Matt Kenney wrote a fine article in the new issue on building a pair of grooving planes. One of the illustrations shows the bedding angle to be 57 degrees. It is not stated whether the blade is bevel up or bevel down. I am assuming that the blade is bedded bevel down, which produces a cutting angle of 57 degrees. This seems very high, comparable to very high angle smoothers. I would have started with about 45 degrees, which is standard on most bench planes. I am hoping that Matt will see this post and respond. Any of you have an idea on this subject?
Tom.
Replies
Answer to Tom's question.
Tom
Those are some good questions. First, the iron is bedded bevel down. As for the angle, molding planes are traditionally higher than smoother planes. Planes meant for softwoods were typically done at 55 degrees, and planes for hardwoods at 60 degrees. I used 57 degrees bases on a recommendation in the book "Wooden Planes and How to Make Them" by David Perch and Robert Lee. In John Whelan's "Making Traditional Wooden Planes," molding and similar planes are between 50 degrees and 60 degrees. All the history aside, I haven't had any trouble with mine.
If you have any other questions (or if anyone else does), please post them. I'll answer as quickly as I can.
Matt,
Thanks for your quick reply. I am thinking about building a pair of planes to use on boxes similar to yours.
Tom
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