I just cleaned up a Stanley 22″ jointer plane, original blade and chipbreaker. I have watched all the videos on this site and a lot on YouTube. The blade is surgically sharp, 7000 grit with a Veritas MarkII guide, 25 degrees, cambered. The chipbreaker is 1/16″ back from the cutting edge. I am “practice planeing” the edge of a piece of popular. Wood is catching between the blade and chipbreaker. I am making more sawdust than shavings.
I just cleaned up the bottom edge of the chipbreaker with 320 sandpaper with the steel laying flat, using the screw hole as a guide at the edge of the sanding surface. Do I need to set this angle a little more precisely? How fine an edge do I need to put on it? Does it have to have a perfect fit on the blade surface, seems so? Thanks.
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Replies
Yes, it needs to be a perfect fit. If there is any gap, shavings are going to get stuck. It's the fit that needs to be most perfect on a plane.
I really dislike the original chipbreakers. I replaced the blades and chipbreakers on my vintage planes with Hock. The blades are a big upgrade from Stanley's. The chip breakers are an enormous upgrade.
Move the chipbreaker forward, 1/16th is too far back. I undercut the leading edge of chipbreakers to get better contact at thr front edge, and yes it needs to fit perfectly.
I also undercut the edge of the chipbreaker. Then I hone the upper edge so it is nearly as smooth as the blade. Ultimately, the edge of the chipbreaker is sharp enough to cut a finger. I find this enables smooth curling and nothing gets between.
When working on the front edge of the chipbreaker, it is easy to get it slightly rounded so the corners don't fit tight to the blade. I work mine on the corner of a coarse sharpening stone, so that I'm working the center slightly more than the corners. I then finish with a few strokes touching the whole edge to the stone to remove any slight dish. I would try to get more of an angle on the edge than what you are getting using the screw hole as reference for the angle. When you tighten the screw, that flexes the chip breaker and causes the back of that angled surface to be what hits the blade, leaving the gap that catches the shavings.
Of course, there is an assumption here that the back of your blade is flat...
You need to hone the chip breaker for a tight fit with the iron as others have pointed out.
Hock replacements are a worthwhile upgrade, a #7 in good condition is well worth this investment.
The chip breaker does not "break the chip" or reduce tear out. It is required, do to the high angle of the frog, to stiffen the blade to eliminate chatter. Anyone claiming otherwise, should explain why it is not necessary for a low angle bevel up plane...
You flattened and polished the back of the blade near the cutting edge, right?
+1 on what _MJ_ and Jim_Hall said!
The back of the blade is flat and polished but as you can see the chip breaker fits terribly. The underside of it needs a lot of work. Does the Veritas MarkII help set the correct angle on the breaker? Either at 1/16th or 1/32nd I have a bad fit. I purchased this from Patrick Leach/Supertool and it appeared unused but.. I think I have likely complicated things myself. :) Looking at the Hock chip breaker now. I purchased a Hock blade for my 10" Bedrock, pictured below.
Yup. Upside down.
Lots of good advice on this thread, but it is highly likely that you have solved the problem already and don't need to buy a new anything or do much more than what you have already done. I have a Stanley 8C jointer from Patrick Leach and it is a joy to use with the original blade and chipbreaker.
With your chipbreaker now attached to the proper side of your well-sharpened blade, 1/32-1/16" from the edge, check to see that it lies flat on the blade without any visible gaps, which I bet it does already. Back the iron off so it takes no shaving, then advance it very slowly until it just starts to take a wispy shaving. Then enjoy one of the greatest pleasures of woodworking. Very gradually increase the depth of cut to serve your purpose.
I used my jointer to flatten the top of the Roubo workbench I'd built, and it was a joy to use. I bet you find the same thing.
Wow, beautiful bench. I see plans all over the place on this. What plan did you use? What kind of wood? I can use my sharp old planes on a new surface as well. :) I ordered 8000 grit paper and will revisit my chipbreaker fit. Much of this is iterative, not instant.
