diggerop wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
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.




I've got one of my jack planes set up with a a slight arc. I find it
useful for taking off lots of wood in a hurry, while the reduced
effective width of cut lowers resistance. Can't imagine ever wanting
to do that to a jointer though.

You want it really slight--just enough to be able to adjust the angle of the
edge without tilting the plane. The idea isn't to remove stock quickly, the
idea is to get a square edge easily.