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Trying to get a plane that beloned to my wife's grandfather in working order. It has a chip breaker on it and a screw connects the chip breaker to the blade. You can adjust the blade up/down along it's length before tightening the screw. There plane has an adjustable blade height and the mechanism slips into a square slot in the chip breaker to move the blade up/down. So since the adjustment works on the chip breaker (and not the blade), the relationship between the blade and the chip breaker must be adjusted correctly before the screw is tightened to get the blade to retract and still be able to adust for use.

So the problem is that the chip breaker must be down almost to the blade edge for there to be enogh adjustment to retract the blade. When I try using the plane, the shavings cram inbetween the the chip breaker and the blade (the curved portion of the chip breaker is reaches over the bevel of the blade and there is a slight gap).

I don't see a way to resolve this unless I cut off the bottom, curved portion of the chip breaker. Which brings up a question, what is the purpose of a chip breaker and do I need it? Does it stablize the blade is some fashion?

FYI, the frog (for lack of a better term) screws to the plane and it can be adjusted front to back. I played with this but it seems it needs to be in the forward most position in order for the blade to not strike the back of the blade opening in the bottom of the plane.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Yes, you need the chip breaker. As Todd says adjusted close to the edge of the iron. To stop material from lodging between the back of the iron (flat side) and the chip breaker it must be honed truly flat, and the surface of the chip breaker also perfectly flat and mated to the iron when tightened.
When you get it all right there's nothing like a well tuned plane.
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

I think Todd's right, the CB leading edge is not mated properly to the blade. On old Stanleys, I often see that when the CB is tightened down, the front edge lifts. You need to hone the CB at a steeper angle to the blade on the front edge, so when it's tightened down it's securely against the blade. When I got my Hock blade and CB, I almost cut myself on the CB, it was so sharp, but it was hard against the blade when tightened down.

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Waddy

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Darryl: Are you saying the chip breaker is on the bevel side of the blade...?I may have misunderstood one of your statements.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Sounds like your chip breaker is on the wrong side of the blade; the (curved) end of the breaker should be maybe 1/32" (more or less) from the cutting edge and on the flat (non-beveled) side of the blade. This mounts bevel DOWN in the plane.
This may help
http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanl ... sheets.pdf
regards
pvg

This is an old Fulton plane my wife's granfather gave me. I would guess it's the size of a number 4, not sure. Are these planes any good?

I think I understand what you are saying about fitting the CB to the blade. I'll work on that tonight and see what I come up with.

Thanks for the info!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Here is a pic of the plane. Just did a Google search an dit appears this is a brand name sold by Sears in the past. Not sure who the mfg was.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

pvg is right, I think -- it sounds like you have the blade flipped around the wrong way.

The chip breaker should not go on the bevel side of the blade. It should touch the flat side of the blade. The edge of the chip breaker should be just a hair back from the leading edge of the blade on the flat side.

Can you take the blade and chip breaker assembly out and photo it for us, from the top and the bottom?

What they are saying is that it's a bevel down plane. You probably know that already. It's a Stanley knock off, and I'd bet the chipbreaker is just a poor fit to the blade.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I agree that your plane iron is probably flipped wrong side up. Based on the bedding angle I see in your photo, your iron needs to be bevel down. Now...if you're getting clogged shavings between the iron and the chip breaker, that's a different problem altogether. You need to hone the UNDER side of the leading edge of your chip breaker so that it can rest very tightly against the top (non bevel) side of your iron. Once honed, set it very close to the leading edge of your iron and tighten it there with the screw that joins those pieces. Their relationship will want to shift as you tighten the screw, so watch out for that. Don't let the chip breaker creep over the cutting edge of the iron. Frog adjustment screws then control and lock down the "mouth" opening--the gap between the iron's cutting edge and the front of the opening in the sole. Set the mouth to a narrow gap for hardwoods, and a slightly wider gap for soft woods. Googling "plane set up" will yield video and written demonstrations for tuning up your bench plane.

Really ? What is the reasoning for this ?

L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Well, hey, man, set it any way you want, and then see what works for you in each species. That's really the only way you'll know. My original response was based on stuff I read years ago--probably in FINE WOODWORKING, although I can't remember the source right now. I tried it those ways, and it worked for me. Because it worked for me, I never questioned it further. Other people might experience different results. Agreed? What more can I say?
Patrick

You know I had guessed it was something you had read and my response was rhetorical. Sorry for busting your chops but that information is not accurate. It doesn't matter one hoot whether hard wood or soft wood. There are plenty of soft woods that benefit from a tight mouth opening when the work requires it. The mouth opening has to do with the size of shaving and the type of work. For rough work (where one would typically have a coarser shaving) and or when taking coarse shavings, open the mouth so you don't have to deal with clogs. For fine work, figured woods, thin shavings, and where you don't want tear out, make the mouth tight. A tight mouth is what does the chip breaking. It breaks the chip before it can run forward and cause a tear out.
One can take fine shavings with a less than tight mouth opening but not coarse shavings with a tight mouth opening because obviously it would jam.
If you are seeking peak performance then you would opt for a tight mouth opening and a fine shaving.
All this is pretty general there is a lot more that could be said.
L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.