I have two shoulder planes made of bare, non finished or oiled beech. Both are
new Nooitgedagt brand and I goofed, jammed the wedges in too tightly. Have
you got the right method of freeing them?

Thanks much,

Alex

Rap the heel like the rest of us do.

"AAvK" wrote in message
news:ga9ad.17867$_a3.1752@fed1read05...

I have two shoulder planes made of bare, non finished or oiled beech. Both
are
new Nooitgedagt brand and I goofed, jammed the wedges in too tightly. Have
you got the right method of freeing them?

Thanks much,

Alex

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 08:08:38 -0400, "George" george@least wrote:

Rap the heel like the rest of us do.

Like the man said.

Rap the heel like the rest of us do.

I was going to "gee wouldn't hurt?"... I know about that, but it doesn't work.
Did quite a lot of tapping on it. Thank you.

Alex

Well, plan "B" is to tap the side of the wedge lightly and walk it out.

"AAvK" wrote in message
news:idaad.17868$_a3.17793@fed1read05...

Rap the heel like the rest of us do.

I was going to "gee wouldn't hurt?"... I know about that, but it doesn't
work.
Did quite a lot of tapping on it. Thank you.

Alex

Rap the heel like the rest of us do.

Like the man said.


Well I guess I'll have to "tap" all day then, ay?

Alex

Well, plan "B" is to tap the side of the wedge lightly and walk it out.


I'll try that then. Thanks again.

Alex

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 07:21:36 -0700, "AAvK" wrote:

Well I guess I'll have to "tap" all day then, ay?

Then you're hitting it too hard.

Put down the big mallet. Get a small, light hammer (about 4oz) and tap
it _quickly_. It may take some goes, but I've never met a plane this
wouldn't unstick unless the iron was actually rusted in.

If you're recovering a junker, then you may need to be brutal to the
wedge. But this is very much a last resort.

Making new wedges isn't that easy either - they need to be an
excellent grade of stable well-seasoned timber (beech) that's already
a few years old. Then you need to get the angles to fit the body
accurately. A sloppy wedge is one that won't hold its adjustment in
the future.

--
Smert' spamionam

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 16:49:08 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:

If you're recovering a junker, then you may need to be brutal to the
wedge. But this is very much a last resort.

Making new wedges isn't that easy either - they need to be an
excellent grade of stable well-seasoned timber (beech) that's already
a few years old. Then you need to get the angles to fit the body
accurately. A sloppy wedge is one that won't hold its adjustment in
the future.


I was given a very odd wooden plane a couple of years ago.

it's small and high angle, and the blade is fairly thin steel, but
takes a good edge. the body is nicely carved with some tasty ornament.
the mouth is large at the sole but narrows down in the throat, so it
packs up quickly with shavings. the toe has a couple of grips carved
into it but no obvious place to apply the mallet for setting and
adjusting the cutter. the heel, OTOH does.

the body of the plane is something hard, dense and light colored-
beech or hornbeam or something like that- with a few layers of dark
stain and or age. the wedge obviously went missing some time back and
someone had made an attempt at a replacement. the attampt at a wedge
was in mahogany- a decent piece of mahogany, but still too soft. I
spent some time (probably too much, really) trying to make it work. no
matter how well I fit it I can't seem to keep it from chattering and
dropping the wedge. I'll have to keep my eye out for the right bit of
something harder.

it's not a plane that I need too badly- I have several metal body
block planes that work just fine and are about the same size. none of
them are as high angle as this mystery woodie though and frankly it's
a cool enough thing that I do want to get it up and running.

AAvK wrote:

Rap the heel like the rest of us do.

Like the man said.


Well I guess I'll have to "tap" all day then, ay?

Alex

You shouldn't. It's amazing how little force it takes to loosen up a
wedge. A couple of good raps should do it.

--RC

I was given a very odd wooden plane a couple of years ago.
it's small and high angle, and the blade is fairly thin steel, but
takes a good edge. the body is nicely carved with some tasty ornament.
the mouth is large at the sole but narrows down in the throat, so it
packs up quickly with shavings. the toe has a couple of grips carved
into it but no obvious place to apply the mallet for setting and
adjusting the cutter. the heel, OTOH does.
the body of the plane is something hard, dense and light colored-
beech or hornbeam or something like that- with a few layers of dark
stain and or age. the wedge obviously went missing some time back and
someone had made an attempt at a replacement. the attampt at a wedge
was in mahogany- a decent piece of mahogany, but still too soft. I
spent some time (probably too much, really) trying to make it work. no
matter how well I fit it I can't seem to keep it from chattering and
dropping the wedge. I'll have to keep my eye out for the right bit of
something harder.
it's not a plane that I need too badly- I have several metal body
block planes that work just fine and are about the same size. none of
them are as high angle as this mystery woodie though and frankly it's
a cool enough thing that I do want to get it up and running.


