I have two shoulder planes made of bare, non finished or oiled beech. Both are new Nooitgedagt brand and I goofed, jammed the wedges in too tightly. Have you got the right method of freeing them?
Thanks much,
Alex
Rap the heel like the rest of us do.
Like the man said.
I was going to "gee wouldn't hurt?"... I know about that, but it doesn't work. Did quite a lot of tapping on it. Thank you.
Alex
Well, plan "B" is to tap the side of the wedge lightly and walk it out.
Well I guess I'll have to "tap" all day then, ay?
Alex
I'll try that then. Thanks again.
Alex
Then you're hitting it too hard.
Put down the big mallet. Get a small, light hammer (about 4oz) and tap it _quickly_. It may take some goes, but I've never met a plane this wouldn't unstick unless the iron was actually rusted in.
If you're recovering a junker, then you may need to be brutal to the wedge. But this is very much a last resort.
Making new wedges isn't that easy either - they need to be an excellent grade of stable well-seasoned timber (beech) that's already a few years old. Then you need to get the angles to fit the body accurately. A sloppy wedge is one that won't hold its adjustment in the future.
I was given a very odd wooden plane a couple of years ago.
it's small and high angle, and the blade is fairly thin steel, but takes a good edge. the body is nicely carved with some tasty ornament. the mouth is large at the sole but narrows down in the throat, so it packs up quickly with shavings. the toe has a couple of grips carved into it but no obvious place to apply the mallet for setting and adjusting the cutter. the heel, OTOH does.
the body of the plane is something hard, dense and light colored- beech or hornbeam or something like that- with a few layers of dark stain and or age. the wedge obviously went missing some time back and someone had made an attempt at a replacement. the attampt at a wedge was in mahogany- a decent piece of mahogany, but still too soft. I spent some time (probably too much, really) trying to make it work. no matter how well I fit it I can't seem to keep it from chattering and dropping the wedge. I'll have to keep my eye out for the right bit of something harder.
it's not a plane that I need too badly- I have several metal body block planes that work just fine and are about the same size. none of them are as high angle as this mystery woodie though and frankly it's a cool enough thing that I do want to get it up and running.
You shouldn't. It's amazing how little force it takes to loosen up a wedge. A couple of good raps should do it.
--RC
That high angle is for very hard and figured woods, Amazon stuff. Slow and very hard work, especially when readjusting the blade by hand for the next deeper cut. Alex
Did not...
I did exactly that.
That's reassuring
No, as I said they're both new.
Not needed.
Thank you Andy! Really appreciated! A great answer of help. CHEERS!
Alex
"AAvK" wrote in news:mVkad.18421$_a3.1997@fed1read05:
Try this.
If the iron extends beyond the wedge AND the wedge end of the iron is narrower than the cutting end - it should be - then put the palm of one hand over the top of the plane and hold the wedge tightly with thumb and index finger while Gently tapping on the wedge end of the iron. The iron should come free out of the mouth. Be sure that the iron has a soft place to land.
I have successfuly used this method on a couple 18th century planes.
LD
So, holding it that way while tapping on the top of the iron, not on the cutting edge, I'll try that too. Sounds good, thanks much.
Alex
Other stupid answer from my misunderstanding:
That sounds good too. But the cutting edge is (as I keep it) "up" in there so as not to protrude out, causing damage. Donwanna damage the mouth either. I did think about that too but couldn't think of tapping on the cutting edge, as one side thought.
Alex
"AAvK" wrote in news:%8mad.18431$_a3.14901@fed1read05:
I really don't think you want to be tapping the cutting edge. That would just push a wider chunk of iron for the wedge to grip. Not to mention damage to the edge.
Yeah but it's a new blade, not a tapered old laminated one. Perfectly flush-flat all the way. Alex
"AAvK" wrote in news:5Cnad.18444$_a3.3696@fed1read05:
Did you try tapping the non-cutting end of the iron? Even if it is not tapered, that may still work.
If (unlikely) the iron is tapered (thicker at the bottom), simply drive the iron DOWNWARDS. This releases the lock.
OTOH, if tapping (inertia) won't free the blade, hold the wedge in a vice, gripping the WHOLE exposed portion. and tap the plane off the wedge.
Try to generate forces in the line of the wedge if possible.
BugBEar
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