custom planes without adjusters

[Bruce Mack]

Some of the contemporary custom planes have no adjuster. I can see advancing the blade with a light hammer tap but would not be pleased to have to unscrew the lever cap and manually withdraw the blade for a lighter cut. I suspect I would then have to repeat the hammer process. Is there another way.

[Mike Cherry]

Are we talking the wooden planes of late? If yes, you tap the heel of the plane body to retract the blade and then tap the wedge to secure the blade.

[Patrick Harper]

This is something you don't really do very often once you get used to adjusting the depth of cut. I do prefer depth adjusters, but I find lateral adjustment easier with a hammer...even for western planes with lateral adjusters.

[Bruce Mack]

Sorry about the ambiguity. I'm referring to metal bodied planes.

[Jim Matthews]

Don't they adjust the same way?

The only difference would be that
you need not reset the wooden wedge.

What does Ron Breese say about his planes?

[Kees Heiden]

On my vintage infill I tap the iron down with a small hammer and to get it up I tap the backside of the plane with a wooden mallet. I suppose the modern ones work the same way.

[george wilson]

I actually enjoy using a little brass hammer to adjust infill or wooden planes. You just need to master the skill. I set the infill or woodie on a smooth,flat piece of wood. Slide the blade down till it rests on the wood,then tighten the wedge or cap screw. Then,light taps will advance the iron slightly. Seldom do I have to retract the iron and start again.

Woodies are handier in that you can retract the iron by tapping the back,or tapping the little inlet knob on the top to jump the iron back.

Be careful about tapping the back of the infill. Some were just glued in. Or,you may cause the rivets to start showing where they were peened to the sides of the plane.

[Kees Heiden]

Be careful about tapping the back of the infill. Some were just glued in. Or,you may cause the rivets to start showing where they were peened to the sides of the plane.

Man, I'm so glad that I don't have posh tools. No need to be worried about stuff like that.

[Raney Nelson]

What George said. The one thing I'd add is that when setting the iron, just before tightening it helps to push forward a slight nudge with the plane. This makes sure the blade is set well against the bed when you tighten - if there's any gap then tightening the cap will bump the depth a little more.

I think anyone who has used a hammer to adjust for a little while will tell you they actually prefer it. I find it much easier to get exaclty where I want than adjusters, and to be honest I think adjusters are always a tradeoff in how well the blade is secured. What I tell people who ask is that there IS a learning curve to hammer adjustment, but that the curve is usually a few days, not months...

I was just discussing this with a couple other plane makers, oddly enough, and I think most of the custom makers would tell you that if anything the planes we make work better for a lack of an adjuster. It gets complicated, and I don't want to seem like I'm giving a sales pitch here, but for peak performance the simpler the plane and the less the moving parts the better.

[Mike Holbrook]

I think it is dangerous to talk in absolutes in regard to adjustment systems for either planes or spokeshaves. Certainly there is a skill set involved in using the adjustment system for many of these tools. In my experience the hardest system to get good at employing quickly is the "tap-tap" system. Yes I have 6+ planes that use this system. Each wood plane I have that uses the tap-tap system is a little different. The kind/grain of the specific wood and specific design of a given plane are always a little different. The other major item is the wedge. I have found that making a wedge that works perfectly is quite a challenge, maybe as much a challenge as building the plane. It is quite possible that the plane body and or wedge will require alterations down the road too.

The other factor is plane design is not as simple aw whether or not the plane is wood or metal. Most planes have x amount of wood parts and x amount of metal parts. This may seem a silly point until one takes a look at Blum Tool Works planes which have wood bodies but a very unique frog/blade and adjustment system that is all metal, seated in metal. In my experience Blum planes can be set more accurately with less work, than any plane I am familiar with, once the user learns how to use the unique adjustment system. I believe the reason these planes do not see even wider use and better press is the adjustment system requires that the user learn a little different system. In my experience when the little light goes off in a users head there will probably never be another problem setting one of these planes up very accurately and quickly. Still many people are set in their ways and resist learning a new system. I think the tap-tap system is even harder to learn, some people will just resist the learning curve.

I am also a fan of WoodJoy spokeshaves. The adjustment system for the blades on these shaves is so quick and precise that it rivals the adjustment system on the best planes. A large spokeshave with the WoodJoy adjustment system can do many of the jobs a plane does.

[Steve Voigt]

I was just discussing this with a couple other plane makers, oddly enough, and I think most of the custom makers would tell you that if anything the planes we make work better for a lack of an adjuster. It gets complicated, and I don't want to seem like I'm giving a sales pitch here, but for peak performance the simpler the plane and the less the moving parts the better.

+1 to that. You wrote something similar on your blog once, to the effect that one of the strengths of an adjusterless plane was that it had NO moving parts. That was one of the things that started me down the road of building traditional-style woodies.