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Thread: Help! My new block plane's blade doesn't make contact with wood

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Logan, UT
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    7

    Help! My new block plane's blade doesn't make contact with wood

    Hi Wise Woodworking Community,
    First, thanks for everything on this site. So far I've only lurked here as a registered user and have learned a lot.

    I have a newbie question about planes. I just purchased my first plane (not counting the $20 Borg bench plane I've been using), a Stanley 60-1/2 block plane, and something seems a bit out of whack. The cutting iron will not protrude to the bottom of the plane bed even when fully forward. Put another way, even when the mouth is open as wide as possible, as I move the blade forward it approaches the front of the mouth opening before reaching the bottom of the mouth. So no wood is being contacted by the blade.

    It's as if the blade is at the wrong angle to the bed - is that possible? Since the frog and base are one solid piece, it doesn't seem possible to adjust this angle without a LOT of elbow grease. Or am I overlooking a really basic adjustment? I know I need to do some basic tuning before really using this thing, but being unable to make the cutter even contact wood seems wrong.

    On the bright side, I actually enjoyed using my $20 Borg plane and am looking forward to using a smoother, smaller plane for trim and cabinet installs!

    Thanks,
    Sara

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Burlington, Vermont
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    Not to sound rude if this is really basic, but have you got the blade the right way round? A block plane like that is almost certainly a "bevel up" plane - the blade is installed with the flat back against the bed of the of plane, reverse of how it would go in a plane with a chipbreaker. It sounds like you've got the blade with the bevel down. Even if you could open the mouth enough to get the blade to clear, it probably wouldn't work in that orientation because the transition from the bevel to the face of the blade would contact the wood before the cutting edge unless you sharpened the plane blade with a really acute angle, (which wouldn't hold up long in use.)
    " Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice

  3. #3
    Check for burrs on the casting, and check for rounding at the outside edges of the bed to see if there's anything holding the iron up higher than it should be. If the iron is flush against the casting/bed and it still can't get out of the plane to the wood, then there's a problem with the plane, and I'd send it back where it came from.

    Bevel is up, right?

  4. #4
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    The Stanley 60 1/2 is a bevel-up plane. The blade goes in with the beveled side facing up. If you put it bevel down then you will get what you describe. It will hit the front of the plane.

  5. #5
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    I guess we all were replying at the same time. Sorry. What they said^^^

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Logan, UT
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    Thanks for the quick replies. The bevel is indeed facing up. And I can't see any gaps at all between the bottom (unbeveled) side of the cutting iron and the bed.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Puget Sound, USA
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    595
    Photos would be a great help. Is this a new plane?

  8. #8
    Take the blade out, and notice that there are little notches in the blade. Could you have set the blade too high (retracted) initially? Try setting it in the plane so a different notch is engaged. (Hard to explain, but you should see this easily....)

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    IMGP3973.jpgIMGP3971.jpgIMGP3969.jpgThe first image shows how I have the blade seated, with the lower hole engaged on the peg connected to the depth adjustment. The next two photos show the mouth about 1/2 open, with the blade well above the bed, and then with the mouth all way open, at which point the blade begins to contact wood. Also, the bed seems fairly flat - if anything it's slightly convex front-to-back and just a titch concave side-to-side. Any advice is appreciated, and I'm not too proud to be insulted by really basic suggestions!

    David, I checked for burrs and rounding at the edges, and it seems that the blade is flat on its bed. If I need to send it back I will - just don't want to give up on it if it's my problem and not the plane's (it is new, by the way).

  10. #10
    I can't see anything else you can do to fix it, there just isn't much there on block planes and that one is new manufacturer and supposedly a precision tool. If everything is properly seated and it doesn't project below the sole, it's got to go back and be exchanged for one that works.

  11. #11
    Many years ago I had that happen . The iron had a wide slot cut through it that was not long enough and had to be lengthened . What I don't remember is whether it was the blade that supposed to go with the plane or if I altered something that was mismatched.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
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    Yeah - that's just odd. You could probably get more blade projection using the other hole, but if the blade is fully bedding against the sole properly, and the problem is the blade hitting the mouth opening, that's not really the problem. The first photo makes it look like the sliding mouth plate is a bit long though - with the front of the plate just barely protruding at the front end of the plane like that, I wouldn't expect to see so much of the plate visible in the mouth area. It looks like in that first image, even with the mouth plate proud at the front end of the plane, you can still see a quarter inch of it in the mouth opening.

    If you're able to exchange the plane, I'd do so, otherwise I'd be tempted to file the back of the sliding mouth plate.
    " Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice

  13. #13
    I should backtrack and say if it's just the blade not going far enough that's causing the problem, just change holes for the adjusters. If it's hitting the back of the mouth, that's a problem you won't be able to correct.

    So I pretty much just repeated what Joshua said.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Puget Sound, USA
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    Whatever the reason, it is an issue with the mouth and not the blade. I would return it, if you can. If you do return it I would suggest biting the bullet and buying either a Lie Nielsen low angle block plane(my preference) or the Veritas low angle block plane. Both are REALLY GOOD planes and both are made in North America. Lifetime guarantees as well!

    http://www.lie-nielsen.com/block-pla...-block-planes/

    http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...=1,41182,48942


    Good luck and happy woodworking!

  15. #15
    I just looked at one of mine, not the one I mentioned before. It has ground notches on the bottom of the iron and there are three notches that could never be used without grinding the slot longer . I see with your pics they have moved on to a different set up. I think they need to perfect ONE system. You might have an iron that was a set up sample. I would take more pics showing top and bottom of the iron and send them to mfg. and talk with them. If it is a defect they should send another one. I once bought a cutter head that was defective .Mfg kept telling me I was setting up wrong. I sent it back and they finally acknowledged it was a set up piece that should not have slipped through ,apologized ,and sent a good one.

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