I have purchased an extra blade for my Lie-Neilsen low angle jack plane #62.
I want to make the bevel angle steep enough so that I can use the plane to address areas of possible tear out.
Recommended angles vary from 50 to 60 degrees , ie 38 degrees for the blade if I go with 50 degrees The plane’s bed is 12°.
Does anyone have a perspective, experience, or opinion on this?
Thank you.
Replies
It depends upon what kind of lumber you are working with or intend to work. If you plan to work with very hard, dense wood going for 50, even 60 would be good in my opinion. It is something you may not use very often, but when you need it, you'd have it. There is also the option of using a toothing plane on trouble spots and hard wood. I have read about it but haven't tried it.
Thank you. I work primarily in Ash and Cherry.
When you go past 45-50 degrees, the plane gets harder and harder to push. The closer you go toward 90, it's no longer making shavings, but acting more like a scraper. I've never gone past 60 (counting the bed angle).
You really don't need anything special for ash and cherry. 45 works great. I wouldn't go past 50.
Thank you. I guess I will be getting some exercise!!
I use a Veritas low angle jack as well as a low angle smoother both with a blade angle of about 60 degrees (including the bed angle) and the results are fantastic.
They certainly require a bit more muscle to push than a 45 degree angle iron but, if you set the iron for a thinner shaving, you get the double benefit of less tear out and an easier push. Of course you also need to have your plane well tuned.
They work great on woods with rowed and/or highly figured grain. I use mine mostly on Cherry and highly figured Maple. I can also use them to plane against the grain with virtually no tear out.
Thank you for the tips on how to make it easier to use the plane with such steep angles.
thanks! Your perspective appears to be very in line with the others.
Relevant article by Christian Becksvroot on taming tear out and using different blades. He seems to favor a 55 deg angle.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2010/12/09/one-bench-plane-can-do-it-all
Thank you. Christian is one of my icons. As i usually make my furniture in the Shaker/Arts & Crafts styles he has always been a “go to” person for me!
Can’t argue with Becksvoort. I work in cherry quite a bit with the LN #62. I hone my second/primary iron to 42 degrees as it’s an easy setting on my Mk II honing guide. The resulting 54 degree edge seems to work quite well, even in figured cherry. No experience with ash. Got to keep it sharp though — there is no angle that will prevent tearout if it isn’t sharp!
thank you....I am getting more inclined to go with the 55 degree.
You are very right about sharpness.
Have to say that my hock blades in my planes are 01's...what Ron actually prefers...and I do, too. The A2's in my others don't quite seem to match the 01, though they do last longer. I kind of wish the 01 blades were available at Lie-Nielsen...I asked them about this and they were insistent there was no difference between the 2 steels.
Derek Cohen did a meticulous comparison of various smoothing planes which included assessment of tearout on tricky hardwoods. The Veritas low angle smoothing plane produced near flawless results on the most difficult hardwoods. He found that it performed its best when using the 50º blade (62º cutting angle) and a a bit less well when using the 38º blade (50º cutting angle). This plane is my dedicated smoother. On cherry, I get no tearout with the 38º blade. On the more challenging tiger maple and sipo I go to the 50º blade. It is indeed more difficult to push, but this is not really a problem. Setting the mouth to as narrow as possible and taking thin wispy shavings does make for optimum results with less effort.
Link to Derek's comparison studies:
https://inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/The%20Veritas%20Lee%20Valley%20Bevel%20Up%20Smoother.html
I totally agree with your assessment of the Veritas LA smoother, as I stated in my post above.
I recently glued up two figured Cherry boards for a small table top. Normally I would configure the boards so they both had the same grain direction but, in this case, the aesthetics wouldn't let me. After the top came out of the clamps I planed it with my LA smoother with the blade at a 60 degree angle. One half of the top was planed with the grain the other half against, the results were flawless.
You were faced with the EXACTLY the same problem I have been faced with...what to do when grain direction for each board doesn't match well when gluing up multiple boards and wanting to maintain a good look.
Very impressive article!! Learned a lot from it...thanks!!
I keep a couple of 50 degree irons for a total of 62 degrees for tricky material. Tough to push but fine for small areas of reversing or highly figured material.
sounds great! Thanks!
Yup....looks in line with what others are saying!
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