LV Low angle Jack as a Scraper

[Paul Ryan]

While shopping for my latest purchase and checking out the Lie-Nielsen page I noticed they sell a 90 degree blade for their 62 low angle jack to use it as a scraping plane. Has any one tried a 90 degree blade in a low angle plane and does it work well.

I have the BU smoother from Lee Valley and just ordered the LA jack. I would buy a 90 degree blade from LV but they dont have one so that means I would have to grind my own from one of their beveled blades. I hate to do that with out knowing if it would work well. It saves $$ over buying a seperate scraping plane if it works well.

[Jeff Bartley]

I bet you could email LV and get a blade that hasn't had the bevel ground yet....keep us posted on this....it makes sense that a 90 degree blade would work as a scraper. I wonder if you'd want a slight camber at the corners?

[Prashun Patel]

Do you own the 50 degree blade from LV? I have one that fits my BU smoother and LA Jack. This blade makes your plane into a half-plane-half-scraper. A little easier to push than a scraper or scraper plane.

[Paul Ryan]

I called LV yesterday the person I talked to did't give me any options other than grinding my own from a beveled blade. I ordered a 50 degree blade to go with the Jack, I will actually use it with my smoother. But I would really like to try a 90 option too. I may see if I can get a blade that has not had the bevel ground yet, thanks. I will let you know what happens.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

How much do you realistically need to grind away to get the desired affect? Whey not treat it as a 90 degree secondary bevel? Heck, if you started with a 25 degree blade, grind enough of a 90 degree edge on there to get and idea if you like it, and if you don't, you could still grind the blade to a steep secondary angle (compared to the original bevel) without having to go through much steel.

[Derek Cohen]

Keep in mind that you do not need to grind the full face of the blade square. You can get away with a 90 degree microbevel.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Paul Ryan]

It never occured to me that I didn't have to grind the full bevel away. Thanks for the advice guys a 90 micro bevel would be the same, a lot less grinding, and would preserve blade life.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Just for grins, you could turn the blade around (yes, that means the scary end is facing you) and give that a whirl.....I mean, just to see if it actually works. Don't think that would be a long term solution.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Would that actually work, turning the blade around? I don't have one of LVs low angle planes (yet!) but even ignoring that the back end of the blade is narrower, it appears that the slots and holes needed for blade adjustment would only allow it to work one way.

[Lee Bidwell]

The LAJ is bedded at 12 degrees, so shouldn't you grind the micro bevel to 78 degrees to get a 90 degree cutting angle?

[Paul Ryan]

I was just going off of what LN had as an accessory for their #62 low angle jack plane. They offered a 90 degee blade that suposidly works well as a scaper. I havent tried it and was wondering if any one else had. Dumb thing is I was just at the LN tool show last weekend and forgot to check on it and see how it worked. I havent been that interested in the LN #62 because I already owned the LV BU smoother, but figured that both planes have blades that are bedded at the same angle why not give it a try.

I got a e-mail back from LV customer service today. I asked if I could get a unbeveled blade. Unfortunatly they don't offer that, the guy that checked into it for me. Asked the veritas plane department about using the BU smoother as a scraper with a 90 degree blade. He was told that the plane department had tried it in the past but it didn't work too well. That is contrary to what LN told me in an email. I was told by LN a 90 degree blade in their #62 works excellent as a scraper plane.

[Joel Goodman]

Do they recommend turning a burr?

[Paul Ryan]

LN didn't specify and I did not ask. Under their actual scraping planes LN claims they can be used with or with out a burr, suggesting no burr for less experienced users.

[Roy Lindberry]

While shopping for my latest purchase and checking out the Lie-Nielsen page I noticed they sell a 90 degree blade for their 62 low angle jack to use it as a scraping plane. Has any one tried a 90 degree blade in a low angle plane and does it work well.

I have the BU smoother from Lee Valley and just ordered the LA jack. I would buy a 90 degree blade from LV but they dont have one so that means I would have to grind my own from one of their beveled blades. I hate to do that with out knowing if it would work well. It saves $$ over buying a seperate scraping plane if it works well.

I've had mild success with a similar idea, though there is still room for improvement, if anybody wants to take up the challenge. By taking an old Bailey and honing a steep microbevel on the edge (somewhere around at least 45*) and flipping it bevel up in the plane, I was able to make a scraper. I got decent results, but not quite as nice of a surface as that from an actual scraper, though I was able to get past some tear out that the regular planes were leaving.

The most noticeable issue with this is that the chipbreaker, if set high enough on the blade to actually give it support, will prevent the yoke from retracting the iron far enough to be of much use. That being the case, you have to lower the chipbreaker far enough that it kind of just hangs out in mid air above the cutting edge. A possible solution (though one I can't bring myself to try, given my lack of "spare" chipbreakers) is to cut the chipbreaker shorter, and rebend it, so that it will allow the blade to take a very fine shaving and also support the blade.

Has anybody else tried this with any success?