Shimming a plane bed?

[Dan Barr]

So...

Made a new wedge for a wooden coffin smoother so that I could fit a different blade. Had to pare/float the wedge abutments and test fit many times. Good so far. Then I did a mouth repair. Morticed out a section of the mouth. Made a cocobola insert, glued it up, fitted the blade. Got to a really tight mouth at that point (3 thousandths) except the blade would not square. Sole was out of square which put the blade and bed out of square with the mouth. (Why didnt I realize that before...?). Squared and flattened the sole but, then the mouth was wider. I fully understand why. I cut the mouth insert at 90 degrees to the sole. Could have cut at the bed angle minus shaving clearance but figured the plane would choke. Blade being higher after squaring/flattening moved the blade back thus widening the mouth (mouth is just a shade over 1/32" now). Things are starting to suck at this point.

I could shim the bed (temporarily or permanently) in order to put the blade closer or i could chop out the insert and start again. I thought about gluing another strip of cocobola onte the insert... Not sure that will hold up over time. I test shimmed with canvas cloth. Works well. Only thing is... It's another "thing" I have to deal with now. On the bright side... It is now an adjustable mouth if I make different shims. 😀

thoughts?

dan

[Stewie Simpson]

Dan; its a learning process, remove the old insert and replace it with a new one. Do some research on the inclusion of a wear angle with wooden planes. This will help you along. https://logancabinetshoppe.wordpress...outh-geometry/

Look forward to you posting the photo's.

regards Stewie;

[Dan Barr]

That's what i figured. As bad as I didnt want to admit it. Thanks for the link. Learn something everyday! FYI, the blade is .25" thick, required wedge/mouth repair. Using it without chipbreaker vs original blade with chipbreaker. I'm hard headed, so... I might try a really tight wear angle to see what happens. 😝 Why? I will use this plane excusively for super thin shaving (dust generator). Worst case, it chokes and I can relieve it. Any particular angle you recommend? Thoughts?