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Adjusting the Iron on a Stanley Plane

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Question

Christopher Schwartz says that the iron of the Stanley (fore plane I think) should take a thick shaving when hogging off waste with an 8″ radius iron. I think that both the Stanley and the Bedrock 605, which I have should adjust the same. The mouth should be adjusted for a large opening. Even with the frog all the way back in my plane I can’t get the mouth open enough because when advancing the iron it bottoms out on the inside of the sole and looks like it is set for a very thin shaving. Half the adjustment toward the rear isn’t useable for the same reason? I have inserted just the iron into the mouth and seen where it bottoms out on the sole. Is this a case of operator error, inexperience or worse.—Charlie Matteson

Answer

Garrett Hack replies: If I understand your question you are trying to turn your foreplane into a coarse cutting “scrub” plane. Do pull the frog back, but not so much that your iron hits the sole or doesn’t adjust smoothly. You should be able to set the depth for a coarse cut, but the throat is probably not open enough for those thick shavings. Your only choice is to file it open, maybe as wide as 1/8″. Back off the cap iron from the edge too, and shape the iron with considerable camber. I would hesitate to file the mouth of a #605, but not to an older worn Stanley #4 or #5.

Tags: Hand Planes, Tools

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