Block Plane Problem

Re: Block Plane Problem

George Makowski

>Mike, I just bought a Stanley/England blockplane with adjustable mouth from Lowes and while I haven't tuned it yet, it has the same problem as yours. I thought I would reshape the iron until its edge was parallel with the fron endge of the mouth. I don't know what else to try.

Looking forward to other answers in this thread,

George in AL

Re: Block Plane Problem *LINK*

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Mike

Since the blade is sharpened square, it is likely that the problem is a bed that is canted at a slight angle (solution: level the bed), or a mouth that is not square (solution: file the mouth square).

My recent article on tuning a #140 will provide some ideas.

Regards from Perth

Derek


Tuning a #140 Skew Block Plane

Re: Block Plane Problem

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I have one that I got from the Borg a few years ago with the same problem the others have found. I refiled the mouth opening (at only about 3/16" wide, it can hardly be compared to the blade seating capabilities of a frog) where the blade is seated to get it flatter and closer to intersecting the sole at a right angle. I also put set screws through the sides of the body, a la Veritas, to help control the lateral adjustment control. It is still an untrained, fleabitten mongrel, and performs eratically, at best. After making a rough estimate of its initial cost, an aftermarket Hock blade, set screws, tap, and all the hours I spent trying to make it work right, I have decided a pair of, one Lie-Nielsen and one Lee Valley, low angle adjustable mouth block planes would have been a better deal. The L V LABP I recently bought worked much better right out of the box, than the Satanley ever worked on it's best day.

Re: Block Plane Problem

Darin in Victoria

>Ditto, same problem with a Footprint block plane that I bought. Solution, buy a low angle LV block plane for the good stuff and use the old one for a great glue scraper and planer for mdf edges! Not exactly what you wanted to here I'm sure, but that's what I ended up doing and I'm much happier now :)

Re: Block Plane Problem

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>I bought the same plane from the Orange Borg a few years ago, and tuned it as per the instructions in a Shop Notes magazine article. It worked fairly well.

If the mouth opening is square to the plane sides, I can not help but think perhaps that one of the little rails upon which the blade carrier sits is at the wrong height. When you have the adjuster centered, and the blade advanced just barely through the mouth, hold the plane upside-down and sight along the sole. Is one side higher than the other? Perhaps a bit of filing can correct this.

Re: Block Plane Problem

John Horobin

>The older made in England block planes are OK but I understand that the castings now are from the Far East - I'm afraid they just not the same.

John