Newbie questions about adjusting a Stanley plane

Hi,

I have a few questions about adjusting a Stanley plane.

1: I notice that the frog can move back behind the rear of the mouth. Why is that? If you move the frog back behinid the mouth and then add the blade and chip cutter then there is no support for the bottom of the blade. Also, it looks like if you do that and then try to set the depth of the knife, it will run into the metal behind the mouth.

2: Is it correct that if you want a thick cutting then the frog has to line up right with the rear of the mouth so when the blade is in and the depth is set the blade will be fully supported by the frog and will be positioned right at the rear of the mouth.

3: If you want a thin shaving then you move the frog closer to the front so that the blade is near the front of the mouth. It can't be right near the mouth because once you set the depth too deep the chip cutter will run into the front of the mouth. So the frog tends to ends up being somewhere near the center of the mouth.

4: I was trying to prep some 5/4 wood which was wider then my 6" jointer. So I thought I'd run it through the planner instead. The pieces were about 8" x 20". The wood was not flat so I tried to use my hand planes to flatten one side. I was not getting satisfactory results with my Stanely 4 or 5. I don't have a scrub plane but would that have been the correct one to use in this situation?

Thanks

Alex

Reply to
alex
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yes.

Reply to
bridgerfafc

That is correct, but given manufacturing tolerances it is better that you have some adjustment. It also allows you to widen the mouth if you put in a thicker iron.

Generally, yes.

Maybe. Depends on the plane condition and the iron.

Probably. Depends how "unflat" the boards were.

Give up on those old metal planes and get a newfangled wooden one:

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Reply to
Jack Dahlgren

I think that in a historical context the No 5, a jack plane, with the iron ground with a radius rather than flat would be the tool of choice for the initial flattening. After that a jointer plane and then a smoother... or in the case of the OP, perhaps right to the thickness planner to do the off side and then smooth up the side flattened with the jack plane. I have to wonder if the OP was using winding sticks and straight edges to assist in flattening the initial side of the board?

The scrub is useful for the initial flattening of a piece of rough cut lumber, or for taking high spots off dimensioned framing lumber in construction, but beyond that you wouldn't have anything resembling a smooth surface.

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

Since you have a planer, you can use a planer sled to flatten the first side of your stock: See:

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looking for a URL for a planer sled, I also came across this scheme which uses a router.

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Reply to
Dan Coby

he's flattening enough to put it through the planer. surface finish is not an issue, moving wood quickly without clogging the mouth of the plane is.

Reply to
bridgerfafc

True, but he already has a No 5 and doesn't have a scrub... it sounds like it may be a process problem rather than a tool problem which is why I asked about the winding sticks and straight edge.

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

Try to find:

Jeff Gorman's website Used to be at

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but the planing section seems to have gone?

A 1950's British book called "Planecraft", published by Record tools

Reply to
Andy Dingley

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