Vic Baron wrote:
"John Grossbohlin" wrote in
message ...

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
...
Just picked up one of these at a sale and have a few questions.

It's in relatively good condition but I plan on giving it a thorough
tuning. I'm puzzled about the plane iron though - it appears that
it has been ground in a slight arc across the cutting edge as
opposed to a 90 degree cut. Is this normal for these planes? I've
seen some planes with a curved blade before but wondering what
effect it will have if I grind straight across.

2nd item - Although it's relatively rust free, the japanning is
chipped in quite a few places. Having it re-japanned ( is that a
word??) is not a viable option as is trying to do that myself. What
might be a good alternative - I was thinking some sort of epoxy
paint. Any ideas?


A slight camber on the iron is useful for correcting out of square
conditions and it keeps the corners from leaving tracks. By slight
we're talking about 1/64" at the ends as compared to the middle.

Personally, for a "user" vs. a decoration I wouldn't bother with
fixing the Japanning... but that's me.

John

Thanx John - Actually I agree about the japanning. I'll just clean it
up and leave it.

The iron isn't rounded at the corners, it's a smooth arc from side to
side. I'll grind it square and round the corners as I usually do.
Just wasn't familiar with this plane and wanted to be sure the arc
wasn't a design function.

It's called "camber" and it is a design function on a jointer plane. The
idea is that you can adjust an out of square edge by the position of the
plane rather than by having to tilt the plane or adjust the iron.