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Why is it necessary to adjust the mouth of the plane?
Why do I need it? The value of having an adjustable mouth on a plane is the ability to increase or reduce the space between the leading edge of the mouth opening and the cutting edge of iron. If you’re making a heavy cut and taking thicker shavings, you want more open space in front of the iron for the shaving to pass.
What is the frog on a plane?
Here are the functions of the plane frog: One: One of the frog’s primary function as a separate entity to the sole is to carry the lateral adjustment mechanism and the depth adjustment mechanism. See pic above. Two: The frog itself allows the closing and opening of the throat.
How wide should a plane mouth be?
For smoothing most hardwoods, 1/32 inch is good, though you may want to set it at 1/64 inch for difficult woods prone to tearout. For softwoods, 1/16 inch may be more appropriate. The distance will vary for individual planes set up to achieve different results.
How do you iron a plane Square?
Use the lateral adjustment to get it square. Just a put a little extra pressure on the bad side of the iron when you sharpen up, it will come back to square over time. Or, put in some elbow grease and re-square it on some 80 grit wet-dry paper, working up the grits to hone it out once it is square again.
What causes a wooden plane to open up the mouth?
This condition is typically attributed to wearing down of the sole from use and routine flattening. And while it’s true that routine maintenance of a wooden plane will open up the mouth, there’s a little more to the story than just routine maintenance and wear.
What was the throat geometry of a hand plane?
Before the American prison factories industrialized the production of the wooden hand plane by less skilled labor, English planes, made by very skilled planemakers, used a slightly different throat geometry to allow the use of a double iron while still providing for a tight mouth.
What is the bottom part of the throat called?
The bottom part of the throat, called the wear, is what we’re really interested in looking at here. This area of the throat angles over the iron for about an inch before angling back in the opposite direction to form the upper throat where the shavings can be removed.
Which is the correct angle for the throat?
This area of the throat angles over the iron for about an inch before angling back in the opposite direction to form the upper throat where the shavings can be removed. The closer the angle of the wear is to the bed angle, the less the mouth will open as material is removed from the sole during flattening.