Woodworking

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A handmade home for woodworkers and admirers of woodworkers. Our community icon is submitted by @inquanto@lemmy.world, winner of the Christmas 2025 gift contest with a lovely series of hardwood cutting boards.

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Bench plane tuning question (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works to c/woodworking@lemmy.ca

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So I've got a goofy issue tuning my ~~block~~ bench plane. It's one of the Pony Jorgensen #4 smoothing planes they're selling at Lowe's in the States. Works pretty well with one exception: Moving the frog forward to bring the iron closer to the mouth also advances the iron.

I can't get it anywhere near as closed as you're supposed to with a smoothing plane before I can't retract the iron sufficiently. The mating surface in the sole that the frog rests on is slightly angled downward, so the frog is lowered as it is moved forward. I can't realistically bring the iron any farther on the chip breaker than I've got it.

As I had it apart, I noticed the finish on the bottom of the frog, the surface that mates with the sole, was as cast, it isn't machined or lapped. Should it be?

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[–] HewlettHackard@lemmy.ca 1 points 11 months ago

I was misremembering because my block plane blade has multiple notches like this example. My larger planes don’t. Example blade: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/planes/blades/117808-o1-stanley-block-plane-blades-made-by-veritas?item=05P3173