In short, I am having continued difficulty in setting the blade on the LN No. 60-1/2 - I can't seem to get the left-to-right of the blade adjusted correctly, while still having the blade slightly project from the side of the plane body. If one is correct, the other is not.


I usually lay the plane on its side, push the blade down into my workbench to get it flush with the side of the plane (or slightly protruding by shimming with a piece of paper). However, this always results in the blade being out of alignment left-to-right. So then I go through the process of aligning the blade left-to-right, starting with coarse hand adjustments, then moving to light hammer taps on the blade. The left-to-right adjustment is usually difficult and time-consuming as the blade iron does not seem to want to center (even when loosening the flywheel). And by the time the left-to-right adjustment is done, the blade is no longer where I want it relative to the side of the plane (usually sticking too far out).


In terms of instructions for this plane, LN's website says: "Align the edge of the blade with the side of the body that you want it flush with. Laying the tool on its side can help you do this quickly and accurately."


I contacted Lie-Nielsen. They were extremely helpful and encouraged me to give them a call. I did and we chatted for a good 10 or so minutes. The take-home message I got was to use the pein side of a ball-pein hammer to strike the blade near the spinwheel. This will SHIFT the blade over, as opposed to striking the blade near the back of the iron, which causes the blade to PIVOT (I'm pretty sure I got all this correct from our phone call). Whomever I spoke to did indicate it does take them some time finagling to get the blade in the correct position.


Despite the great help from LN, I'm still struggling. I'm sure this is user error (me!) and not the plane. Does anyone have suggestions?

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