Shoulder Plane problems

[F.DOWNWIND]

I am having an incredibly hard time getting my Stanley No 92 shoulder plane blades square.  I own a T7. The problem is the shoulder plane has zero tolerance for out of square blades since the blade runs flush with the sides of the plane body. I am using the newest jig for chisel/planes that is supposed to set them straight automatically. I also have searched this forum for an answer while i have many solutions that have worked for others none have worked for me. I am truing the stone prior to doing this also. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have not been able to use my new shoulder plane yet as i wanted to sharpen it prior to first use then after i did the blade was not square anymore.

[Ken S]

Welcome to the forum.  You need to determine if continuing with what you are doing is making the situation better or worse.  And, this needs to be done with minimal blade loss.

Jeff's advice about lowering the universal service bar to verify that it is parallel to the stone is an important first step.

The Tormek manual advice of using a sharpie marker on the bevel is solid. in this case you are using the marker to determine if the grinding is square, rather than verifying the angle of the bevel. You need a good square for reference.  A high quality small machinist's square is a good investment. It can verify the wquareness of both the edge of the blade and the squareness of the blade in the jig.

Once you determine that either the blade is square or out of square, blacken the bevel.  Put the blade in your jig.  Turn the grinding wheel by hand with the power off.  Look at the bevel.  If the blacking is being ground off the high side of an out of square blade or uniformly across a square blade, you are going in the right direction.  If you are indeed moving in the right direction, proceed slowly, checking your work.

If the edge of the stone has been dressed square to the face of the stone; if the universal support bar is parallel with the edge of the stone; if the blade is inserted squarely in the jig; and the blade is parallel.....your edge should be square.

Keep us posted.

Ken

[Jeff Farris]

Ken's advice is on point, with one very minor exception.

Sometimes, even if everything is square and true, you can get an out of square grind, particularly with narrow blades such as this, and tools where even a little bit out of square is a problem.

The key on these critical situations is carefully applied correction. Keep a small square by the Tormek while you're grinding. Check the blade while it is in progress -- and still in the jig. If you discover the blade to be out of square, grind for a moment with finger pressure only on the long side of the angle. Check again and continue finessing the grind.

[F.DOWNWIND]

Thanks to both of you for your advice. I picked up a nice set of machinist squares at Rockler yesterday and will put  them to use with your suggestions in mind. Again thank you!

[Ken S]

Jeff's point is well taken concerning narrow blades.  The same principle applies when using chisels (or planes) to cut wood.  The narrow blade has considerably less resistance against the wood; a light touch carries the day.  For all of our high tech world, finger pressure is still part of a well rounded tool arsenal.

I believe you will find many and frequent uses for small machinist's squares.  Having a set is very nice because it gives you the versatility of using a tool which fits the work well.

Keep up the good work.

Ken

[RobinW]

As you will see in my post about using the SE-76 square edge jig, I have managed to overcome most of my issues of getting square edge. trust it may help you.