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?
- posted
17 years ago
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?
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?
Rigidity.
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.
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.
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.)
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