Problem: Any Wood Plane Experts Out There?

[phrog]

Over the last 4 or 5 years I have read several books on wood planes and how to tune them. A few weeks ago, I bought a Chisel Plane in Like New condition. (eBay) The plane appears to have never been used. However, if you look at the silhouette photo, you can see a great amount of light passing between the back of the blade and the bed of the plane. The blade is flat. My conclusion is that the bed is not flat. The blade only touches the bed at the top and the very bottom. Should I try to file the bed down to make it flat so that the blade will have support for its entire length or should I just leave it alone? Any advice from any plane experts would be appreciated. Thanks.


Added second photo to show this is a wood (not metal) plane.

[cabinetman]

Over the last 4 or 5 years I have read several books on wood planes and how to tune them. A few weeks ago, I bought a Chisel Plane in Like New condition. (eBay) The plane appears to have never been used. However, if you look at the silhouette photo, you can see a great amount of light passing between the back of the blade and the bed of the plane. The blade is flat. My conclusion is that the bed is not flat. The blade only touches the bed at the top and the very bottom. Should I try to file the bed down to make it flat so that the blade will have support for its entire length or should I just leave it alone? Any advice from any plane experts would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm no expert, but mine are supported flat.

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[LCHIEN]

seems like the bed needs to be flat. have you tried looking for burrs, raised areas around threaded holes etc. or is the bed really not flat? Might be really hard to get in there and flatten the whole thing - but a raised bump or something might be easier to take care of.

[woodturner]

The blade only touches the bed at the top and the very bottom. Should I try to file the bed down to make it flat so that the blade will have support for its entire length or should I just leave it alone? Any advice from any plane experts would be appreciated. Thanks.

What brand is the plane? If it's a top brand like Veritas or Lie-Nielsen, I would call the manufacturer and see what they say. From this picture, though, this appears to be a much older wooden plane, so that likely is not an option.

LCHIEN's advice is right on - look for a burr, etc. that is causing the blade to hang up.

Otherwise, it's likely that the blade bed is not flat and true. You could file it flat, but it's tedious fussy work, and not really necessary. The blade needs to be well-supported where it contacts the wood and at the top. If perfectly flat, contact in the middle will provide a little vibration damping and stability, but is not really necessary. This plane is not intended to take deep cuts, so chatter should never be an issue. Some people intentionally file the blade bed this way to ensure good support at the cutting edge.

The picture posted seems to show a blade ground at a very acute angle. Typically a chisel plane blade is sharpened to an angle three to five degrees more acute than the bed angle, to provide a slight amount of clearance so the heal of the blade doesn't drag. Checking and possibly revising the blade angle might be another modification to consider.

[phrog]

I'm no expert, but mine are supported flat.

.

That's certainly the case with all the books I've read about metal planes. I've tried to do this with all my metal planes but this is my first wooden plane so I thought they may be different but cannot reason why they would be. Thanks for your input.

[phrog]

seems like the bed needs to be flat. have you tried looking for burrs, raised areas around threaded holes etc. or is the bed really not flat? Might be really hard to get in there and flatten the whole thing - but a raised bump or something might be easier to take care of.

It seems to me also that the bed should be flat but as I stated in response to C'man, this is my first wood plane (not metal), and I'm trying to figure why the factory would make it this way. There are no threaded holes. The plane is a wooden block with a blade inserted through it (on the bed) and a wedge. There are no other parts. I can see no burrs or anything else that is holding it up except the bed itself. (But then my vision ain't too good right now.) thanks for the input, Loring.

[phrog]

What brand is the plane? If it's a top brand like Veritas or Lie-Nielsen, I would call the manufacturer and see what they say. From this picture, though, this appears to be a much older wooden plane, so that likely is not an option.

LCHIEN's advice is right on - look for a burr, etc. that is causing the blade to hang up.

