I've got my nickers in a knot

Re: I've got my nickers in a knot

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Sounds like you got a plane on which the quality control inspector's tea had kicked in yet. The edges aren't much good unless they're sharp.

The cutting edge of the nicker should be coplanar with the face of the right side of the plane. You're correct, you achieve this by a single bevel, oriented to face the place, so the flat side of the nicker faces "out."

If the Record nickers are like the Stanley nickers (that word sounds funnier every time I type it), a kind of "cross" shape missing one leg and held in with a wee tiny flathead machine screw, be careful to get the bevel on the opposite side of the nicker from the countersink for the screw.

"Planecraft" describes holding the nicker in pliers to hone it on the edge of a stone. I sure would be reluctant to get it very close to a high speed grinder.

Perhaps

jim_reed@marietta

>You need a new method. Cross grain rabbeting is tough (here is where the #46 shines). Saw kerf is not accurate enough for me so I use a utility knife to score the line and slice the cross grain fibers. Rabbet away and then use a shoulder plane to finish off the side (after completing the rabbet). If you are determined to use the nicker, file it sharp, round over the bottom, and make sure that only about 1/16" protrudes into the cutting region. Good luck.

Re: I've got my nickers in a knot

Alan Hamilton

>Roy,

Sharpen the nicker and your troubles should be at an end. Sharpen the nicker so it will cut smoothly with the plane going both forwards and back, and install it with its flat side out.

(Please excuse me if you know all this already.) The way to use the plane is to start at the far end of the rabbet. Draw the plane backwards from the far end about or ten inches or a foot so the nicker will score the edge of the rabbet (that's why you need the nicker sharp on both edges). Then move the plane forward about half that distance and begin planing. Take a few strokes and extend the length of cut a few inches--once there's a well defined edge--by again drawing the plane backwards to score the line. Keep working like that back towards yourself.

My rabbet plane is one of my favorite tools. It works wonderfully well both with and across the grain. It's a real joy to use. I've experienced no troubles whatever with or across the grain.

Alan

Re: I've got my nickers in a knot

Skip in Falls Church

>I haven't really had any experience sharpening nickers - although I'll probably have to get around to doing that on my 45 clone, but I've found that using double stick tape to hold small blades on a small stick like a Popsicle stick (often called craft sticks these days) or a small appropriately shaped scrap of wood works well for me in many cases.

Skip

Re: BugBear's nicker jig *LINK*

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>BugBear shows a simple jig that makes it easier to sharpen nickers.

Nicker Jig

Re: Perhaps

paul womack

>Saw kerf is not accurate enough for me so I use a utility knife to score the line and slice the cross grain fibers.

This is a job for which a real cutting gauge is ideal.

BugBear