Problem with Primus wood plane - RESOLVED

[Paul K. Johnson]

I bought this plane a little while ago because I didn't have a smoother.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The blade keeps moving in use. I get it set to take really nice, thin shavings. After a stroke or two the blade cants and the next thing you know I've planed out a swath that's 1/32" deep.

At first I tightened the blade about as tight as you would on a metal plane - just snug. The blade moved very easily. So I tightened it some more. Same thing. I finally tightened it using a nylon jaw slip-joint wrench. It's far tighter than anyone could tighten by hand. Still having the same problem.

I don't know if I can send it back or not. I don't have the packaging and I've sharpened the blade a couple times. Not because it dulled but because I didn't get it very sharp the first time.

I ordered a Veritas bevel up smoother today.

This is the second wood plane I've had nothing but problems with. I bought a Japanese plane that didn't work out of the box. I couldn't get the wedge out and ended up really pounding on the back of the plane and even when it was loose it was a struggle to get it out. The blade was very stuck in the plane body even after the wedge was removed. I think I made it even worse when I started hacking inside the body to fix the problem even though I couldn't tell where it was sticking. That wasn't a cheap plane either. I think I'm done with wood planes. I don't like throwing that kind of money away on stuff that doesn't work.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas about how to keep the blade in my new plane from moving?

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Paul, I have never handled one of those things, so can't be much direct help. You have my condolences if it is not working. I assumed the amazon price was a typo, but I see similar prices from reputable dealers. Did you buy from a dealer, or from Amazon? If you bought from The Best Things for example, or Highland, I would expect them to offer some support if you called.

I think the Stanley style are more common around here. Perhaps edit the title to mention that it is a Primus, and that might get more folks who are familiar with them in to help you out.

Brian Holcombe is very knowledgeable about Japanese planes. Stanley Covington as well. There may be others who could help.

[Stewie Simpson]

Paul; the following may be of assistance. https://www.fine-tools.com/G301047.html

If you need further advise contact Dieter Schmid direct via his email; mailto:verkauf@feinewerkzeuge.de

[Paul K. Johnson]

Nicholas = Title fixed.

I bought it from Amazon.

Stewie - I researched the plane before I bought it and came across that page. I gave it a quick read and never went back to it. I was mostly just looking to see if people like it or not and if there were any recurring issues with it. I'll read it again and see if it helps. Thanks!

[Paul K. Johnson]

OK, that page Stewie linked to just made the light bulb go off.

The important thing is instruction 2: "Loosen the tension screw nut at the back of the plane body. (Do not remove)."

When I loosened it I could turn the tightening knob easily several turns by hand. So what I need to do is loosen the blade (back it off quite a bit) then tighten the clamping knob. Now when I turn the adjusting knob to move the blade out it gets tighter and tighter. I haven't taken any cuts with it yet but it seems a lot tighter than it was and I think I could get it even tighter if I needed to.

Edit: OK, yeah. I just loosened the blade again by backing it out over 1/8". Then I tightened the nut as hard as I could by hand. I can't get the blade to move out of the body now and it won't move at all from side to side.

So the trick is to figure out how much to tighten the nut before extending the blade.

I think everything is going to be fine now. The few strokes I took with it when it was adjusted properly were really sweet. The plane slid over the wood like it's permanently waxed - way easier than any of my iron-body planes. So now I think I'm really going to love this thing.

[Patrick Chase]

I realize that Stewie's pointer to the fine-tools page on the Primus adjuster fixed your issue, but wanted to reply to one comment you made

I think I'm done with wood planes. I don't like throwing that kind of money away on stuff that doesn't work.

The ECE Primus adjuster is completely unique, in the sense that there's nothing else like it in either wood or metal planes. You therefore shouldn't generalize from a Primus plane like the one you're using to "wood planes" in general. Most other wood planes (including non-Primus ECEs) use simple wedges to secure the blade.

FWIW I've always thought that the Primus adjuster was an awful lot of complexity to solve something (backlash) that's a "don't care" for me to begin with. Both of my ECEs are of the wedged, non-Primus variety.

[Paul K. Johnson]

It's probably just me but I really prefer an adjuster that works to hitting my planes with hammers trying to get the blade adjusted properly. If some wood plane comes along that really turns me on I may give it another go. And I do plan to actually make some wood planes just for kicks. Those will have a metal cap instead of wedges though.

I agree that the Primus mechanism seems overly complex. But I can say that it actually works. Either way you turn the adjuster makes the blade move. There's no turning it 1-3 times to take up the slack before it engages when you change directions. It's pretty cool actually. But I would never buy one just because of that. The only reason I bought this one is I like wood tools and it had a screw adjuster instead of a wedge and it got overall very good reviews.

[steven c newman]

These have some metal to them...
refurbbed planes.jpg
Stanley #28 and #29
IMAG0005.jpg
And these....

[Paul K. Johnson]

Steven - I have a stanley 5-1/4 that's pitted all over with rust. I spent a couple hours sanding it and it still needs tons of work. Might be a fun project to make a wood housing for it.

I inherited an entire Stanley wood chest of tools. Some were missing, all were abused. The chest has a roll-down front. I don't know who it belonged to - either my grandparents or my uncle - none of whom ever did any wood-working as far as I know. I have a feeling it was a gift to my uncle - they were well to do and he got all kinds of expensive stuff while he was growing up including a jaguar and a vette - both of which he totaled. He rolled one of them.

Anyway, they sat in my grandparent's laundry room for years. When they passed is when I received it. Had a yankee screwdriver, a block plane, the bench plane, a broken folding rule, socket chisels, a drill brace and bits and I can't remember what else.