Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anyone know how to set these mini planes up ?

There should be a picture here but it ain't workin !

J

John-
What do you mean by 'set up'?
This is a simple wooden-body wedge-type plane?
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=55065&cat=1,230,41182

Not to hijack the thread, but John, how do you sharpen those blades? I'm having a nightmare sharpening my finger planes.

Hi John - Those are the type.

The blade is a bit tight it does not reach the sole of the plane, I hear I need to file the sides of the groove (plane bed) to make the blade fit - could be disastrous if went at it a bit heavy handed - can't put it back on again.

I ordered a book from Amazon on Japanese tools, I may learn something.


John

After looking at the website you linked, my plane is about half the size of those planes.

Don't worry too much- that's what veneer is for!

Peter-
I'm not much good at that task either! I do them freehand, but I think more skilled folks make a 'fixture' to hold those small blades?
Probably a new thread that will get the attention of one of the sharpening gurus (Todd Stock?) would be a good idea.

Cheers
John

As for fitting the blade, it's better too tight than too loose. If yours are
traditional Japanese planes, yes, you might need to remove wood from
the groove sides, but that's to keep the body from cracking laterally only.
Look for shiny spots on the groove sides with a raking light. Have you
sharpened the blade(s) yet? The fitting of the blade to the dai is done
by judiciously removing material from the *blade bed* (again look for
shiny spots, or apply graphite to the side of the blade that goes against
the ramp, tapping it in gently, then backing it out.. see where the marks are
and use either a small scraper, sanding stick, or chisel on edge to remove
them, *starting at the top*. Ideally when done there will be an inverted
V- shaped area at the bottom (mouth end) spanning the width of the mouth
where the blade makes full contact with the bed, and the blade will protrude
past the sole with a few moderately light taps from a hammer or mallet.
This is *very much a condensed version*, and the book you ordered (I'm
guessing Odate's or Mesirow's) should help some. Go slowly, and ask questions.