No. 18 knuckle block question

[Michael Hammers]

I bought a No. 18 last fall and really did not mess with it, went into the drawer. It is the first adjustable mouth plane I have bought.
My question is with the mouth. It looks as if the front should run in and out, however this plane stubbornly refuses to move.
Since I have never even laid hands on one till now I am a little baffled.
I have dissasembled and cleaned it, but I did not use any force at all.
Does anyone have any insight?
Thanks!

[Denis Tranchemontagne]

I just picked one up and cleaned it up a bit (sorry no pics at work)

Mine is missing the little adjuster to make the mouth adjust easily, that being the case I just loosen the front thumb rest/screw and physically slide the plate.

Mine didn't want to move either at first. I soaked in a citric acid bath, and that didn't quite do the trick. It did a wonderful job with the rust. Then I stuck a small thin screw driver in between the toe and the "movable" plate, and that got it unstuck. I may have used a shot or two of WD-40.

It is now my second favorite block plane. My record 60 1/2 is number 1 still.

Denis

["Michael Hinkel"]

Patrick leach talks about stuck parts on block planes here
about 1/2 way down the page.