All About the Lie-Nielsen No. 102 Low-Angle Block Plane
This posting appeared in the Nov/Dec 2020 difficulty of This Outdated Home Magazine. Click here to learn how to subscribe.
The No. 102 reduced-angle block plane that produced its debut in the 1877 catalog of Stanley Rule & Level Co. was a 5 1/2-inch-prolonged, all-steel resource developed to slice by tricky conclude grain, these kinds of as butcher blocks.
All About the No. 102 Minimal-Angle Block Plane
But carpenters found that the palm-dimensions No. 102 neatly suit in a resource belt, and place it to use trimming cabinet doors, shaving shingles, scribe-fitting baseboards, and great-tuning miters.
Stanley made its past No. 102 in 1962. 20-5 several years later, in 1987, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks issued an upgraded model with a cap iron and system produced of rustproof manganese bronze, a stainless-metal blade-depth adjustment with great micrometer threads, and a 1⁄8-inch blade—twice as thick as the original—for vibration-no cost cutting.
The final result: a handy, moveable airplane that would make shavings just .008 to .010 inch thick correct out of the box.
How to Modify it
When the blade gets dull, it has to be taken out, sharpened, then place back in and realigned. To do that:
- Cradle the tool upside down in a person hand, nose dealing with you give the spinwheel a quarter turn counterclockwise to loosen the cap iron.
- Sighting down the underside, retract the blade into the slit in the base by turning the blade-adjuster nut counterclockwise.
- Then convert it clockwise until finally the blade edge emerges. If the edge is not sq. to the sole, nudge the blade sideways and tighten the cap.
- Clamp a slender strip of wood edge up and operate the plane’s right facet over it, then the still left. If no shaving arrives up, loosen the cap, transform the adjuster nut clockwise, and retighten the cap. If only just one facet would make a shaving, nudge the blade sideways a bit.
- Keep changing and screening right until both of those sides deliver equal-dimension shavings.
Is the Blade Sharp Plenty of?
Tom usually takes his out of the aircraft, and holding it vertically, rests its edge on his thumbnail, tilted down. If the blade sticks to his nail, it is sharp plenty of for the future career. If it slides off, he holds its bevel flat towards a 1,000-grit sharpening stone and provides the blade a rapid honing.
3 Means to Get the job done This Aircraft
Big planes involve two arms. But modest block planes supply additional overall flexibility. With all the grips right here, skew the aircraft slightly as you press or pull it along the workpiece. This correctly lowers the angle of the blade, earning for a smoother minimize.
- For most command: the two-handed force stroke: Place the thumb of just one hand on the finger rest, grab the sides of the aircraft physique with the thumb and fingers of your other hand, and nestle the cap in your palm. Then force absent from your body.
- For the longest get to: the a person-handed force stroke: Place your forefinger on the finger relaxation, grab the sides of the plane with your thumb on a person facet and the remaining fingers on the other, and seat the cap in your palm. Then drive away from your entire body.
- For the most potent stroke: the one particular-handed pull stroke: With the tool’s nose facing you, grip its overall body with your thumb and fingers as you pull the airplane toward you. This makes it possible for you to brace the perform versus your entire body.