Full width shavings (or not)

[Kees Heiden]

Planing is quite hard work, no way around that. Put a dab of wax on the sole of your plane, makes pushing it a lot easier. When you get clogging at the tip of the chipbreaker you should pay attention to how it mates to the blade. Hold it up to a light and have a peek under the chipbreaker towards that edge, you shouldn't see light shining through.

[Jim Koepke]

Having the chip breaker set close does help with difficult woods. A sharp blade is more important in all woods.

As Kees mentioned, put a bit of wax on the sole and you will be surprised how much easier it is.

It was getting clogged up a bit. When planing, it seems I have to push hard as well.

Also as Kees mentioned check how well the chip breaker is seating on the blade. If you see splinters stuck between the chip breaker and the blade there is work to be done.

Here is what now seems like a woefully incomplete write up on chip breakers from a much longer thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...86#post1158886

It is amazing how much more one can learn/encounter in just a few years. Yesterday a plane was hard to push. So the blade was removed to sharpen. When reassembling the blade and chip breaker it is a habit to check the mating. This one was a little off. There was a little bump in the middle of the chip breaker. Instead of trying to work the full area, a small stone was used to remove metal just at the high spot.

At times I have had chip breakers that seemed to touch on only one side of the blade back. These get mounted in my vise and my largest Crescent wrench will be used very carefully to give them a bit of torsional adjustment.

It is also important the front of the chip breaker where it meets the blade is a smooth fit. There should be no place for a small splinter to get lodged to cause trouble. I tend to hone this part of the chip breaker and will then give it a few swipes on a strop. I will even rub a little furniture wax to help the shavings along.

With your plane set up, hold it up and see if there is any light between the blade and the frog. This could be an indication the frog is too far back.

It sure seems like a lot to do, but once you get used to it, it only takes a moment to check and correct when needed.

jtk

[David Eisenhauer]

The big dip will have an effect on the shaving, but I would wax the sole of the plane to see if that relieved some of the effort required to push it. Waxing the sole, going with the grain and a sharp blade all work together to make for easier/better planning.

[Jim Koepke]

Also, that board I was planing had a big dip in it just from planing the same spot over and over testing a few planes.

Forgot to reply to this.

The solution is to plane on either side of the dip to bring the board back to flat. Then plane starting on one side working toward the other to keep it flat.

jtk

[Paul Fisicaro]

Jim, to the eye, it did seem the chip breaker was flush to the blade, well at first it wasnt. Someone mentioned they saw a gap so I filed it, sanded it and made sure it was flush. I didn't see any light at the time but Ill check again. Other than that or the frog being to far back, could anything else be at fault besides the user, me?

Thanks.

Its unbelievable how much help I have gotten on this forum. Its very, very awesome. Thank you everyone. You guys are legends.

If you have any questions about fly fishing in saltwater, Ill be glad to answer all and every question since that is my expertise! LOL.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, to the eye, it did seem the chip breaker was flush to the blade, well at first it wasnt. Someone mentioned they saw a gap so I filed it, sanded it and made sure it was flush. I didn't see any light at the time but Ill check again. Other than that or the frog being to far back, could anything else be at fault besides the user, me?

Thanks.

Its unbelievable how much help I have gotten on this forum. Its very, very awesome. Thank you everyone. You guys are legends.

If you have any questions about fly fishing in saltwater, Ill be glad to answer all and every question since that is my expertise! LOL.

It is possible something else is causing a problem. Trouble shooting from afar can be a challenge.

An overly tight mouth can cause shavings to jam and the plane will be hard to push.

Starting with the chip breaker back at 1/32" or 1/16" is fine for starting out. The first order of business is getting the plane to work. Once you become a planing ninja, then you can play with seeing how close you can get to the edge or how tight you can set the mouth.

If you have an old candle, other wax, paste wax or even some furniture polish with wax apply some of that to the sole of the plane. Apply starting at the heel and work toward the toe. This is safer than going the other way. You will be surprised how much difference it can make.

