# Hand plane issue



## Mexicutioner (Jun 5, 2015)

Hello everyone, 
First post here, but I've been reading many posts in the last few months since I started getting interested in woodworking. I got a Stanley no 4 off of eBay recently and have been working on restoring whenever I have a chance. I cleaned it up, flattened the sole a bit, sharpened the blade, which was in pretty bad shape and tested it out. I was getting some funky shavings and looked around the internet. Found out the chip breaker may have been at fault. Smoothed it out, but still getting a non-smooth surface. Not sure if is just the 2x4 that is now like a 1x2 after all my testing. I tried to take a good pic, but not sure if it describes what my problem is accurately. Any input is greatly appreciated.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*it could be ...*

A photo of the blade and chip breaker would help.
I also suspect the grain direction may be causing the chatter. You do plane in both directions, right? :blink:


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## Mexicutioner (Jun 5, 2015)

Some more pics....just went out and tried both ways, but parts got better..others got worse


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## asevereid (Apr 15, 2012)

I'm kind of new to planing with a number 4 as well... But even though that's pine, aren't those shavings a bit thick? 
I had the same issue early on, and I found that the setup for a number 4 (mine anyways) wasn't as simple as a jack plane. 
I ended up having to camber the cutting edge and be diligent on where I placed the cutter laterally because my blade would skew to the left a bit. 
Keep the blade and breaker within a 32nd and keep the throat at a 16th or less, and you'll see what a No. 4 can do with a little trial and error.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Looks like a combination of planing against the grain and having the blade depth set too thick to me. It may also be the quality of the picture, but it looks like the edge of the blade could use a touch-up, the back seems like its in pretty rough shape


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*the blade looks dull to me*

Your blade lacks a high polish edge. The back should be flattened first on a 220 wet/dry paper on a piece of glass or flat steel. Get an even scratch pattern first then switch to 400, then 600 or finer. 
Then work on the cutting edge using the same steps AND a jig to hold the correct angle. There are many ways to get a good angle on a blade.... jigs, eye ball, hand control, belt sander with fine grit, just go to You Tube and check them out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQyjLV92224

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTcReENk9g


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## gmcsmoke (Feb 6, 2011)

a #4 is just a tad bit bigger than a #3 which is a smoothing plane. You're taking too much of a cut, your planing pine and your going against the grain. Your cuts need to be with the grain and maybe .001 thick. You should be able to see through them, a good hock iron would help too.


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## Belg (Oct 2, 2011)

epicfail48 said:


> Looks like a combination of planing against the grain and having the blade depth set too thick to me. It may also be the quality of the picture, but it looks like the edge of the blade could use a touch-up, the back seems like its in pretty rough shape


Totally agree with your entire post and the blade not being in the best shape when taking such a deep shaving will almost always produce tearout. Plus against the grain, :thumbdown:


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Your shaving is too thick, and your blade appears to be in bad shape.


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## Mexicutioner (Jun 5, 2015)

Thanks for everybody's input. I should have taken some pictures of the original state which was way worse, but figured that the mating surfaces of the iron and the chip breaker would be more important. I've seen most of Mr Sellers' videos on the subject, but this is my first attempt. I'll work on that blade and chip breaker some more once I get some more time and try out some of the other suggestions as well.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Another suggestion, don't hold the plane straight inline with the work piece, hold it at an angle so the blade slices the wood not pushes straight into it. Sorta like a knife, you wouldn't push a knife straight into what ever you are cutting, you would slice it. Test your blade sharpness by cutting some wood across end grain, there should not be any tear out but there should be a shiny look after cutting, if your iron is polished really sharp.


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## fareastern (Sep 19, 2014)

gmcsmoke said:


> a #4 is just a tad bit bigger than a #3 which is a smoothing plane. You're taking too much of a cut, your planing pine and your going against the grain. Your cuts need to be with the grain and maybe .001 thick. You should be able to see through them, a good hock iron would help too.


I would be impressed by a shaving that thin.A few years ago Stanley advertised a block plane that produced a shaving .0025 thick as being capable of producing exceptionally thin shavings.

A well sharpened Stanley iron is a much better piece of hardware than the current fashionable assumptions will accept and only needs to be sharpened-just like any other plane iron.I only hope the original questioner will take a little time to learn how to achieve a good edge.With sharp tools it becomes much less difficult to do good work.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I'm able to cut a .003 shaving. .001 would be even thinner than tissue paper.


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## gmcsmoke (Feb 6, 2011)

fareastern said:


> I would be impressed by a shaving that thin.A few years ago Stanley advertised a block plane that produced a shaving .0025 thick as being capable of producing exceptionally thin shavings.
> 
> A well sharpened Stanley iron is a much better piece of hardware than the current fashionable assumptions will accept and only needs to be sharpened-just like any other plane iron.I only hope the original questioner will take a little time to learn how to achieve a good edge.With sharp tools it becomes much less difficult to do good work.


I think you're missing the point I was trying to make. with a smoothing plane your shavings should be tissue paper thin, not substantial like a jack or larger plane.


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## Mexicutioner (Jun 5, 2015)

I got my iron nice and sharp using a series of wet dry sandpaper grits. I read up a little more and it seems tjat my problemas was the setting of the chip breaker. I had it way too far out, exposing a lot of the blade. Seems to work better now. Tries it on a different board and tear out is no longer there. On to whatever the next challenge is in building a bench. Thanks again for the input


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