Toothing plane...

[Ralph Laughton]

Hi Folks,

Here in the UK, among other things, I write a small half page filler in New Woodworking magazine about unusual tools. The next one I thought I would do is on toothing planes. This one I bought on ebay for a few pounds.





I was wondering if you folks had any experience with one and if so recommendations on grinding angle etc.

They are often quoted as being used for keying veneer prior to gluing. However I have never used one for that. I find is great for tackling awkward grain prior to finishing it with a scraper.

Any input would be much appreciated.

Ralph .

[Tim Sproul]

Check Lee Valley's website or Lie Nielsen's. Both sell a toothed blade for their respective scraper planes. I'd be pretty sure you can find instructions for sharpening. If not....shoot either or both an email or tele call. I'm sure they'll help you out - even if you point out that this is not their iron nor plane....they'll still help. I'm sure.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Not sure about the exact angle at which they should be sharpened; but 25° is about what mine are sharpened at. I use these on several planes, including an ancient coffin and the LN low angle jack, and agree with you on their main use (forget the veneer myth).

One trick in sharpening is to go for the bevel, but don't try to flatten the back to get rid of the burr raised in the process. Instead, leave the burr and knock it off by jamming the sharpened blade into a piece of hard wood.

Pam

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'll disagree with Pam on this one. While your idea of use for prepping gnarly grained surfaces is one of the common uses of the toothing plane, they are used for roughing the ground of a surface for veneering. This is not something folks normally do when using modern glues like unibond or the various PVA glues, but it is still used when using hot hide glue for hammer veneering. Woods with absorbent and/or open grains benefit less from this than those woods which are very tight grained or which have a lot of oil or resin content. It helps increase the surface area for mechanical bonding. I think the easiest way to sharpen is the same as with wooden molding planes with complicated profiles- do most of the work on the back of the blade.