I bought the new Sloane tuning machine when I saw the Stewmac advertise on their home page.
Now it comes with bearing; in fact 2 of them.
The worm and worm gear fits precisely, there are no backlash.
As I turn it, I feel that it is tight but smooth.
Overall I rate it a well-worth tuner at this price range.
Welcome to my guitar building blog.
This blog describes my journey into the world of guitar building.
I like to share my experience of building and hopefully it can be of some help to all the guitar making enthusiast.
Hope you enjoy my blog post!
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
2013-01-14
2012-11-27
Review of IBC plane iron chipbreaker set for Stanley Record plane #4 / #5
I recently bought the IBC plane iron / chipbreaker set for Stanley #4 / #5 (2" width) after reading all the good review about it.
Previously I had bought plane iron upgrade for my block plane and the performance of the block plane greatly increase.
So I took the plunge and got the expensive plane iron upgrade.
I knew I had to open the mouth due to the extreme thickness of the iron and chipbreaker.
It's about 5mm thick each.
The iron was not as sharp out of the box as they had claimed but that is to be expected.
It didn't took long to sharpen the iron though.
The chipbreaker was sharp too :) I had a nasty cut on my index finger while sharpening them.
Anyway, I opened the plane iron mouth at the body and adjust the frog back.
I screwed the chipbreaker to plane iron leaving about 1mm between them.
Then I place in the iron assembly in the frog.
At a certain point, I couldn't adjust forward the iron it was stuck somehow...
I check and I thought I had problem with the frog but that wasn't the cause of the problem.
It was the screw hole in the chipbreaker was knocking against the holding screw for the plane iron at the frog.
The IBC did not make the hole large enough...
That was a design flaw!!!
Anyway as a workaround, I set the chipbreaker back leaving more gap between the iron edge, about 4-5mm gap.
Now the iron manage to protrude the mouth.
I test on pine wood and it cuts great leaving a very smooth surface.
I email Rob Cosman about it and he replied promptly.
He said it's was probably due to the different placement of the frog screw in my pre-war Stanley #5 Jack.
He had pass along my email to IBC.
Anyway he added that he didn't quite believe in the chipbreaker...
Well if he didn't believe int he chipbreaker then why bother to make one then?
Well I don't expect them to reply any further.
So much for a customer service.
I checked my other plane iron by Lee Valley which I use for my Stanley #4.
The chipbreaker was oval in shape and had big allowance for movement.
A check online with Hock chipbreaker also reveals an oval shape.
So why cant they just make an oval shape?
Anyway I use my file and open up the screw hole in the chipbreaker
Now I can set the chipbreaker near the iron edge and still be able to move the iron forward.
I works even better now!
The IBC chipbreaker stuck at the screw! Unable to adjust more forward. The iron didnt even protrude the mouth!
The plane surface is very smooth and has a slight gleam to it. (Just like my Japanese kanna). Very good plane iron to have (minus the design flaw that is)
Previously I had bought plane iron upgrade for my block plane and the performance of the block plane greatly increase.
So I took the plunge and got the expensive plane iron upgrade.
I knew I had to open the mouth due to the extreme thickness of the iron and chipbreaker.
It's about 5mm thick each.
The iron was not as sharp out of the box as they had claimed but that is to be expected.
It didn't took long to sharpen the iron though.
The chipbreaker was sharp too :) I had a nasty cut on my index finger while sharpening them.
Anyway, I opened the plane iron mouth at the body and adjust the frog back.
I screwed the chipbreaker to plane iron leaving about 1mm between them.
Then I place in the iron assembly in the frog.
At a certain point, I couldn't adjust forward the iron it was stuck somehow...
I check and I thought I had problem with the frog but that wasn't the cause of the problem.
It was the screw hole in the chipbreaker was knocking against the holding screw for the plane iron at the frog.
The IBC did not make the hole large enough...
That was a design flaw!!!
Anyway as a workaround, I set the chipbreaker back leaving more gap between the iron edge, about 4-5mm gap.
Now the iron manage to protrude the mouth.
I test on pine wood and it cuts great leaving a very smooth surface.
I email Rob Cosman about it and he replied promptly.
He said it's was probably due to the different placement of the frog screw in my pre-war Stanley #5 Jack.
He had pass along my email to IBC.
Anyway he added that he didn't quite believe in the chipbreaker...
Well if he didn't believe int he chipbreaker then why bother to make one then?
Well I don't expect them to reply any further.
So much for a customer service.
I checked my other plane iron by Lee Valley which I use for my Stanley #4.
The chipbreaker was oval in shape and had big allowance for movement.
A check online with Hock chipbreaker also reveals an oval shape.
So why cant they just make an oval shape?
Anyway I use my file and open up the screw hole in the chipbreaker
Now I can set the chipbreaker near the iron edge and still be able to move the iron forward.
I works even better now!

The IBC chipbreaker stuck at the screw! Unable to adjust more forward. The iron didnt even protrude the mouth!

The plane surface is very smooth and has a slight gleam to it. (Just like my Japanese kanna). Very good plane iron to have (minus the design flaw that is)
2011-02-02
New Plane Iron Upgrade from Lee Valley
I bought new a A2 plane iron / chipbreaker set from Lee Valley for my #4 Stanley smoother.
The chip breaker is about .125" thick made of O1 iron and the plane iron is about .1" thick
I didn't sharpen or hone it; it looks and feels sharp out of the box.
I had a test run on some pine (softwood) and it shaves like butter, thin slice some more.
Anyway I need to re tune the frog to adjust for the new iron / chipbreaker set.
I have to try it on IRW 1st will report back the finding on the performance of the new iron.
Here are the pics:
The chip breaker is about .125" thick made of O1 iron and the plane iron is about .1" thick
I didn't sharpen or hone it; it looks and feels sharp out of the box.
I had a test run on some pine (softwood) and it shaves like butter, thin slice some more.
Anyway I need to re tune the frog to adjust for the new iron / chipbreaker set.
I have to try it on IRW 1st will report back the finding on the performance of the new iron.
Here are the pics:
My new plane iron / chipbreaker
The Lee Valley A2 plane iron
The Veritas chipbreaker
(Veritas is same as LV)
The plane and iron
L (the stock blade and chipbreaker)
R (the upgraded LV set)
It is noticeably thicker and feels good also
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