Handplane without Chipbreakers

What is it exactly about Handplanes without Chipbreakers that make them work well. Such as Low-angle planes and Asian types. Small Mouth openings? and sharp blades?

Reply to
Snog
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I don't understand.

are you asking how to make the ones you have work well, or is this an attempt to start a thread on handplane geometry as an abstract exercise?

Reply to
bridgerfafc

Rigidity.

Reply to
CW

Bingo. Some of the Asian planes do have chip breakers. The chipbreaker was a European influence from the late 1800's and is an improvement.

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I went to the Korean deli where I get my prosciutto, pepperoni, provolone and hot peppers sandwich (highly recommended) and they were in the midst of a large renovation. They were installing some site built laminate cabinetry and I asked the guy trimming the edges if I could take a look at the hand plane he was using. It was longer than this one
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and without the crossbar. From the sound of it you could tell that it was sharp and working well - kind of surprising as he was working plastic laminate. Felt good in the hand, nice heft, and it had a brass wear plate at the mouth. I think tomorrow I'll ask him if he can get me a couple of different planes for a good price so I can play around with them.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

All planes work better with smaller mouth save, perhaps a scrub. There are limits, of course, to clearances. One limit is addressed by the chipbreaker, which allows better rigidity in a thin blade setup, and when properly set, gets the shaving on the path to out of the plane and out of the way, sort of like the contour of a bevel-up plane.

Reply to
George

Yes to both final questions. A tight mouth and a sharp blade are essential for fine shavings and tear-out-free surfaces. The "chipbreaker", IMO, is more of a blade stabilizer especially in bevel-down planes where the cutting edge is hanging out in space, unsupported, for the length of the bevel. The "chipbreaker" (I think I'll start calling it the "cap iron") adds considerable rigidity to the cutting edge when set closely.

The "tight mouth" part presumes that the leading edge of the mouth is sharp as well. The erosive effect of the shaving sliding over that arris will, in time, round it over. That edge holds down the shaving helping reduce tear out and when it's worn, it can't do that job as well. One of the tune-up steps on older planes is to file the leading edge of the mouth to true it up (if necessary.)

Reply to
Ron Hock

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