You guys were right and a question! (HandPlane)

[GarageWoodworks]

Welp, I have been playing with my new (first) handplane a Veritas Smooth Plane (#4). Wow! I am really surprised how fun it is to use. I caught myself smiling a few times as I shwooshed off very thin 'ribbon candy' looking shavings.

One question though. After I set my depth of cut and adjust the 'pivot adjustment mechanism', how can I be sure that the tip of the blade is protruding to the same extend from left to right? I have noticed when I am taking very thin shavings that if it is pivoted to much in one direction, the shavings will only be coning from one side of the blade. Is this just a matter of sighting down the blade and trial and error?

Thanks!

[DonkeyHody]

Sighting down the sole to the blade works for me. It's surprising how accurately the eye can detect a blade that is not paralel to the sole.

DonkeyHody "Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him." - Thomas Carlyle

[John Grossbohlin]

Eyeballing the iron gets you close but you typically have to take a few sample strokes with a very fine cut and adjust the plane until the shavings are coming off the middle of the iron... Do you have a bit of camber in that iron so the corners don't dig in? If so the outside edges don't cut on a very fine cut and it's obvious when you are cutting in the "middle" of he iron.

John

[Glen]

What I do is similar. I put a thin board in the vise (about 3/8") and make a single pass using the left side of the plane and then another using the right side. The two curlies should come out even thickness.

Glen

[Leon]

Keep in mind if both edges extend you can get gouges with each stroke. Many will sharpen the edge so that it is rounded making the center of the blade extend farther than both edges. With the blade sharpened this way you get a feathered cut with each stroke. From there, I eye pall it.

[GarageWoodworks]

What is the best way to round the edge? File? Wet stone?

Thanks!

[GarageWoodworks]

Nevermind! I got it. duh.

[Leon]

;~) The easiest is to simply apply more pressure and work a bit longer, the outer edges when retargeting. You are only wanting to round the blade edge ever so slightly.

[Tanus]

I've got some kind of filtration going that is unintentional. GarageWoodworks is filtered from my received postings, and the only time I get to see what he writes is when it's included in a response, as above.

I'm running Thunderbird, which has a filter setup that's easy to use. I checked it and I had only three deletes in there; none referred to GarageWoodworks, but I've turned them all off anyway.

Anyone else having problems like this?

[Leon]

I'd try deleting all the blocks and start over with your list.

[Sam Fertel]

When I sight down the sole of the plane, I hold it up so that the fluorescent lights above my workbench reflect on the blade. That helps me visualize how even the two sides are.

Happy shavings