While most here have heard of, and MAYBE used a thing called a hand plane......there are some that haven't ...sooooo

 

This chunk of iron is called a hand plane.   This one is for smoothing a wood surface, not to smooth a hand.   Set up right, and this can replace sandpaper.   No loud noises, no dust.   Some will come ready to go (akmost) right out of the box.    Others?   This plane in the picture came out of a damp, unused basement, covered in mold and rust.    Others that have come through my little shop?   Ok, once a plane IS all cleaned up, and the cutter has been sharpened back up.....how does one actually put this beastie back together?    First off...

The long piece of flat steel here is called the iron ( cutter on smaller planes)   Note there is a bevel on the end.    The bolt head sticking up?

Is used to attach the chipbreaker, to the NON beveled side of the iron.   I have had way too many come into the shop with this backwards.  What shows up in the first photo is the underside of this assembly.  The oval slot allows a bolt to pass through.   The smaller rectangle allows a tab to come through.  This assembly goes in the the tool like this..

There is a tab through the assembly.   The oval part allows the assembly to move past the bolt.  On this plane(YMMV) the chipbreaker goes up, the bevel edge goes down.  Other planes have no chipbreaker, because they work with the bevel up.  There is a wheel to adjust the depth of cut...

Older planes, this is a right handed threaded wheel, newer ones use a left handed thread.   The reason for the LH threads?   When you spin the wheel to the right, and the wheel backs off the bolt, you are actually deepening the depth of cut.   The wheel move a "Y" shaped yoke, the tab at the top of the yoke moves the iron in or out of the cut.  The wedge shaped piece of iron it is attach to? It is called the frog, not sure why..

Also attached to the frog is a lever.   You slide it left or right with your thumb, this causes the iron to tilt sideways, making one side or the other stick out more.  Also helps IF you didn't have the bevel on the iron perfectly square to the length of the iron.   Ok, we need something to hold the iron in place..

This is called a lever cap. The "lever" is the part sticking up.  Some planes will use a bolt of some sort instead, and they would be called a cap iron.   This old Sargent made Fulton plane uses a lever cap.  There is also a keyhole shaped slot cut into  the cap.  This is where the bolt that comes out through the iron goes.  Note:   I have seen enough lever caps put on a plane upside down...THIS is how they should be installed..

The underside of these lever caps have a few ribs for strength.   Note the lever cap's lever has been lowered onto the chipbreaker.  Now the tricky part...That bolt sticking up.   Sometimes they are set too tight, and you need a pry bar to flip the lever up....seen a few with broken areas where the lever hinges to the cap...Use a screwdriver, NOT to pry with, but to looosen the bolt until the lever will just move.  You want to be able to just stick a finger under the lever to flip it up.   Same with flipping the lever down, just the pressure of a thumb.  IF the bolt is so tight, you can't move the depth adjuster at all, screwdriver to loosen the bolt a 1/4 turn at a time until you can movr the wheel.   You want this tight enough to keep things from moving around, yet loose enough to make any adjustments needed. 

 

Ok, all put together?   Hold the plane upside down, and look along it's bottom ( called the sole, like a shoe's)  and you will see a slot, called the mouth.   Hold the plane so light will shine along the sole, you then adjust the depth until you just barely see the bevel start to appear through the mouth.   Check to make sure it is evenly across to openly.  If not,use the Lateral lever to fix.   While you are holding the plane like this, grab an old, plain candle, and rub a few lines onto the sole.  Makes pushing the plane a lot easier..

Set the plane on some scrap wood, time for a test drive.  If it didn't cut, adjust the wheel until it barely does.  Try again.   Some planes are MADE for see-through shavings, some are meant to "hog off"  rough wood.

This Fulton is supposed to take the thin shavings....called a Smooth plane.   Others have a rounded profile to the beveled edge, ....jack, scrub, fore planes.   I have a similar sized smooth plane..

Both of these two planes were sold by Sears,  the Fulton was from between the world wars,  the Craftsman was from the 1950s.  both are what Stanley termed a #3 size of plane. 

That is the basics.    LOTS of old planes have come through my little Rehab Center of a shop....Chipbreakers upside down, irons upside down with the chipbreaker ON the bevel.....Lever cap put on either with their undersides showing, or with the lever down by the mouth opening... Lateral levers bent down so much, the abuser ( NOT a User)  had broken off a bit of the rear handle for clearence.   All the above symptoms...then the person complains that it doesn't work.  Too tight a lever cap bolt can lead to the iron and chipbreaker taking on a curve,,,,,That Fulton had a curve to it's iron.  Hammered back to almost flat in my shop.   You will see chipbreakers not only shaped in a curve, but the middle where the bolts are is lower or higher than the sides.  Lay a chipbreaker flat on the bench, and then see which way it "rocks".  

 

A lot of the problems with making sure a chipbreaker will sit flat on the "back" of the iron, is from the chipbreaker getting deformed from misuse.   Sometimes, a hammer to flatten the main section.. sometimes a hammer and a punch.    If it rock side to side,  find the high point, turn the chipbreaker over and place the punch on that spot,   A few hammer blows, check to see if the rocking is gone.   The edge where the chipbreaker meets the back of the iron....I tend to try for a "Knife-edge".   I check for gaps, grind or sand until the gaps are gone.   I also polish the Curved part where it meets the iron.   Burrs and and "steps" in the curve will trap shavings.

 

Ok, that is enough for today.   I left out sharpening the iron...mainly becayse everyone has their own way of doing that.   Some try to get a perfectly flat sole on the plane....good luck with that one, as even Stanley never did.   And, after 100+ years of use ( and abuse) sole will wear a bit....and yet still work.   Flat sole is needed only in three places..front edge ( toe) backend(heel) and both the front and back of the mouth opening.  These three need to be coplanar.   As long as the rest of the sole sits up out of the way of these three points, you are good to go.  

 

Maybe later this week, I can do a bit on ....Sharpening ( with a Bostonian accent)  BTW: even the new in the box planes will need a little time on a hone...

Edited September 19, 20169 yr by steven newman

THANK YOU!

Thanks! That is good info to know.

Thanks Steve for giving us the "plane truth!" Good tutorial coming from VOE and an everyday (well nearly everyday anyway) user. Appreciate you taking the time to write and share this topic. Well Done!

Hey Steve, this is really cool. If you are able, change the title to"How to Setup a. Hand Plane"

If you want. The reason is, it's a great tutorial, and the title should reflect the greatness of the subject, so others can find it, and so our search engines can find it to. Just a suggestion my friend!

Well, Steve, ya beat me to it! My post will be a little different. I'm in the process of refurbing a #5-1/2, and I'm putting together a tutorial on the process. I'll expect your input when I get it up.

 

To many folks ignore the hand tools. Probably due to lack of experience or maybe their just "a little skeered ta try em"! Let's change that.

I might come back later, with MY take on sharpening the irons up......first off, I have to FIND one in need of it....

Thank You!