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w do I tune a wooden jack plane. Should the sole be flat. What is the proper blade edge angle.
Rob
w do I tune a wooden jack plane. Should the sole be flat. What is the proper blade edge angle.
Rob
Welcome Rob!..
Hopefully what’s posted this is what you are looking for…
To start…
Please keep ANY and ALL power tools away from this beauty!.. Especially powered sanders!..
Yes, the sole needs to be flat… Front (toe) to back (heel) and side to side…
If the sole is found to be uneven when you ‘sight’ along it (look along the sole from toe to heel), or place the edge of a ruler or try square along it, you will need to follow a procedure known as “lapping the sole”Another way of checking is to place the plane sole-down on a perfectly flat, hard surface such as plate glass, and see if it’s possible to rock the plane.
To flatten the sole you’ll need:
180/220 grit sandpaper, the ideal abrasive paper for lapping wooden soles. (Self-adhesive sandpaper will make the job of sticking it down much easier).
A hard, flat surface like plate glass, a granite or marble tile…
NOTE:
As you work, the scratch pattern made by the sandpaper will readily reveal any high and low spots on the sole.
Step 1 – Tape or stick sandpaper:
Tape or stick the sandpaper to your flat surface. The sandpaper should be at least the length of the plane.
Step 2 – Run the plane over the sandpaper:
With the iron retracted, run the sole of the plane just once over the sandpaper, pressing down and maintaining firm contact throughout.
Step 3 – Check sole:
Take a look at the sole. The scratch pattern left by the sandpaper should reveal any high and low areas of the sole – the high points scratched and the lows left untouched.
Step 4 – Remove high points:
If there are any high points, remove them by running the sole backwards and forwards repeatedly over the sandpaper until the whole of the sole has been affected by the sandpaper.
At this point, your sole is well and truly flattened!..
Step 5 – Smooth finish:
If the sole looks scratched rather than smooth, you can finish off by running it across higher-grit sandpaper…
Low Angle Vs. High Angle Jack Plane
The Low angle Jack Plane tends to be better for end grain and High Angle jack planes are better at avoiding tear out – You can simply flip the bevel down blade to face up and fit on a low-angle 15-degree bed to make a perfect cut of 45-degrees.
The Low Angle Jack Plane is convenient to push and produce a more shaved surface, whereas a higher-angle plane is slightly harder on the arms but will tear-out less. Further, the Low Angle Jack Plane has more iron behind the edge as compared to the High Angle Jack Plane, making chatter less problematic.
You could reasonably sharpen the bevel of the blade of a low-angle Jack Plane to 33-degrees, giving you a 12-Degree bed angle, which makes a perfect 45-degree cut.
In contrast to that, if you want to make a low-angle cut shallow cut, than sharp the bevel blade at 17-degree, giving a bed angle of 20-degree, which makes a perfect 33-degree cut.
Sharpening Angles for Bench & Block Planes.pdf (79.1 KB)
THE CUTTING ACTION OF PLANE BLADES.pdf (47.2 KB)
(upload://iQ1kEwqtLLdJdbvyLrsNsfdfoZt.jpeg)
