# setting the depth on a hand plane



## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Hi folks - I posted a question on another forum (yes there are others but not as good as this one) and got some interesting responses. I learned that my knowledge of hand planes is very limited but learned a few things. So here I go again.

I hear and read if you can get paper thin shavings from a hand plane, then you the man or gal. So I got to thinking, if I want paper thin shaving from a smoothing plane, why not set your blade using a piece of paper. I lay a sheet of paper from my printer down on my bench and place my plane on it so the blade fall out of my plane and onto the bench which is the thickness of a sheet of paper lower then my plane. It works pretty good.

I know lots of very experienced woodworkers can eyeball their blades and know it's the right depth, but my eyes are getting tired. Others feel the blade, but I don't like blood in my workshop. It makes the wood bad. 

I know to get a good cut on a plane, you also need for the tool to be tuned and the blade to be sharp. I'll be looking for more hand plane information from comments


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Bernie, I will pass on a tip I saw in a Rob Cosman video - let the wood tell you the depth.

Sight down the sole of the plane and adjust the blade so it protrudes out of the mouth. How much is not important. This step is just so you can tweak the lateral adjustment lever, if needed, to get the blade parallel to the sole.

Retract the blade back into the plane.

Now go to a test piece of wood. I like to keep a piece of 2x4 straight grained softwood without knots around for my test strokes. Using the same piece every time allows me to get a feel for whether the latest plane is cutting as easily as the previous.

Make a pass down the test piece. There should be no shavings.

Now use the fingers of the hand holding the tote to turn the adjustment wheel a fraction of a turn, e.g., 1/8th a turn.

Take another pass. There may not be shavings.

Continue with passes, and before each pass, tweak the adjustment wheel until you begin to see shavings.

Now decide whether to hold this depth or tweak to get more depth.

This is working for me. I hope it works for you.


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

I use the same method Dave uses.


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## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

sawdustfactory said:


> I use the same method Dave uses.


Same here!


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

Setting to the feel and cut is the only way to tell if the plane will actually cut as desired. There is some backlash in the adjuster, so you should set the blade on the forward turn of the wheel. If you do it pulling the blade back, the blade will often slip and be pushed back into the plane. Lateral blade adjustment is also important and can be sighted in pretty close, if the plane is properly tuned, but again, it's the actual cut you set for. At times, moving the lateral adjustment will effect the depth and you may have to back up. If this is the case, back up more than is necessary and re-set the depth going forward on the adjuster. When the blade is close to being correct, it will take very little movement of the adjustment wheel. This is one area where the better planes differ from the also ran's. The better planes will adjust very smooth and finely and hold that adjustment. Too much movement when adjusting depth may be 11 o'clock to 12, you have to sneak up on it patiently.


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

+1 for Dave's method. This is true whether I am using a Bailey type plane or one of those block planes with the tap and try method, or a wooden plane with its similar adjustment method. With the tap and try planes you may find yourself going back and forth a bit until you get the shaving you want.

When I was younger, and had noone to mentor me (before the internet) i used to try to take 1/16 to 1/8" shavings, and could never figure out what was wrong. :huh:


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

I'm beginning to think that planes and plane restoration should be a separate branch topic in Hand Tools. Just sayin'. :huh:


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

I now have a test piece sitting next to my planes and will practice the method, but that paper trick worked pretty good. When done on a desk, the blade ends up being square and the thickness of paper is pretty thin. But, the time tested method usually works the best so I'll practice it. Thanks...


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## Woodwart (Dec 11, 2012)

BernieL said:


> I now have a test piece sitting next to my planes and will practice the method, but that paper trick worked pretty good. When done on a desk, the blade ends up being square and the thickness of paper is pretty thin. But, the time tested method usually works the best so I'll practice it. Thanks...


Well, yours is a good idea. If it works for you, stick with it. There's a French-Canadian expression, 'There is more than one way to do good things well,' and yours is another way.:thumbsup:


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## HandToolGuy (Dec 10, 2011)

Um, I think a sheet of printer paper is generally a bit thicker than one wants. Sneaking up on the right thickness as described above is best.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Hand tooling isn't a competition for the thinnest shavings :laughing: oh those gossamer shavings.

It depends on the task at hand, my Fore Planes take shaving thick enough to make you do a double take, smoothers will give you little whispies and the jacks are in between.

Rabbits about the same as the jacks, moulding planes a lil finer, etc etc...

EDIT:
I should add that I set my plane irons by feel... Crazy as it might sound I gently run my finger across the iron!


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

> I should add that I set my plane irons by feel... Crazy as it might sound I gently run my finger across the iron!


Not recommended for the beginner !!

A few more tips,


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

timetestedtools said:


> Not recommended for the beginner !!
> 
> A few more tips,


No, I guess I should also add that I brush my thumb at each side front to back!... NOT SIDE TO SIDE! It won't cut my leather hands that way :no:

This is likely because of my apprenticeship under a very old man with failing eye sight.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

My spokeshaves have two set screws and two knobs to adjust for depth of cut and skew (if you want it). After 140' of spoon blank corner/edge in birch, believed it was time for a little tune up. All I noticed was that the last few spoons, the force in the pull stroke just seemed to be a little greater but the cutting quality was always there. For tune up: @28 degrees, 600, then 1500 and that's it.

Unfortunately, the whole business needs to be a little loose and jiggly for adjustment. Then tighten it all up and the depth of cut changes! I watched the clock = took me 5 minutes of fiddle and test cuts in my birch "try-stick" to get it right. Less time than I imagined. I intend to set #2 somewhat finer and use it for smoothing off the more obvious ridges left by #1.


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