I used the very complete plans for the spit-top Roubo bench that came with the hardware kit from Benchcrafted. Very pleased with the the build process, the plans and hardware, and the beauty and functionality of the bench. I lucked into a bargain priced load of 8/4 ash for the main body of the bench, and a similar deal on some 12/4 African sipo which I used for the chop, the sliding deadman, and the endblock.
You're in for a lot of fun and learning.
You have the iron upside down. It goes in the plane with the beveled edge down, not up. Move the chipbreaker to the other side.
Now I wonder what it would look like with the chipbreaker upside down too.
Here ya go...
Didja try it?
You guys have no idea how happy that answer makes me. I have looked for a picture and watched several videos trying to determine which side is up. (I'll get over the feeling stupid part soon enough) Naturally I just now found a diagram with a clear pic of it. Thanks!
Show us a picture of the fantastic shaving it makes!
Here are the shavings I just made, fantastic or not, it isn't sawdust or chips. I purchased a piece of Poplar to practice on. One of the videos on FW stated you have to practice this like everything else, who woulda thought? Thanks for all the help, seriously. Now to repeat this on the Bedrock plane, I have it upside down as well. I did all this to plane the top of my workbench.
Nice!
Fun, ain't it??!!!
I have restored 3 Stanley planes: a 1931 type 15 #7, a 1929 type 14 #5, and a 1918 type 6 #605 bedrock.
I replaced the chip breaker in the 7 and in the 605 with a Hock chipbreaker and iron (01). The #5 was converted to a scrub plane with an 8" radius bevel on its iron.
I found the Hock replacements superb. The 605 is a smoothing plane and is easily shaving <.001" I also put a 5 degree micro bevel on the Hock irons, as well.
Absolutely no chattering on any plane or debris catching under the chip breaker
I went through my planes recently. The Rollie Johnson advise available on this site about using valve grinding compound to seat parts works really well!
Lie Nielsen laps the backs of their chisels on a thick steel plate covered in valve grinding compound.
Roland Johnson's video workshop series has a video on dealing with this exact problem. Yes, the chip breaker has to fit perfectly with no gaps what so ever. This means making sure the back of the blade is dead flat, and working the edge of the chip breaker with some sandpaper on something dead flat until it mates perfectly with the back of the blade. I have also put the chip breaker into a vise and slightly bent the rounded part slightly more forward to give it a little more spring and help it fit better. For a jointer plane, 1/16th of an inch is fine.
Like some have posted here, I prefer replacement blades and chip breakers from either Hock tools or Veritas. The chip breakers fit so much better right out of the box than the original ones. But I understand there are many who use the originals for various reasons. Hope this helps
Don’t sweat it, it is a common mistake.
Make sure your edge is still good, it does not take much to roll or chip the edge just trying to get the blade into the plane. Look straight down at the edge with a loupe, any shiny reflections are where the bevels are not meeting and will need to go back to the hone.
Paste a 3-inch strip of cardboard from a cereal box with any good metal polish, Maas, Mothers, or Semi Chrome and polish the bevel and back to a high shine. It will cut like butter, 7K grit is not all that sharp. Most edges do not get fully straight until after 8k.
And you can touch up an edge, literally in seconds on your cardboard strop. Punch a hole in one end and hang it on the wall for future use.
Ignore what folks say about stropping rolling an edge, guys have been stropping razors for hundreds of years for a reason, and those edges are much finer and thinner.
I have really learned a lot on this question. I ordered a strop and some 8000 grit paper. I will revisit fit/polish/flat on both planes. Betting I refine some things and make even prettier shavings. Many thanks for all of the thorough answers and wisecracks.
I still have some more opportunity to learn here if I haven't worn out my welcome. I got the 8000 grit paper and a leather strop, we are razor sharp. My 604 1/2 Bedrock is creating sawdust and chips. I have a new Hock blade, 8000 grit sharp, chipbreaker fits well. I tore this plane all the way down recently and suspect it isn't adjusted properly. I enclosed a couple of pictures. I think I understand that, of the of the 3 adjustment screws on the back, the middle one adjusts the frog forward and backward, the two outside ones tighten it in place. Is there a video or instructions on this? I can't find one. Thanks.
Correct.
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