Help with fixing shoulder plane?

9/27/04, 8:35 PM #1

Tom Deering
Guest

Help with fixing shoulder plane?

Tom Deering

>Hi all-

I inherited an infill shoulder plane, and it seems to have some issues. But not knowing about shoulder planes, I'm hoping somebody can clarify a few things for me:

1) Below the blade, there's a wooden wedge that's loose. It kind of looks like it may have been glued in, but given that there's a screw adjustment at the back end of it, that seems unlikely. So it's not supposed to be glued, right?

2) I assume the wedge is supposed to be coplanar with the metal bedding near the mouth. But if it can be moved back and forth by the screw, it will only be coplanar in one spot. Is there a particular place where that spot is supposed to be?

3) The screw is not attached to the wedge, it just bears against the back of it. This means that you can advance the wedge, but backing off on the screw doesn't bring the wedge back with it. Is the wedge just supposed to squirt back when the pressure is off? I guess my question is, what exactly is the screw supposed to do?

4) It looks like the upper wedge had thin shims glued to it top and bottom. The top one is still glued on; the bottom one has separated. I don't know if the blade is original, but I would guess not, given the shims. (Although, they look like they're exactly the same wood. It's odd.) If I get a new (custom) blade, I should get one to fit the current configuration, is that right? Or should I (re)shim or shave the wedge to accomodate some standard blade thickness?

5) It's hard to tell, but it doesn't seem quite like the upper wedge bears fully toward the front of the blade. That is, the wedge may be tighter near the back of the blade than at the front. I should guarantee that it bears most near the front of the blade somehow, right?

It seems like a nice plane, and I'm really looking forward to having it be fully usable, so thanks in advance for your help.

-Tom

Re: Help with fixing shoulder plane?

9/28/04, 4:34 PM #2

jim_reed@marietta
Guest

A few points

jim_reed@marietta

>Hard to tell from your description. How about a picture? In general you can assume that old planes have been adjusted out of a usable profile. Time to get back to basics. Plane body must be sound and sole must be square to the sides. Blade should be appropriate and sharp. Wedge should keep blade in place. Good luck with your rehab.

Re: Help with fixing shoulder plane?

9/28/04, 8:03 PM #3

Art Geiger
Guest

Re: Help with fixing shoulder plane?

Art Geiger

>I'd say glue the rear infill but put glue around the edge of the wood, and not underneath it. The screw at the rear doesn't adjust the infill, or move it forward - it is just screwed to it. The screw's purpose is to 'set' the blade when you hit it with a hammer.

I'd say the shims on the wedge exist because the wedge was ill fitting in the first place. You get this problem even with reputable, commercially made antique planes, and I have a Slater shoulder plane with an ill fitting wedge and a bed that is out of kilter, causing the blade to be seriously out of parallel with the sole. Don't assume for a minute that a replacement blade will fit your wedged plane, as the wedge was made specifically to fit the original blade, and the blade thickness is quite critical. I've bought a lot of replacement blades in my time and only one vendor ever asked me what thickness the original blade was (and got me to take a micrometer reading). What you get normally is 'a blade' not one that is a good match to the thickness of the original. You will almost certainly need to adapt the wedge to a new blade, or it will go in too far or hang out the end too much. A correctly fitting wedge should contact the blade over its total area. I have a contemporary made Norris A7. It has a screw to lock the wedge, but the wedge fits so well that all one needs to do is give it a firm push with the palm of the hand - and is it locked. The screw isn't really required but mimics the original plane.

Help with fixing shoulder plane?

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