Woodworking plane maintenance is vitally important to get the best performance from it. The woodworking plane like any other cutting tool does get dull and must be sharpened.
The plane its self has several parts to it that have to be maintained from time to time. Just because you buy a new plane doesn’t mean it is ready to go to work without checking a few critical parts of that plane.
The Parts Of The Plane
- the soul of the plane:- this is the main casting of the plane
- the cam lock:- this is the part of the plane that locks the blade in place
- the blade:- this is the part of the plane that does the cutting
- the blade iron:- this part fastens to the blade to keep the blade stiff and true.
- frog:- this is the part of the plane that the blade sits on
- blade depth knob:- situated on the back of the frog to adjust the blade depth
- tilt lever:- sits on the top of the frog to align the blade with the mouth in the bottom of the plane
- handle and knob:- situated at the back and front of the plane
Maintaining The Plane
You first remove the blade by releasing the cam lock. Remove the blade iron and proceed to sharpen the blade and the blade iron on an oil stone or fine sand paper.
While the blade is out, check the soul of the plane to make sure the surface is true as well the mouth to make sure it is square. The blade and blade iron can be reassembled and installed back in the frog securing it with the cam lock.
