On 2018-03-15 8:55 AM, Matthew Groves wrote:
> When mine is acting up, it’s usually because my blade is not sharp or is it at
the wrong angle for the hook that I put on it.

You raise an interesting point which Veritas mentions in the document 
for their scraper plane.

"... A blade
burnished with a 15° angle will require setting the adjustable frog to about
5° forward of vertical using the frog adjustment wheels (see Figure 7).
However, if your burnishing technique produces an angle other than 15°, you
will have to determine the ideal frog setting."

So if you wish to have a repeatable set-up method, you should find a 
burnishing angle and routine that works for you, and stick with it.


They also say "Use the scraping plane blade like a hand scraper to find 
the angle that produces the smoothest scraping action. Set the frog 
angle to approximately the same angle you established

with hand scraping...."

That seems to make sense BUT I'm not entirely convinced. Unless I'm 
mistaken ( it happens more often than I'll admit ), with the iron 
hand-held, you control depth of cut both with the angle of inclination 
as well as the force you apply to the iron, whereas once the iron's 
installed in the plane, depth of cut is determined solely by the angle, 
because the sole restrains downward forces. Still, it's probably worth 
trying.


There are other nuggets in that document worth mentioning:

Kirk's explanation of how he uses paper to establish the initial 
projection of the blade, by placing it only under the toe of the plane, 
is confirmed.

( As a former investigator, I love getting confirmation from an 
independent source! )

"Another technique you can use to set the initial
blade projection is to place a single sheet of paper under the toe of the
plane and set the cutting edge of the blade so that it is just resting 
on the
work surface. You should not have to adjust the frog forward if you use this
technique."

Nice!

And "To advance the blade, pick up the plane and pivot the frog forward 
1/2° or so.
Just loosening the rear adjustment wheel and retightening the front wheel
may provide enough movement."

So the plane is very sensitive to the inclination of the iron. ( The 
Tilt box will earn it's keep! )

Finally, " As the hook on the blade wears, you can continue to pivot the 
blade forward to re-establish the cutting action. Again, a shift of only 
1/2° or so may be all that is required."

See above.

So lesson relearned today - RTFM!

More tomorrow ( more snow too! )

Don


-- 
I have decided to leave my past behind. So, if I owe you money...I am sorry, but
I’ve moved on.

The harder they come, the bigger they fall." Ry Cooder