Fettle to the Metal With LA Blocks

[Jim Koepke]

Low Angle Block Planes of the 060 Size

The three planes shown are all of the Stanley #60 or #60-1/2 design. The real difference between the two is the #60-1/2 has a Japanned or painted lever cap and the #60 has a nickel plated lever cap. Of course, this all changed around 1950. First is a kind of burgundy color. The second is one bought from a hardware store, if my memory is working, in the 1980s. It is made in England. The third is made in USA and was acquired recently at a yard sale for $1. I think that is on the high side for the quality as bought. The planes are kept in this order throughout this writing. They will be referred to as the maroon, the English and the $1 special.

These planes do seem to function OK, but not as well as either my #65 or #65-1/2. I am sure the modern block planes offered by our favorite makers in the U.S. and Canada perform much better than what is shown here.

Patrick Leach says to avoid the maroon colored block planes. I am not sure if he just doesn't like the color or if he feels they are of poor quality. The maroon plane is usually my favorite of this trio. If he does not like them for quality, then an earlier plane of this model should be a really great tool. Maybe one of these days one will come my way, then I can decide. If it has more area for the blade bedding that would explain a lot. Anyone with an older example of these models is asked to post pictures.

Three 60s.jpg

The #65 and #65-1/2 are being shown for comparison. There are a few items of interest. Notice the bedding area near the mouth. There is a lot more blade support on the #65 models. Because of the thinness around the mouth area, one should look closely for cracks at the edges of the mouth. Using the plane to take heavy shavings or over tightening the cap can cause fatigue and stress cracks to ruin an otherwise fine plane.

LA la Block Land.jpgBlade Bedding.jpg

The $1 special is compared to a #65 in the photo to again point out the bedding area. Also of note is the finish between the two planes. Also notice the tongue for the mouth adjuster on the $1 special hangs over the side. This gets in the way when trying to use this plane on a shooting board with the mouth closed. Also, the mouth will not close as far as on the other block planes. The sole on the $1 special also had a concave banana shaped sole to the tune of about .005" causing more problems.

Also notice the blades. The 65 models are years apart yet still use the same blades. In fact, that is a fairly common blade from Stanley. It is used on a lot of block planes including the 9-1/2, 18 and 220. The maroon plane has what looks to be an older style blade. The English plane has a blade to allow for a lateral adjuster which has been removed since it does not seem to be more than just another shiny piece of metal to add weight. The $1 special has a blade with little holes in it. They tend to restrict the ability to make much lateral adjustment. More on this in a bit.
There have also been changes to the mouth adjustment components. The plates are different, even the screw threads are different.

Where the Mouth Is.jpg

A piece of pine was clamped up and the planes were used to take as thin a shaving as possible. The maroon and English plane are pretty much how they came to me. The $1 special at this stage is also pretty much as found. All the blades were sharp for this test.

First Test.jpg

Notice the blade extension of the three planes. The $1 special has almost no lip at the back of the mouth. Also of note with the $1 special is the blade would not cut on the right side. Using feeler gauges, it was determined that the right side of the bed was a bit thicker than the left side. Before fettling the plane, it was not possible to get a decent shaving the full width of the blade.

The bed near the mouth was not only angled from side to side, there was a little residual casting on one side that limited the blade's lateral movement. An auger file was used to correct the bedding and the mouth. This type of file only has teeth on two opposing sides of the four sides. Filing in this area has to be done with great care and attention. No rocking of the file is allowed! Only a few thousands of an inch of metal are being removed and it comes off fast. Even with this file which is an old one and fairly dull.

Bedding Correction.jpg

Not done at this time was to file open the slot for the mouth plate screw to get a bit more adjustment on the mouth opening. I am also considering bending the tongue on the adjustment harp up so it does not hang over the side when the mouth is closed for shooting board use. The geometries look like it will have to be bent up. If it were bent down, its movement could be blocked by the side of the plane.

The sole was lapped and now for the final tests & results.

This plane actually does pretty good after a tune up. It won't ever surpass my other LA block planes in operation, but it is passible. The blade not extending out of the mouth very much before cutting may have a little advantage on end grain. This is where the LA block planes excel.

Shooting the End Grain.jpg

On straight grain after being fettled, a shaving can be taken across the whole width of the blade. The finest shaving this plane seems to be able to accomplish is about .0015". Notice how little the blade is extended for the cut.

Last Cut is the Finest.jpg

If you have an older #60 or #60-1/2 I am sure others would appreciate your taking pictures of their blade bedding area, especially if it is different than what is shown in these three later day planes. Alternately, if you have an LV or LN equivalent of these planes if you could post a picture to satisfy my curiosity, there are surely others who would also like to see what the current planes offer in the blade bedding area.

This will have its link added to my fettling thread in Neanderthal wisdonm/FAQs.

Making shavings,

jim

[Dave Matson]

This little guy is probably nearly the same vintage as your #65 as it has the larger machined bed. It was given to me by a very good friend. The cam lock was missing but a replacement from stanleytoolparts.com rectified the situation. The sliding mouth has a good range of travel and can really close the mouth up tight. It sure would be neat to see a type study for block planes.

[John Keeton]

Another great thread! Jim, you are a valuable resource.

[jerry nazard]

Jim,

Read your post first thing this morning and just came back for a second reading. Great stuff and invaluable resource material. I have a bunch of flea market blocks that need work someday, so your post is quite useful to me. On an aside, I recently converted a junker Stanley Handyman into a rabbit block. It's holding it's shape and trimming tenons nicely. I love to save $$$!!!

Thanks for the post!

-Jerry

[Jim Koepke]

David,

Thanks for the images. That addresses my curiosity and it looks like the earlier block planes did offer better support of the blade. There are type studies of block planes in the John Walter book, but they only cover the #9-1/2 and the #18/#19 series. Some of the information seems to be applicable to the low angle block planes, but then some things are just different. From looking at the formed metal adjuster mechanism, the adjuster knob and the turned up mouth adjuster, I would guess your plane is no later than post war 1940s or the early 1950s. It is also possible that it was made before WW II. I just do not know enough about block plane variations to put an exact date on them.

John,

Thanks for your kind words.

Jerry,

What did you do for a blade for your conversion?


jim

[jerry nazard]

Originally Posted by Jim Koepke

David,


Jerry,

What did you do for a blade for your conversion?


jim

Jim,

I ground ~3/16 off the left side of the existing blade starting 1/4" behind the bevel. Quick and dirty!

-Jerry

[James Scheffler]

Originally Posted by jerry nazard

Jim,

Read your post first thing this morning and just came back for a second reading. Great stuff and invaluable resource material. I have a bunch of flea market blocks that need work someday, so your post is quite useful to me. On an aside, I recently converted a junker Stanley Handyman into a rabbit block. It's holding it's shape and trimming tenons nicely. I love to save $$$!!!

Thanks for the post!

-Jerry

I would love to see some pictures of that!

Jim

[Jim Koepke]

I would love to see some pictures of that!

Here is a recent thread on such.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...27011#poststop

jim

[jerry nazard]

Originally Posted by James Scheffler

I would love to see some pictures of that!

Jim

Here is a picture, but a bit fuzzy. (???) Might be time for a camera upgrade or some instructions in how to use one. Jim K. has already posted a link to the recent wabbit thread.

-Jerry