Sargent No6 (or 7) Chip Breaker?
Dominic Greco in Richboro PA
>OK, I give up!!!
I've tried everything to get this Sargent No6 Fore Plane to work properly. When I first bought it, I noticed that the chip breaker was for a #4/5 Stanley. But I was able to get it for a song and I thought that all I needed to do was get one from a comparable Stanley. Oh, how WRONG I was!! :>(
When I replaced the chip breaker with one from a #6 Stanley, I found that the iron wouldn't advance enough to allow the blade to project enough from the mouth. At first I thought it was the yoke.
When I took the frog apart I noticed that the tip of the yoke itself was chipped. I assumed that this was not allowing the tip of the yoke to engage the slot cut into the ship breaker. After I replaced it with a suitable one from an old Stanley #5, I found that this didn't make a damn bit of difference. The blade STILL won't advance enough to project from the mouth.
This leaves one culprit. The chip breaker. I have it on good authority (Jim Reed and Walt Q, I believe) that Sargent chip breakers are somewhat different than those of other brands. Variations in the size and location of that rectangular cut out make it almost impossible to use another brand's chip breaker. Some investigation on my part confirms this. The placement of this rectangular hole is critical. If the hole is too far "up" on the blade (as I believe it is), the rim of the knurled bolt that holds the chip breaker to the iron will impact on the rim of the circular cavity of the frog. This will stop the iron from advancing any further.
So,..does anyone out there have a chip breaker for a #6 or 7 Sargent that they'd like to sell? If that is too much of a long shot, how about this? Can I get some accurate measurements (with a vernier caliper) on the location of the rectangular hole on a #6 (or 7) Sargent Chip Breaker? That way I can have a buddy of mine fill the hole and then I'd re-cut the hole to the correct location.
I know this is a lot of work to go through for a #6 For plane. But it's just a big paper weight other wise. I can't even use the parts for other planes.
See ya around,
Dominic