I have a rehab'd Sargent 418 (#6 Stanley-ish). I'm having problems with the depth adjustment though:
When I try to advance the blade (increase the depth) the screw that secures the blade to the chip breaker hits the bottom of the frog recess. That screw acts like a brake essentially, and causes the depth pin to slip from it's recess in the blade when the depth knob is turned deeper.
The only way I can solve this is by retracting the chip breaker vis-a-vis the edge of the blade so there's about 1/2" space. This moves the mounting screw 'up' in the frog recess and hence gives it more room to move so the blade can be fully lowered.
It works, but my shavings are rough and hard to control.
Has anyone experienced this? What's the solution? The frog can be adjusted front/back. That doesn't seem to make a diff.
Is this just par for the course on a #6? Hard to believe.