Anyone know why block plane irons have their bevel up?
It would seem to me that a standard block plane (30 deg. bed) with a 20 deg bevel and a 5 deg. micro bevel would have an angle of attack of 55 deg., where a normal smooth plane has an angle of attack of 45 to 50 deg.
If you turned the block plane blade with bevel down, the angle of attack would be 30 deg. A low angle block plane with bevel down would have a 12 1/2 deg. cutting angle. Wouldn’t that slice end grain better?
Replies
With the bevel down a large part of the blade would be unsupported and increase chatter. Yes, a typical block plane has a cutting angle approximately the same as a standard plane. The block plane's reason for existence, at least for me, is that it can be used with one hand.
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