Mechanics of chipbreakers and high cutting angles in woodworking planes. Abstract.

[David Weaver]

That's a really excellent link. Thanks Sam!

Proof that if you ever think you have a smart idea, even if a little rube goldberg, you'll probably find that someone else already tried it out.

[Sam Cui]

My pleasure. Being on two forums is never a bad thing

[Pat Barry]

Hi Kees, I'm still reading and absorbing but there is an awesome amount of data presented in your paper. Did you by chance use a traditional DOE technique to set up and analyze your experiments? If so, I sure would like to see that type of data analysis.

[Chris Fournier]

Hmm, I don't get it. I bought good planes, learned how to sharpen them well and then played with the few variables that they offered to get a tearout free cut in any wood and I moved on to using a plane to help me make a project. I did read a few books, none of which have been referred to in these "white paper" handplane threads but most from the 20th century that described all of these seemingly "newfound" abilities of handplanes that are now being attributed to current personalities and the "invention" of a millenia plus old hand tool the handplane.

A handplane is a simple, longstanding tool that has not held a mystery for centuries. It is very effective at planing wood and it is very easy to get one to do so very well. Use your plane to make a project, pick any wood and get on with it. In your shop. At your bench.

[Winton Applegate]

I hope you’re all happy.

The blade is one I had hanging on the wall. A fourteen or fifteen year old LN A2 BD. I did not touch it up. It is sharpened to a secondary bevel of 35° (that is only 10° clearance; I had one marked 30° but figured why not go all the way) no real camber (a finish blade) corners relieved. There was some slight indication it had been down a board but was still very, very sharp.

First I set the chip breaker back more than one millimeter. I found the small board I had had trouble with tear out more than a decade ago. It is a bit different purple heart than my work bench is made of. You can see the difference in the photos. It has no real figure to it; quite plane looking actually. It has a good spot of reversing grain in it. I planed both directions trying to get as against the grain as I could. Didn’t seem to mater much which way I planed but as shown I got the most tear out by a small margin.

I then set the chip breaker on the blade as close as I could before going to my push it in the wood and push the chip breaker down to the surface of the wood technique. I was very careful but as usual the blade suddenly slipped forward and over shot the edge a bit. Luckily it didn’t go all the way off but just past but was still on the flat underside of the chip braker’s end. Whew. I maneuvered it back and pushed the edge of the blade into the end grain of a 2x4 cut off I had, the fresh cut end not the grit and dirt end, and then slid the chip breaker down to the wood and locked the chip breaker screw. I tested it by pressing into some thickish writing paper; it didn't’ cut through, I then pressed it into some typing/printer paper, it did cut through in places so . . . about 3 thou. of an inch chip breaker setting.

The blade would not cut easily, the throat jammed badly soon after. When I pulled the blade set out of the plane there was wood fibers between the chip breaker and the blade. Thin narrow ~3mm ribbons of curl.
Hmmmmm
I was sure I had fettled that chip breaker way back when I first got it. I cleaned it out. Re set it the same and tried again. Same exact deal.

I cleaned it out again and reassembled and tightened the screw on the pair. You can see in the photo that it is well fettled / no light.

I set the chip breaker by eye twice and ‘spearmented with the cut. I got good cuts. I then advanced the depth of cut for a heavyish cut. You can see in the photo of the three kinds of curls.
I took a few passes over the whole board overlapping strokes until I had taken a good layer off the whole face.
Tear out was about all gone. I backed off the blade out of the cut, of course feeding it forward to take up the back lash in the adjuster linkage and fed it forward for a medium cut (remember this is a full on finish blade so the initial heavy cut wasn’t all that rank. Took some passes that got rid of the last bit of tear out.
Feeling the surface with my fingers I could feel some plane tracks. Backed off and forward a touch again and took the whisper cuts off that you see in the third pile counter clockwise in the photo of the curls.
Veolie !
Done.
I checked; no shavings under the chip breaker.

In the last photos of the surface anything that looks like tear out is just the end fibers of a change in the grain but it is all smooth and nice. No chatter either.
What can I say ? Must be that 15,000 stone that I got in the last year or so.


Just kidding.
I do give some credit to my sharpening jig and flat facets. back when I was having trouble with tear out I was using the older style silver clamp on the side sharpening jig with the narrow roller that is better suited to chisels . I don’t know if that had any negative effect. I was not setting the chip breaker as close as this. Though I may have set it too close and had the jamming effect I mentioned above then backed off too much.

