Planer set up

[Denco]

I got a great deal on a hand planer at HF. Just rec'd it today, it's really well built. I'm really impressed with it. However, I have one little problem: I don't know how to set the blade up properly. Is there a standard way to adjust the blade? Grateful in advance for any suggestions.--Den

[toolguy1000]

try this forum:

http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

there is a forum for hand tools. planers are well represented there.

[Pappy]

Are you talking about a plane or a hand held power planer?

[Denco]

Are you talking about a plane or a hand held power planer?

Just a non-powered hand plane. Here's the link to the item. The online manual only speaks of replacing the blade.

http://www.harborfreight.com/no-33-b...ane-97544.html

[pelligrini]

Darth Brehm's recent review of a Groz #5 has some of the stuff to look for and a few things that you might need to do during fettling. http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=54915 I don't recall very many detailed threads on setting up planes on BT3central.

There was a recent thread on the HF No 33 over on sawmill creek recently. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...r-less-than-10

For general handplane info; Chris Schwarz's book Handplane Essentials is pretty good. Might see if your local library has it or just buy it. The Schwarz also has quite a few videos and blog entries over on popularwoodworking.com

The most important thing to learn is sharpening. A perfectly set up plane won't perform well with a dull iron.

[Daryl]

A series of short videos here that might be helpful.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4420724_de...src=continuous

[LCHIEN]

A TOH article that deal with how to use a plane (see page 3 for adjustment instructions and look at the 7th or 8th image in the corner):

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/arti...5995-3,00.html

Most articles emphasize the need for tuning up the plane... making the sole flat, opening up the mouth and sharpening the plate/blade. Apparently the cheaper the plane the more work it will need... for example a $9 plane from HF would need a lot of work.

Here's the quick adjustment instructions from the This Old House Article (but there's lots more to tuning and using a plane):


Adjusting the Plane
Taking too big a bite with a plane will jam the tool or tear out the grain. Start with the iron set for a shallow cut and gradually increase the depth of cut until you can produce a continuous, unbroken shaving.

To set the cutting depth, turn the depth adjustment wheel (1) until the cutting edge of the iron (2) protrudes slightly below the sole (3). (If the wheel is too tight, back off slightly on the screw (4) that holds the lever cap (5) and cap iron (6) in place. Use the lateral adjustment lever (7) to position the cutting edge parallel with the mouth.

Some block planes have a mouth adjustment knob to vary the width of the mouth opening. A narrow opening produces a thinner shaving and is best for fine finishing. A wider opening allows for a deeper bite and faster wood removal, but increases the chance of tearing the grain.


Your plane from HF:

Looks like there's two small wheel adjustments for depth of each side (L & R) which give control over depth and lateral but a little less convenient.
Instead of the lever, you have a forward facing thumbscrew to adjust the tension.
Good luck with your plane.

[Jimdac]

Minimum steps to prepare your plane.

Retract the blade into the body of the Plane by turning the adjuster knobs counter clockwise. Advance the blade by turning the adjuster knobs clockwise. Use both knobs in turn until the left or right corner of the blade starts to cut a shaving. Pass the plane over a board with each adjustment to check. Once one corner starts to cut, leave that knob alone. Advance the other corner until it starts cutting too. Once the blade is cutting across the width of the blade, use both adjusters in tandem to make the shavings thicker or thinner.
Don't even start this until you have a razor sharp blade. The sole (bottom surface) of your plane will probably need flattening. Put some 100 grit wet/dry sandpaper grit side up on a table saw top or other dead flat surface and scub the bottom of the plane with the blade retracted but still clamped in place. The first strokes will show the high spots by abrading them. Continue until the mouth, toe, and rear of the heel are in one plane and flat across the width of the sole. If you are meticulous, continue until the entire sole is flat.
Once you have a flat sole and a sharp blade, your plane will work reliably. There are many other things you can do to refine the function of your plane, but do these two things and it will start to serve you well.

[mpc]

Basic hand plane tune-up:
1. Check the sole (base) for flatness. Hold the plane upside-down with a straightedge on it, towards a light source. Look for little slivers of light poking through. Ideally the whole thing is dead flat but shallow depressions in the middle of the sole parts (i.e. half way between the front tip and the blade area or half way between the blade area and the aft edge) are tolerable. Not flat? Get some fine sandpaper (auto parts stores have 400 & up "wet sand" grits) and a piece of glass (bathroom vanity cabinet shelf glass is cheap and works well) or MDF - something dead flat. Attach the sandpaper to the glass/MDF... and lightly wet it. Scribble a zig-zag pencil or pen mark all over the plane sole and run it over the sandpaper a few times, then eyeball the pencil mark. Where it's gone are the high spots.

