the sole of the plane we put the chip breaker and test from their, moving it back if we must.

Of course on jacks and planes with curved blades we can move the chip breaker back further. But to prevent tearout it is very close.

The chip breaker must fit the blade perfectly!! Place the cap iron onto the blade and look between the blade and the cap iron against a light. If you see any light come through where the cap iron meets the blade I can guarantee you a shaving will try to pass through that same space and jam the cut.

You must hone the cap iron so that it fits the back of the blade perfectly, no light coming through. The iron is already honed flat. Right? So now lets make the cap iron fit by making it flat. You will normally find your cap iron with a narrow flat at the end. First hone this flat to a point an edge so that only a narrow sharp and flat edge touches the iron.

Last smooth the rise in the cap iron with the hone and polish it as necessary so that it is very smooth. You want the shaving to slide up this slope without resistance and break.

For the same reason, look at the inside of the mouth of the body and make it just as smooth so that there is no resistance.

Setting the blade

The first step in setting the blade is to make sure the plane is tuned. The frog must be in line with the sole. It can not be cocked to either side. It must be positioned forward, usually with a narrow mouth (smooth plane) and no ever so far back as to allow the blade to rest on the sole bevel so as to raise the blade above the frog. The blade must sit well on the frog. Any paint, burrs, or crud, no matter how small on the machined surfaces will prevent the frog from seating properly. The chip breaker must be place correctly as discussed above. The blade must be sharp. The blade must be square to the sides. If the blade is slightly convex (should be) or if the edges are slightly rounded over the crowning should be symmetrical to the sides.

The following is how I set the blade on a smooth plane for those over 40 (vision impared).

The blade should be in place, with the lever cap pressing on the blade firmly but still allowing the blade to move with the thumb screw. (This is actually fairly tight.)

Lower the blade with the thumb screw. The thumb screw will have a lot of play requiring one or more turns just to take up the slack before the blade moves when changing directions. Look along the sole when lowering the blade and allow the blade to project well below the sole so that you can see it. At this point adjust the lateral adjustment lever so that your blade is square (or symmetrical) blade is the same amount above the sole on both sides and across the blade.

Reverse the thumb screw and raise the blade. You can feel the blade with your thumb to tell how much it is receding. When the blade has receded into the sole reverse the thumb screw taking out all of the slack. Try planing a piece of wood. Note that in general you will have to set the blade lower for harder woods than softer to get the same thickness of shaving.

If the blade does not cut, lower the blade a bit. Keep lowering the blade in micro amounts until it starts to cut. This process works best if the wood is already smooth from a jointer, thickness planer, or another plane. When you have the thickness of shaving that you are pleased with stop. Remember you must stop with the thumbscrew pressing the blade in the downward position. If you have to back up slightly overshoot your estimated desired position and reverse the thumbscrew so that it is pressing the blade downward. I find it extremely desirable to measure the thickness of the shaving with digital calipers. The shaving at it’s thickness should measure from .001 to .003 inches (that’s one to three thousands) for a smooth plane … up to .005 for a jack or jointer. Keep in mind that the throat should just accommodate the thickness of the shaving.

Robert Young’s procedure for lapping, or flattening the sole of a bench plane:

I’ve come up with the procedure after reading and seeing several other methods. This method is adapted from those observations and seems to work well and quickly. It’s important to remember that the surface of your completed workpiece can never be flatter than the sole of your plane.

Leave the plane completely assembled, but retract the blade so it does not protrude beyond the sole.

Examine the sole using a straight edge. Hold the edge against the sole both across the width and length. Look for high and low spots by peering across the sole and straight edge into a light. Check especially across the sole at the toe, near the mouth and at the heel. Also look for twist in the sole.

Cut and clamp (or glue) a long sanding belt, #80-grit (if your plane sole needs lots of work) or #100/120-grit (if most of the work is to remove light rusting) , to a flat surface (he used a piece of MDF) on top of the workbench. Use the longest belt you can find. Keep in mind that the surface you are using for sanding must be flat. Other alternatives to a workbench would be a tablesaw or jointer wing. The flatness of this reference surface will affect how flat you can lap your plane’s sole.

Keeping constant pressure, bear down and give the plane three to five strokes the length of the exposed belt. Then reverse the plane and give it the same number strokes again. Balancing the number of strokes in each direction makes up for any tendency to lean or otherwise favor one side of the sole as you are flattening.

Observe the effect on the sole; keep it up until you can tell from the abrasion pattern that the sole is now flat. (The most critical areas are those immediately around the throat and at the front and rear to the sole.) You can use machinists’ marking dye or a “Sharpie” marker to color the sole. After a few passes on the sandpaper, the remaining dye will quickly show any remaining low spots. Having a slightly hollowed sole down the middle is not as critical as having a flat and true toe, mouth (ahead and just behind) and heel areas. It is also helpful during board flattening and smoothing operations to have the sole flat along its perimeter.

Figure 1 – X marks the spots to have flat on a smoothing plane. Image credit Christopher Schwarz

80-grit material should yield acceptable results for a jack plane or a joiner; when lapping a smoothing plane or block plane, you might want to start with 80-grit and then move up to #120 or higher. Mineral oil or WD40 can act as a lubricant to remove the swarf from the sanding belt. Carefully wipe away any swarf from the body of the plane as it will leave black marks on your workpiece. Dispose of any oil or solvent soaked sandpaper and rags with the same care you would take disposing of finishing rags.

If you intend to use the plane with a shooting board, the side of the plane that will ride the shooting board ramp should also be flattened and made perpendicular to the sole