See the photo with the blade flat on the bench over the dog hole with the round white disk of wax . I measured the chip breaker setting after the job was done. That is a .4mm feeler gauge. (over 15 thou. of an inch) being held vertically by the disc of wax so I could take a photo of the feeler gauge in place.

Probably luck.

Or maybe this all worked so splendidly because the wood is so much more dry and cured now.
ha, ha, ha.


Now can I go back to my bevel up ?

[Winton Applegate]

I wanted to post one more photo but the machine wouldn't let me so here it is now.

This is my favorite chip beaker screw driver. It is a disk of steel with a progressively thicker edge so that it can fit a variety of flat blade screws. I still haven not found a screw driver that fits the screws on my planes as well (some of the slots are narrower and I hate how the narrow drivers then ding up the wider screw slots so I use this). Works well for me.

You can get it at a hardware store or auto supply where the key rings are displayed.

[Kees Heiden]

Now can I go back to my bevel up ?

Of course you can! With all the blessings I can think of. Thanks for trying.

[David Weaver]

I wanted to post one more photo but the machine wouldn't let me so here it is now.

This is my favorite chip beaker screw driver

Use the lever cap winton!! You know you want to. (I wonder if it fits. I does on stanley planes).

Must be that 15,000 stone that I got in the last year or so.

You could do it with a washita, the absolute sharpness isn't the key in this case. And trust me, my washita sharpened irons are not as sharp as your 15k pro irons. As much as I like the washita, it can't hang if absolute sharpness is most important.

Now can I go back to my bevel up ?

Of course. If you use the cap iron, the set will become a 15 second routine, though, and the bit about overrunning the edge will go away (it just stops happening). Boards like the one you've shown can be sneaky difficult because those little bits of tearout on the near side of each of the swirls probably have some part that is almost the same angle as the iron itself, or a little shallower, and that is the toughest situation to get all of the fuzz out (as your description of the surface goes).

What does the iron at the top of that plane say? Does it say "Lie Nielsen", or is it blank? If it's blank, it's probably W1 steel.

[Steve Voigt]

I hope you’re all happy.

I am! Congrats on your initial success, and kudos for giving it a try.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Personal attacks will not be tolerated and will gain the next person posting one of them a 5 day revocation of posting privileges. I really hate having to delete messages and edit threads because of rude behavior. Just try me.

[Pat Barry]

This is my favorite chip beaker screw driver. It is a disk of steel with a progressively thicker edge so that it can fit a variety of flat blade screws. I still haven not found a screw driver that fits the screws on my planes as well (some of the slots are narrower and I hate how the narrow drivers then ding up the wider screw slots so I use this). Works well for me..

Wow Winton, you sure crumble quickly. You have already chosen a favorite chip breaker screw driver? What next? I suppose you and David and Kees will start a little club and meet every other odd Saturday morning to collaborate on proper chip breaker grind methods and angles. LOL

[David Weaver]

Let's call this meeting to order...
Use the stock cap iron at the stock setting
Set it where it's at a range where it will just be affecting/straightening the largest chip you'll take with the particular plane (learn by experience)
Set it forward from there only if there are problems (rare)
Meeting adjourned, who brought the beer? who has the keys to wintons ferrari?

[Kees Heiden]

I prefer Belgium beer, so lets meet in Antwerp on the Keiserlei.

[Chris Fournier]

Take your iron. Sharpen it properly. Properly? This means an intersection of two planes, the back, the bevel -crisp, so much so that it does not reflect light under a loupe. Stick it in about any decent plane and get results that satisfy. Bevel up? Best results keep the mouth tight. Bevel down? Adjust the frog and the chip breaker to suit. Two operations to keep the mouth tight instead of one.

A few more operations than required to keep my mouth tight!

Simple stuff. If it's sharp it will yield great results. Period. Tricky wood? Alternating figure? No big deal. You've got a sharp plane and now you have to learn how to use it on an organic substrate that plays by its own rules. Never met a piece of wood that I could not tame with a sharp plane and an intelligent touch.

I stand on the shoulders of giants.

[Warren Mickley]

The adjustable cap Goldenberg plane has surfaced on the Woodnet forum, I think three times over the last 6 or 8 years. I believe there was a 19th century American plane where one could likewise adjust the cap iron without taking the plane apart. As a long time user I have a feel for where the cap iron should be and don't change the setting more than one time in a hundred maybe not one in a thousand. It might be helpful for a beginner in order to find the sweet spot. Or for a hobbyist who is trying out new woods every month just for fun.

Goldenberg seems to have been a fine maker. I think the 19th century French tools are pretty interesting, but here in Pennsylvania we don't often see them.