DADO plane problem

2/26/06, 3:48 PM #1

chichi
Guest

DADO plane problem

chichi

>I have a wooden 3/4 in. dado plane that will sometimes stop cutting. There is a lot written about tuning smoothing planes but nothing on dado planes so help is appreciated.I start the dado at the far end, go down say 1/16 and work back. At this point, it seems the plane does not want to cut unless I really angle it, fiddle etc. By working from the near end, it seems to improve. Isnt this backwards? The blade is sharp and pretty rank in order to cut. The sole in front of the blade is lower than the sole behind the blade . Is this proper? It is probably operator error but help is appreciated? A few time this happened, I may have had a small knot at the far end of the dado which made cutting a problem, but that is not the only time I experience the problem.

Thanks,

Bob

Re: DADO plane problem

2/26/06, 4:37 PM #2

Darrell in Oakville
Member
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213 posts

Registered: 1/10/04

Re: DADO plane problem

Darrell in Oakville

>I don't know what the 'proper' use of a dado plane is, but I can tell you what works for me...

I don't start at the far end of the cut because you're going across the grain. As I understand it, the reason for the 'start at the far end' thing was to try and force a down-grain situation even if the grain reverses a bit.

When I tune up a dado plane I make sure that the stock is straight and the sole is true, same as any other 'flat work' plane. A sharp blade (of course) and sharp nickers. The iron should be ever so slightly wider than the stock (pretty much guaranteed due to wood shrinkage it seems) and the nickers should match the iron width. Some people advocate pulling the plane backwards for the first cut to score the wood with the nickers, but I haven't found that to be necessary. If the nickers are set properly, they work fine on the first pass.

Dado planes are cheap, they work quickly and effectively, and they look good on the shop shelf too. What more could you ask?

Darrell

Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

Re: DADO plane problem

2/26/06, 5:54 PM #3

Ed Mulligan
Guest

Re: DADO plane problem

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>"The sole in front of the blade is lower than the sole behind the blade . Is this proper?"

No. I agree with Darrell. The sole should be flat.

Ed

Re: DADO plane problem

2/26/06, 9:04 PM #4

chichi
Guest

Re: DADO plane problem

chichi

>Thanks for the tip re the sole.I am going to flatten it . There is at least 1/8 difference front to back. I assumed it was part of the design it was so extreme.

Regards,

Bob

Re: DADO plane problem

2/26/06, 9:57 PM #5

Pam Niedermayer
Guest

Re: DADO plane problem

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>If the blade is not cutting it must be because it's not making contact with the wood. Even if the blade is dull, you'd get some digging in and the like. Therefore, for some reason contact is being broken. Perhaps the blade is sufficiently loose that a stroke or two moves it out of contact. Or if the heel of the plane is deeper than the toe, then when you started it on the heel the blade would be out of contact. It doesn't take much, certainly 1/8" would be more than enough.

Pam

DADO plane problem

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