Try retracting the blade until it stops cutting. Then advance it until it just starts cutting. Make a few passes on the high sides of you practice board. If there are still problems, take some pictures, remove the blade and look for wood shavings caught between the blade and the chip breaker. Take some pictures of that. You shouldn't have to push down on the plane for it to cut. If you do have to push down on the plane it may be concave from front to back.

I just went out and took some shots of the chip breaker I tuned up yesterday:

Chip Breaker Side View.jpgChip Breaker Top View.jpg

The top view looks like there is a gap, but that is just some oxidation on the cap iron. Heck, we should look so good when we are that old. It has an 1867 patent date stamped on it.

If there is any gap, there will be a lot of splinters inside the opening. There may be a few from the dust coming in from the sides. If there is a lot, then there may be a gap.

jtk

[Stewie Simpson]

The chip breaker is about 1/16 from the blade. Everything I've read says to keep it as close as possible for thin shavings but im not really sure. Im a noob. It was getting clogged up a bit.

That bit of info suggests you need to back off the frog to gain some extra clearance with the mouth opening.

[steven c newman]

One other "trick" to try. When i first set up a plane after a rehab, I use a thin ruler. It runs the length of the frog's face, and out the mouth opening. On 99% of these planes, there is a "ramp" where the frog will rest on. I go for coplanar between the frog's face and the surface of that ramp. This serves as a "base line" to start to set things up to make a shaving.

With the frog off, look at the base casting. Right on the mouth opening, on the frog's side, there should be that ramp. I can even just use a fingertip when setting the frog in place. Frog too far back....the ramp will make the cutter bend towards the front of the plane. Too far forward, and there is nothing behind the frog where it comes out of the mouth. Sometimes that will result in chatter. Most times, it means shavings don't have enough room to curl up out of there.

try the coplanar trick once, and see how the plane does..

[Paul Fisicaro]

image-(23).jpgimage-(22).jpgimage-(25).jpgimage-(22).jpg

This is my Trustworthy #3. You see the ramp? or the casting.. It looks proud on the left side by a lot. She wont cut for crap. She skips and bumps around like 3 legged camel walking across a frozen lake. Its hard to get a file in there to fix it.. The frog doesn't mate up well with the base either. The bottom of the frog looks way too round. I filed it down some and almost have it flat. These are the things I've started to learn to look for.

Steve, Im a little confused on what you mean by coplanar? I usually make sure there is no lip when the frog sits on the base. Other than that, Ive never moved a frog forward or backwards.

[Stewie Simpson]

Paul. You may find this of interest.

Stewie;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZn9oVP2wps

[Paul Fisicaro]

Paul. You may find this of interest.

Stewie;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZn9oVP2wps

THis makes a lot of sense. I was using my plane on soft pine and it was clogging because I think my mouth gap is too small but I wasnt getting as much clogging in the poplar. Thanks for the information!

[steven c newman]

Per Pictures 2 and 4: Yes that is the ramp. Yes the frog is too far back. "Coplanar" would be when the face of the frog is in line with the angled part of the ramp Without that little step showing.

[Paul Fisicaro]

The problem is that this frog is aligned with the ramp but it's not sitting flush

[Jim Koepke]

The problem is that this frog is aligned with the ramp but it's not sitting flush

It is difficult for me to imagine this.

With the frog installed, can a flat rule be set on the frog and then pushed down the frog and through the mouth without catching?

jtk

[steven c newman]

Went down to the shop, and looked at two frogs. The first one didn't count, as it is a York Pitch Dunlap from West Germany..
IMAG0063.jpg
The frog is set in line with the ramp.
The second frog was on a Stanley Made in England #4
IMAG0057.jpg
Except these did not have a "ramp" cast into them. I set it up in-line with the rear edge of the opening
IMAG0058.jpg
How the iron and chipbreaker are set up..
IMAG0059.jpg
fully assembled. Test run was on some nasty Yellow Pine, still a bit wet, even..
IMAG0061.jpg
Mainly to get the entire surface flat. Had a few waves in it.