Otherwise, it's likely that the blade bed is not flat and true. You could file it flat, but it's tedious fussy work, and not really necessary. The blade needs to be well-supported where it contacts the wood and at the top. If perfectly flat, contact in the middle will provide a little vibration damping and stability, but is not really necessary. This plane is not intended to take deep cuts, so chatter should never be an issue. Some people intentionally file the blade bed this way to ensure good support at the cutting edge.

The picture posted seems to show a blade ground at a very acute angle. Typically a chisel plane blade is sharpened to an angle three to five degrees more acute than the bed angle, to provide a slight amount of clearance so the heal of the blade doesn't drag. Checking and possibly revising the blade angle might be another modification to consider.

The plane is an ECE from Germany. The bevel angle on the iron is approximately 25 degrees. Chatter was my concern but as you point out will probably won't be a problem for this type of plane. As I mentioned in my earlier responses, this is my first non-metallic plane, and I wondered if there was a reason the manufacturer would make the plane this way intentionally. For the life of me, I can't figure why they would Thanks for your input. I guess for now I will just sharpen the blade and try the plane before doing any mods on it.

[cabinetman]

The plane is an ECE from Germany. The bevel angle on the iron is approximately 25 degrees. Chatter was my concern but as you point out will probably won't be a problem for this type of plane. As I mentioned in my earlier responses, this is my first non-metallic plane, and I wondered if there was a reason the manufacturer would make the plane this way intentionally. For the life of me, I can't figure why they would Thanks for your input. I guess for now I will just sharpen the blade and try the plane before doing any mods on it.

I was just thinkin' (believe it or not). What's the possibility of a defective bed. It may have an unintended curvature. Or, is the iron flat? Maybe it was done that way as some scraper planes/holders stress the iron, with a slight curve.

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[Bill in Buena Park]

Not an expert, but could it be that the "wedge" requires the curve to spring-tension the blade iron to hold it securely in the bed?

[phrog]

I was just thinkin' (believe it or not). What's the possibility of a defective bed. It may have an unintended curvature. Or, is the iron flat? Maybe it was done that way as some scraper planes/holders stress the iron, with a slight curve.

.

I've never used a scraper but have seen them used with a flex in the middle. You may be right - an intentional curvature to flex the cutting edge. It is hard for me to believe that a company with the reputation of ECE would let a plane leave with a mistake this great. I checked the blade and it appears to be flat with the edge of my combo square. Thanks for the idea.

[phrog]

Not an expert, but could it be that the "wedge" requires the curve to spring-tension the blade iron to hold it securely in the bed?

Another good idea but I would think that the blade would be curved rather than the bed. If i pound the wedge hard enough to bend the blade to meet the curve of the bed, I don't think I could ever remove it. (Maybe, that's the idea - when the blade gets dull, you have to buy a new plane - planned plane obsolescence. )

[Carpenter96]

Gap

Hi there I just asked Dan Barrett of Barrett & Sons Wooden Planes and he says you should float the bed to make it flater. He says you will probably get a lot of chatter the way it is. Regards Bob

[phrog]

Hi there I just asked Dan Barrett of Barrett & Sons Wooden Planes and he says you should float the bed to make it flater. He says you will probably get a lot of chatter the way it is. Regards Bob

Thanks, Bob. But I'm just wondering how floating my bed is going to make my plane work any better - will a swimming pool work or should I take it to the lake?

PS: I really do thank you. I think I have some small files that will probably work. Perhaps this is why the guy sold it on eBay, he never tuned it and it was chattering. (I don't know that to be the case since I haven't tried the plane out yet.)

PS2: Just visited the web site of DL Barrett and Sons. Neat site for those interested in wooden planes. Thanks.

[Carpenter96]

Sorry

A float is a special type of file, it cuts rather than abrades. Regards Bob

[pelligrini]

I would think that a bigger, flat bed would be better. The cheap made metal planes I've seen have poor, minimal, bed areas. All of my better performing planes have substantially greater areas.

Although, before you go fixing it, make sure it isn't broke. Get the iron sharp and try it out on some different materials and grain directions. If it's your first woodie, you'll probably need some practice adjusting the iron, so don't be discouraged right at first.