That high angle is for very hard and figured woods, Amazon stuff.
Slow and very hard work, especially when readjusting the blade by
hand for the next deeper cut.
Alex

Well I guess I'll have to "tap" all day then, ay?

Then you're hitting it too hard.

Did not...

Put down the big mallet. Get a small, light hammer (about 4oz) and tap
it _quickly_.

I did exactly that.

It may take some goes, but I've never met a plane this
wouldn't unstick unless the iron was actually rusted in.

That's reassuring

If you're recovering a junker, then you may need to be brutal to the
wedge. But this is very much a last resort.

No, as I said they're both new.

Making new wedges isn't that easy either -

Not needed.

Thank you Andy! Really appreciated! A great answer of help. CHEERS!

Alex

"AAvK" wrote in news:mVkad.18421$_a3.1997@fed1read05:


Well I guess I'll have to "tap" all day then, ay?

Then you're hitting it too hard.

Did not...

Put down the big mallet. Get a small, light hammer (about 4oz) and tap
it _quickly_.

I did exactly that.

It may take some goes, but I've never met a plane this
wouldn't unstick unless the iron was actually rusted in.

That's reassuring

If you're recovering a junker, then you may need to be brutal to the
wedge. But this is very much a last resort.

No, as I said they're both new.

Making new wedges isn't that easy either -

Not needed.

Thank you Andy! Really appreciated! A great answer of help. CHEERS!

Alex




Try this.

If the iron extends beyond the wedge AND the wedge end of the iron is
narrower than the cutting end - it should be - then put the palm of one
hand over the top of the plane and hold the wedge tightly with thumb and
index finger while Gently tapping on the wedge end of the iron. The iron
should come free out of the mouth. Be sure that the iron has a soft place
to land.

I have successfuly used this method on a couple 18th century planes.

LD

Try this.

If the iron extends beyond the wedge AND the wedge end of the iron is
narrower than the cutting end - it should be - then put the palm of one
hand over the top of the plane and hold the wedge tightly with thumb and
index finger while Gently tapping on the wedge end of the iron. The iron
should come free out of the mouth. Be sure that the iron has a soft place
to land.
I have successfuly used this method on a couple 18th century planes.


So, holding it that way while tapping on the top of the iron, not on the cutting
edge, I'll try that too. Sounds good, thanks much.

Alex

Other stupid answer from my misunderstanding:

That sounds good too. But the cutting edge is (as I keep it) "up" in there so as
not to protrude out, causing damage. Donwanna damage the mouth either.
I did think about that too but couldn't think of tapping on the cutting edge, as
one side thought.

Alex HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!!!!!!!!

"AAvK" wrote in
news:%8mad.18431$_a3.14901@fed1read05:

Try this.

If the iron extends beyond the wedge AND the wedge end of the iron is
narrower than the cutting end - it should be - then put the palm of
one hand over the top of the plane and hold the wedge tightly with
thumb and index finger while Gently tapping on the wedge end of the
iron. The iron should come free out of the mouth. Be sure that the
iron has a soft place to land.
I have successfuly used this method on a couple 18th century planes.


So, holding it that way while tapping on the top of the iron, not on
the cutting edge, I'll try that too. Sounds good, thanks much.

Alex

Other stupid answer from my misunderstanding:

That sounds good too. But the cutting edge is (as I keep it) "up" in
there so as not to protrude out, causing damage. Donwanna damage the
mouth either. I did think about that too but couldn't think of tapping
on the cutting edge, as one side thought.

I really don't think you want to be tapping the cutting edge. That would
just push a wider chunk of iron for the wedge to grip. Not to mention
damage to the edge.


Alex HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't think you want to be tapping the cutting edge. That would
just push a wider chunk of iron for the wedge to grip. Not to mention
damage to the edge.


Yeah but it's a new blade, not a tapered old laminated one. Perfectly flush-flat all the way.
Alex

"AAvK" wrote in
news:5Cnad.18444$_a3.3696@fed1read05:


I really don't think you want to be tapping the cutting edge. That
would just push a wider chunk of iron for the wedge to grip. Not to
mention damage to the edge.


Yeah but it's a new blade, not a tapered old laminated one. Perfectly
flush-flat all the way. Alex




Did you try tapping the non-cutting end of the iron? Even if it is not
tapered, that may still work.

AAvK wrote:
I have two shoulder planes made of bare, non finished or oiled beech. Both are
new Nooitgedagt brand and I goofed, jammed the wedges in too tightly. Have
you got the right method of freeing them?

If (unlikely) the iron is tapered (thicker at the bottom), simply
drive the iron DOWNWARDS. This releases the lock.

OTOH, if tapping (inertia) won't free the blade, hold the wedge
in a vice, gripping the WHOLE exposed portion. and tap the plane
off the wedge.

Try to generate forces in the line of the wedge if possible.

BugBEar