# Hand/Block Plane Mouth Question



## ncslater (Jul 25, 2014)

Hello,

I'm super new to any kind of wood work and I have a Question about Block Planes,

So i recently purchased a Buck Bros 7 inch block plane from Home Depot, it sucked so i took it back and got a Kobalt 7inch from Lowes - also kindof sucky but it works. 

The mouth on this particular hand plane is not perfectly straight. The "top" of the mouth (not the side the blade protrudes from) is not straight at all, its really jagged and roughly cut out. Will this affect the planing i do? I know some have adjustable mouths so i'm not sure if the width of the mouth has anything to do with the depth of cuts. The smaller model has an adjustable mouth - should I go for that one?

I'm using this plane for rough wooden body surfing hand planes so it doesn't need to be pro quality.


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## acowboy (Nov 20, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a big fan of the Box store brand planes.
But since you have one, here is a video that may help you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv1zo9CAxt4

Learn to sharpen the blade, I have yet to buy one that did not need a little work, but I buy older ones that need some work anyways.

Have fun, but be careful, a fine tuned plane will sing, it is beautiful, you wont want to stop at one plane either...


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## Joeb41 (Jun 23, 2012)

Rule # 1 Don't buy any plane from big box.
Rule #2 Re-read rule #1. 

Old Stanley block planes are the best in my opinion. There are many out there on E-Bay, Craigslist and here in the forum classifieds. Some good ones to look for are a #9 1/2, #60 1/2 low angle and a #220. There are many out there, these just happen to be my favorite users. New Stanleys are not so great. If you want new look to Lee Valley Veritas. Lie Neilson are nice but way overpriced. Whatever you choose look for the adjustable throat.


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

I have heard of filing the inside of the mouth but the size of the mouth will effect the cut. Since the plane is mostly for rougher work it probably wont make too much of a difference. I think you will want to invest in some name brand planes along with a few things to tune up the plane. The best way to get a good quality plane would be to find a pre WWII Stanley on ebay. Any question you could have about any old stanley plane can be answered here:

http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html 

I managed to get a #7, #3, and a scrub plane all from there for around $30 to $50. If you have more to spend I like the Wood River planes at wood craft. They're about 80% the quality of Lie Nielsen for about half the price. I have a #5 Wood River and I think its worth the extra cash compared to the already pretty nice Stanlyes. 

You will also want to get some kind of sharpening system. There are some pretty nice motorized systems that can cost as little as $200. I went with a set of water stones (grits 220, 1000, 4000, and 8000) along with a Veritas honing guide. You'll probably want to research different sharpening methods they all have their perks. Once you have the irons sharp you'll want to tune up the sole of the plane especially if you end up filing the mouth.


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