School of Woodworking Newsletter

Depth Adjustment

The thickness of a shaving is determined by the amount of cutting iron extended beyond the face of the sole of the plane. The sole of the plane against the face of the wood being planed governs the thickness of the shaving. The knurled adjusting wheel behind the frog houses a yoke which, when adjusted clockwise or counterclockwise, levers the cutting iron along the sloped face of the frog to set the amount of cutting iron protruding through the sole of the plane. A fractional turn on the wheel will advance or withdraw the cutting iron thousandths of an inch, which determines the thickness of the shavings.

To begin setting the depth of the cutting iron, feel for the cutting edge of the iron in the throat of the plane. You should be able to feel whether the tip is flush with the face of the sole or protruding. If you cannot feel it, the iron is set too shallow to produce a shaving. This is a good place to start setting the iron. With your hand on the rear handle, use your forefinger to turn the wheel clockwise while at the same time feeling with your left hand for the tip of the cutting iron through the throat of the sole. Once you feel the cutting edge, try the plane on the edge of a piece of board. Take several strokes moving the plane from side to side so you can feel if any of the blade is taking a shaving. If there is no shaving, advance the wheel further clockwise a quarter turn and try again and keep advancing the wheel until a thin shaving occurs. Check the whole width of the plane to see if the shavings are the same thickness. If they are, then the only thing left to do is to determine how much you want to remove. For thinner shavings, take up the slack in the wheel and then, as soon as you feel the wheel bite a little, turn it a fraction of a turn further. An eighth to a quarter turn should be enough.