Not long ago, I bought a #6C and a #7, both Bailey models and they are apparently FrankenPlanes. The #7 has a later model frog, with the adjuster tab but no hole on the sole for the screw. That one is usable. The #6C has a problem with retracting the iron far enough to get the edge away from the mouth so it doesn’t protrude. Has anyone seen this before? I have tried different irons and chip breakers but it’s the same.
Discussion Forum
“I cut this piece four times and it’s still too short.”
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast
-
Our favorite articles and videos
-
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
<<The #6C has a problem with retracting the iron far enough to get the edge away from the mouth so it doesn't protrude. Has anyone seen this before? I have tried different irons and chip breakers but it's the same.>>
Yes. My version of this problem came free of charge with a brand new 2000 vintage Stanley #6. The iron protruded way too far to be of any practical use.
My initial solution was to move the chip breaker as far down as possible, but I ran out of iron first.....(even with the chip breaker about 1/32" from the cutting edge of the iron, it still stuck out of the mouth too far to use as anything other than a rough and very poorly-performing scrub plane of sorts.
I finally replaced the stock iron and chip breaker with a Hock (I also ended up spending about 4 hours lapping the sole -- yeah, it was THAT bad -- to get it reasonably flat and co-planar between the toe, mouth, and heel).
The plane now performs in a less mediocre way than before, but is still not good for anything other than very rough work.
This plane irritated me so much that I went onto the infamous auction site and found a nice pre-1900 #6C, that a hour or so of tuning turned into a really nice, very pleasant to use plane.
I keep the "new" #6 around just to remind me why I like the old Stanleys so much better, and why I'm willing to spend the extra bucks for a LN......
<<I have tried different irons and chip breakers but it's the same.>>
One thing that might work is to shorten the chip breaker (if you have a flat chip breaker like the Hocks or LNs). Taking the rough amount of length off the chip breaker that equals the amount that the iron protrudes under the mouth might solve the problem.
Hope this is of some use.
Cheers!
James
Edited 6/7/2006 10:37 am by pzgren
My #6C is an old one, but it's probably not pre-1920 (it has three patent dates but no raised rib on the toe or heel). I already had a high-knob #7 before I bought the FrankenPlanes and since all three have 2-3/8" irons, thought it would be good to have extra irons, etc. The #7 with odd parts is a low-knob (non-adjustable) and there is no issue with that one or any other as far as the iron being too close to the mouth. I should have added that all of the chip breakers I have tried are Stanley but I did buy a L-N iron. I thought that the adjuster may be too close to the bottom and re-drilled it with nothing good as the result. I'll see if I can find an odd chip breaker to experiment with after flattening the sole a little more and trying it out. Since it didn't cost much, maybe I'll just set it on a shelf. Nice tote and knob, though, but I'm not sure they are original to this plane, either.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
This is a common problem on old planes and some new.
The chipbreaker is the wrong length for your plane. Probably swapped at some earlier point. By length I mean the distance from front edge of C/B to the slot.
This dimension varied in past production, over the years.
Try measuring a few random chipbreakers. If too long you may be able to shorten, and some clever metalworkers can solve the problem by filling the slot and creating a new one.
If necessary order a custom length from L-N, or Hock. Clifton will also produce custom lengths.
David Charlesworth
My first thought was that the adjuster was positioned wrong because it couldn't lay flat like the others. I then checked the chip breakers and the slots are all at the same distance from the leading edge. As I said, the older #7 and the #6C are FrankenPlanes so there's no way to tell when parts were replaced and one cap iron is marked 2-1/4 on the back with the CB being slightly narrower than the one on my first #7, as well as my L-N iron. In addition, it looks like the fork angle is different from the others, closer to 90 degrees. My theory in buying these was that, if I have a lot of jointing or initial flattening to do, it would be more efficient to have extra irons instead of having to stop for sharpening/honing. I may just have one CB filled so I can create a new slot to use on the #6. I haven't seen many loose parts lately.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled