I recently noted that we had a decent quality e.c.e primus plane.
A number of our metal planes have issues so I decided to get the primus plane working.
As usual this process starts by repairing the blade and chip breaker. I took the blade and plane home as I have been doing each time a blade has needed repairing, for almost as long as I have been a member.
I tried to sharpen the jointer plane for another member recently. In ten minutes of sharpening I went nowhere near the point of the tool. I took that blade home and reground that too. It requires about 30 seconds to get a sharp edge now.
It would be better to have a suitable grinder at the space.
I repaired a couple of chips in the sole of the plane, flattened the heavily dished sole, flattened the chip breaker, de-rusted the chip breaker, adjusted the wedge and reground the blade. You can see in the photos, the only shaving the plane took prior to my work was down the dished portion of the sole.
The plane now takes a shaving which is thin enough to read through, from the same piece of wood.
The chip breaker is the Japanese style which can be set up to allow tear out free cuts, against the grain, if reground to lean forward over the cut. Currently the chip breaker is too shallow.
Adjusting the blade is done with a hammer blow to the front of the plane if you want a heavier cut, and to the rear of the plane if you want a lighter cut. Lateral adjustment is made with a hammer tap. There is a small pot of micro crystalline wax beside the lathe. Wiping this on the sole will further improve the function.
This is a great job, thank you for the effort (on this and other planes).
Regarding the chip breaker, what’s the current angle? How much would we need to take off in order to achieve 70°?
Right. I am glad you asked. First off I should say this absolutely works. I had known of this for about 4 years and had even reground my two Japanese style chip breakers to the appropriate angles. I perhaps misunderstood the significance. I can now plane wood in the wrong direction and get zero tear out. This is based upon research, done by two Japanese professors, they filmed the whole experiment, the results were impressive.
The chip breaker in question is messed up.
I can guarantee that I can set it to the correct angle. I can’t guarantee it will look pretty.
The blade is bedded at 50 degrees, so the chip breaker will need to be set to 65 degrees. Meaning the chip breaker will be angled forward over the cut by 25 degrees. It can be set at 70 degrees also, either will work.
My Japanese style chip breaker is set to 70 degrees, on a blade bedded at 45 degrees, so that gives a 25 degree forward slant to the chip breaker.
I just planed some curly red oak, with reversing figure, against the predominant grain direction with absolutely zero tear out.
The chip breaker needs to be set approximately 0.3mm from the edge.
You can see the results of planing against the grain using my conventional chip breaker, loads of tear out. Then the Japanese chip breaker set up as I propose, planing against the grain of curly red oak, zero tear out. Crazy.
I think I should make the adjustment, slowly.
If it doesn’t go to plan I will stop.
The chip breaker isn’t doing a whole lot anyway in its current state.
Every woodshop needs a @Giles in it !
Good work
I was able to get my regular plane to do a reasonable job, to be clear.
I adjusted the settings however, the surface from the correctly set Japanese chip breaker is better and it’s more reliable. The picture shows the surface from my Record plane after a bit of refining. Still some tear out present.
Thanks @Giles - really interesting, and counter-intuitive! Was curious, and found what I assume is the video you’re referring to, with english captions:
Yes,
That’s the one.
I had previously read a summary of this exercise. It focused solely on the chip breaker angles. No mention of the fact the test was done entirely against the grain.
75 degrees is enough to get the zero tear out effect, it’s what I have on my own plane.
To cut a long story short, I have done the best I can without risking trashing the chip breaker.
It seems to be working. The chip breaker can be set very close to the edge without impeding the ease of cut.
So, initial testing was positive, zero tear out, against the grain. I have one adjustment to make on the side of the chip breaker to compensate for it not being square. I will do this tomorrow, it’s entirely routine.
Let me know your findings if you use the plane.
If anyone wants to see how to set the blade let me know. It does require a little patience at first.
It seems to have been a successful endeavour.
Wow. Amazing work! Thank you…
I just finished the adjustment on the chip breaker. All done.
Working great.
Success.
Give it a try.
Thank you. I love what you do, Giles. Your attention to detail is astounding.