[prescript: This time I remembered to check google archives _before_
posting... 8^O ]

Greetings,

Having fettled, sharpened, honed and polished my production Stanleys, I
can get wispy curlies from cross-grained hardwood. So far, so good. Now,
with a gnat's whisker of blade showing, I'm trying to get the lateral
adjustment juuust right. Out of the box, with wide mouth and lots of
blade, for pine, say, I could eyeball the adjustment adequately. With a
couple of thous of blade, though, even a gentle tap on the lever takes the
blade too far 'tother way.

Is this simply a fine-motor skill that I have to practice? Are the
lateral adjusters on "good" planes easier to set? I begin to understand
the appeal of a screw-type lateral adjustment. Those LV and Knight set
screws look mighty nice, too. There's lots of advice on the web for
setting up planes, but I haven't seen anything regarding micro-adjustments
of the lateral adjuster.

I've tweaked the cap-lever bolt, looking for the point which will allow
firm lateral adjustment, without slopping around when blade meets wood.
I've tweaked the alignment of the frog. I've partially ground the face of
the frog (haven't popped out the lateral lever retaining pin yet...). I've
squirted dry graphite in various places. I've tried lubricating the frog
face with paraffin (Gulfwax).

As a related question, what tool would a machinist use to gauge the
parallelism of the face of the frog to the front of the mouth? Setup bars?
Gauge blocks? An ancient post in the Google archive says that one doesn't
need the lateral adjustment if one's blade is properly sharpened. Well,
ok, but the frog has to be parallel to the mouth for that to be true.
Also, there's no way to align the blade on the frog during assembly, other
than finger feel.

Yep, I'd rather have L-N or LV. Sigh.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"

Garret Hack said you can feel smaller tolerances than you can see. :-)
I pretty much agree with him. If you can't feel the difference, don't try to
set a Knight smoother. :-)

"snip

Also, there's no way to align the blade on the frog during assembly, other
than finger feel.

Yep, I'd rather have L-N or LV. Sigh.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:48:35 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
wrote:

Is this simply a fine-motor skill that I have to practice? Are the
lateral adjusters on "good" planes easier to set?

Get one of these - a Record Calvert-Stevens. Basically a Bailey #4
with a Norris adjuster on it.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWA:IT


As a related question, what tool would a machinist use to gauge the
parallelism of the face of the frog to the front of the mouth?

Eyeballs and a bright light. Never underestimate either well-lit
eyeballs, or touch.

What's special about a Knight smoother? They have set screws to center
the iron.

Bob

On 8 Sep 2004 13:38:57 -0700, "Bob" calmly
ranted:

What's special about a Knight smoother? They have set screws to center
the iron.

My old one doesn't. sniffle


--
Guns don't kill people. Rappers do!
-----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Rap-free Website Development

On Wed, 08 Sep 2004 21:36:32 +0100, Andy Dingley wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWA:IT
Yeah, right.

Eyeballs and a bright light. Never underestimate either well-lit
eyeballs, or touch.

Touchy-feely? OK, I'm setting the frog correctly then.

I also like Hack's suggestion of painting the back wall of the mouth
white. (I think it was Hack. If it wasn't him, it was the other guy.)

Seems that it would be an easy matter to install set screws in any old
plane. Not that _I_ currently have the right tools or skills, mind you.

--
"Keep your ass behind you"

Well then, feel on brother. I hear Knight planes are so good that you
can get the adjustment anywhere near right and they do nicely.

Bob

: I've tweaked the cap-lever bolt, looking for the point which will allow
: firm lateral adjustment, without slopping around when blade meets wood.
: I've tweaked the alignment of the frog.

The lever cap should be so adjusted that you can only just release the cam
with one finger. In this situation there should be no difficulty in
adjusting either the lateral lever or the feed screw.

Jeff G

--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
Email: username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net

Lowell Holmes wrote:

Garret Hack said you can feel smaller tolerances than you can see. :-)

Yep. I gave up on trying to eyeball the lateral adjustment on
planes when I first started using wooden planes, and now I adjust them
all by touch. I hold the plane with the pads of my index and middle
fingers under the plane and spread so they touch the iron where it
extends from the sole.

Needless to say, be careful. The iron is (or should be) very sharp,
and injury may result if you are careless.


Chuck Vance

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 08:14:33 +0100, Jeff Gorman wrote:

The lever cap should be so adjusted that you can only just release the cam
with one finger. In this situation there should be no difficulty in
adjusting either the lateral lever or the feed screw.

On the theme of how great our physical senses are, I recall reading ages
ago about a study: Experimenters asked subjects to torque something "very
hard," "hard, but not too hard," "lightly," "not too lightly," and so
forth. Measured numerical torque values were very consistent across the
experimental group. So, your advice looks imprecise at first glance, but
my finger will understand exactly what you meant. Thanks.

Responding to a different post: The same finger whimpers when I think
about exposing it to my blades. I have an Ice Bear 10,000 stone riding
toward me in a Fedex truck this morning. "The Wells Fargo wagon is a
comin' round the bend / I wonder what it has for me?"

Hey, remember those old-timey safecrackers who'd sandpaper their fingers
to increase sensitivity? That fellow who wrote recently about making his
fingers bleed whilst learning to use a diamond stone was on the right
track!

--
"Keep your ass behind you"

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 09:11:40 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 08:14:33 +0100, Jeff Gorman wrote:

The lever cap should be so adjusted that you can only just release the cam
with one finger. In this situation there should be no difficulty in
adjusting either the lateral lever or the feed screw.


(snippage)


Hey, remember those old-timey safecrackers who'd sandpaper their fingers
to increase sensitivity? That fellow who wrote recently about making his
fingers bleed whilst learning to use a diamond stone was on the right
track!


Good story, but myth. A combination lock can be "felt" depending on the
tolerence to which the mechanism is manufactured. Most safe's were
made to be hard to move (or say a concrete room) and time consuming to
open. For most of history--including most safes sold today, fire is a
more important design consideration than theft.

Among other things, this is discussed in Richard Feynman's delightful
"Surely You're Jest, Mr. Feynman." In addition to being a Manhattan
Project physicyst, Feynman was also an amataur safecracker and locksmith
who frequently put his skills to use when his colleagues forgot their
safe combinations.

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 09:11:40 -0500, Australopithecus scobis
calmly ranted:

Hey, remember those old-timey safecrackers who'd sandpaper their fingers
to increase sensitivity? That fellow who wrote recently about making his
fingers bleed whilst learning to use a diamond stone was on the right
track!

Yeah, so if you ever get pulled in by the cops and they
notice that your fingerprints are all sandpapered, just
explain that you're a harmless woodworker. If they don't
believe you, have them blow in your ear. If they don't
lock you up for making a pass at them and turn you over
to the DHS, the sawdust cloud coming out of your ear will
get their attention and prove your point decisively.


--
Guns don't kill people. Rappers do!
-----------------------------------
www.diversify.com Rap-free Website Development