I just restored a Stanley 604 1/2 plane to use, not look at. It is beautiful but… I also purchased a new Hock blade that may be a little too thick. It seems to make the Lateral Adjusting Lever drag across the handle (tote).
The original blade was cambered a bit on the edges, that may have been good but caused me to purchase a new blade. I don’t know. The new blade which I flattened and sharpened up to 2000 grit seems to catch and chatter across the surface, it is not cambered.
I have been trying to tune the Frog so the Adjusting Nut brings the blade all the way in and also adjusts it out to a good depth. The placement of the Chip Breaker on the blade and the position of the Frog seems to be Black Magic.
I don’t see any Youtube videos on tuning, but a lot on restoring. Any pointers on how to learn to tune this plane up? A document, a video or both? Thanks as always. (I learn a lot like this)
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Replies
On this site Rollie Johnson has a series of videos on restoring and tuning Stanley planes. I can't see how someone could make a video about restoring a plane and not include making the parts function properly together. In other words " tuning".
Tuning is way too involved to get into in a reply here. But do watch the above videos.
But, 2,000 grit isn't really sharp. You'll always have issues if that's your finest grit. I go 1,000, 4,000, and finish on 8,000. That's more or less standard.
That is why I include as much info as I can. I'll pick up finer grit, thanks!
2000 ain't sharp. But my first guess would be that you're taking too big a bite. The camber is a necessary evil. Without a slight camber you'll get tracks with almost every swipe across a wide board. Back your blade off and bring it in an eighth turn at a time. Take no more than.003" per swipe.
You may want to make sure the Hock blade is fully seated against the frog. When I bought a Hock for my Bailey No. 4 the mouth of the plane was a bit too small. I had to open it up with a file a little bit. Remove the lever, lever screw and chip breaker. Now slide the Hock blade back and forth along the frog and see if the bevel of the blade is clear of the mouth as it goes past and is proud of the sole.
I am new to handplanes, I have had this 604 about 35 years, admired it some but never used it. I want it to look good and perform. I was turning the nob many times trying to eye appropriate blade depth/placement. I'll back off and just test by feel, finish watching the Rollie Johnson videos and do some more sharpening, ordered finer grits. It is fun learning. Thanks all!
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