Loose Wedges

Re: Loose Wedges

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Brad, it kind of has to be the bed, blade, wedge, or your setting thereof. Did you sharpen the blade?

Pam

Re: Loose Wedges

Jim in Burlington On

>I'd just wipe it down with mineral spirits. Maybe someone sprayed wax or something else on the blade and it's gotten onto the bed blade and wedge.

Re: Loose Wedges

Mike Real from Pittsburgh

>Is it a Leon Robbins? I got one on ebay and had the same problem. I tried everything and never got it to seat tight. One idea that I have tried yet is putting rosin on the bed. Good luck Pard

Re: Loose Wedges

Brad in Ottawa

>Here are my responses:

Pam - You are right it has to be the blade, bed or wedge. I just can't tell. I will have to give it a thorough inspection. The blade is sharp and when it planes, the surface that it leaves behind is great.

Jim - Thanks. I will definitely try to clean the blade.

Mike - How did you know it was a Leon Robbins??? I wonder if anyone else has had this trouble. I had heard that rosin helped but I imagine it would only help the wedge and the plane grip.

Thanks for your help! If I get it to work I will let you know.

Brad

Re: Loose Wedges

Paul in NJ

>Brad,

Your blade or wedge may not be bedded well enough, you may want to try the following. Pull your blade out of the plane and put some carbon on both sides of your blade by holding it in a candle flame. Place it back carefully and set the wedge. When you take the blade out again you should be able to see if there are any hi spots on the wedge or plane bed. Carefully scrape, pare, or file these down to get better bedding of your blade. You also might have to do the same with the other side of the wedge to check the wedge to plane body bedding. Don't remove too much material at one time, just repeat the process until the blade stays put.

Paul Dzioba

Re: Loose Wedges

Bob Hackett(Mainely,Bob)

>Leon is still making planes and will probably be able to make it right one way or another.You should be able to get contact info for him thru Woodbutcher Tools in Woolwich Maine.

MB

Re: Loose Wedges

Wayne Anderson

>If all else fails, you can try rubbing a bit of bee's wax (not parafin)on the slippery surfaces. The wax makes the surfaces tacky, and should stop the slippage. Works really well on hammer handles too. (Nothing worse than a slick hammer handle). Wayne

Re: Loose Wedges

Paul M. in San Diego

>Hi Brad and Paul,

I usually coat my plane blades with Camelia Oil after use. I've found that coating the blade with this light oil and then seating the blade temporarily will leave a visible dampness on some woods. This can then be used as your reference to pare down the high spots on the plane bed or wedge. Use spot lights at low angle to see where to shave.

I did this with an ungodly expensive Japanese plane I bought when I was in Japan. It took several careful attempts to get the blade seated correctly in the dai. It's a nice memento from my travels, but I don't enjoy using it at all. Live and learn.

Thanks all...

Brad in Ottawa

>I followed several suggestions last night and learned the following.

Cleaning the blade made me feel better and it didn't seem to be as slippery. It didn't really change things though.

I then proceeded to get the blade dirty. After putting some candle black on the blade I checked for high spots. It turns out the back of the wedge is not flat, like a hollow just above the plane mouth. I suspect this is the culprit.

Thanks to all your responses. I am also going to have to definitely try the beeswax too!

Brad