2: See how the "frog" assembly (the angled part that supports the blade) lines up with the hole in the sole. Ideally it's even with the opening - and the frog end nearest the opening should be flat and smooth. That's what supports the blade so you want even support across the width of the blade. File if necessary.

3: Sharpen & hone the blade. The sandpaper on glass technique works quite well (Google "Scary Sharp") as long as you have something to hold the blade at a constant, consistent angle. Lots of jigs/fixtures exist to do this job; the Veritas Mark II one works very well for plane blades and chisels. Specialized tool sharpeners exist as well such as the WorkShop 3000; it has an adjustable base to hold the blade at various angles. It works well too. And of course basic sharpening stones can be used. There are lots of sharpening methods, tools, etc out there - enough for several books. Scary Sharp is fairly inexpensive and works quite well. When the bevel side of the blade is fairly sharp & polished, flatten the backside of the blade... or at least half to one inch nearest the sharp end. Then do the final pass on the beveled side.

4: Install and adjust the blade. To start, turn the two adjustment screws so that the blade is totally withdrawn - not sticking through the slot at all. When making adjustments you'll find the backlash (slop) in the screws makes the adjusting process seem inconsistent. Basically, whenever you have to retract the blade a little you'll find it's better to retract it too far and then re-extend it slightly to get to the adjustment point you want. This way the backlash/slop is such that the blade won't get pushed back slightly the first time you try to use the plane. To adjust the blade: get a quarter to half inch thick piece of softwood about 3 to 6 inches long. Turn the adjustment screws until the blade just begins to poke through the slot - slide the softwood over the sole from the front of the plane to the back (holding the plane upside down again) until you can just begin to hear/feel blade contact. Run the softwood over the corners of the blade - not the center. Adjust the screws to keep the corners of the blade poking through the slot the same amount. On other planes, there is a lateral adjustment lever (#7 in LCHIEN's wonderful pic) that rotates the blade left-right to allow adjustments. Your HF plane instead uses the two screws to control the blade's rotation. Once the blade begins to contact the softwood - evenly on both corners of the blade - continue turning the screws just a little bit (say an 1/8th of a turn each) while you slide the softwood edge over the base of the plane again and again. Push the softwood fairly firmly into the sole of the plane as you slide it across the blade and you'll see it start taking shavings. When it goes from dust to thin shavings (paper thin up to the thickness of the typical subscription form stuck in every magazine) your plane is ready to use. Oh - move the softwood along the grain - don't try adjusting the blade using end grain.

When using the plane, try to "read" the edge of the board for grain direction. You want to move the plane in the direction the grain is flowing - like petting a cat. If you go the wrong way you'll see the blade "dig in" and lift the grain leading to tearout. Sometimes it helps to hold the plane angled relative to the direction you're moving it - so the blade is skewed relative to the cut. It also takes a little practice to get the right arm/body motion to keep the plane solidly on the workpiece, with consistent vertical force, etc. Otherwise you get an uneven cut - just like the proper techniques for spraying paint.

Depending on the wood hardness you'll need to adjust the blade cutting depth. Crazy grain patterns, planing end grain, and some woods need a really light cut - i.e. a shallow blade depth. Other times, when you've got a rough surface to flatten, a deeper cut saves time but requires more arm muscle. As you read about hand planes you'll see they come in many bevel angles too - from having the blade nearly parallel to the workpiece ("low angle" planes) up to perpendicular to the workpiece ("scraper planes"); these affect the job the plane is intended to do and the grain/hardness of the workpiece it's most suited for.

mpc

[Denco]

Thank you, very grateful. I'll put into play what I've read here. With this advice, I feel confident I'll get the plane working well.--Den

[pelligrini]

There's some pretty good info so far. Before I'd do a lot of work to it like flattening or mouth changes, maybe even sharpening, I'd clean off all the factory rust protectant and give it a try. Then probably sharpen the iron and try it again. Trying it out step by step will give you an idea of how your work on it improve things.

This is a fairly short plane. It'll be probably be best to set it up as a smoother.

[Pappy]

Good advice already, especially from mpc. Knowing that HF quality control is, to say the least, lacking you may hav to do a fair amount of work to get it working smoothly. Don't give up. I tuned up a Wally World $5 special that I was going to trash, just to see if I could. It took several hours but I was getting see through shavings.