Camber or straight?

[Elijah A.]

I have no 7 jointer plane that I want to use for joining edges and flattening faces. Should I slightly camber or just use a straight blade? Thx!

Eli

[bandit571]

Straight...with barely a hint at the corners of a curve...

   
Stanley No. 7c, type 9...with the OEM iron..

   
Works for me.....

[Elijah A.]

Great, thanks so much!

[hbmcc]

For strictly jointing (edges) you can get away with a straight blade cutting edge. However, most say--I agree--to provide a slight arc to the cutting edge so edges can be offset to level out angled surfaces; and to make face planing functional, without trenching. I don't consider using a jointer on a face the final surfacing, but only to knock off high points. I have never intentionally honed a straight cutting edge. My shallowest arcs can easily trench a wood surface. Then listen to the French I spout. Those are only on a #4 finish plane.

[adamcherubini]

Any plane that works wide surfaces and doesn’t cut joints should have a curved iron. The extent of curvature is up to you. I think my smoother has the least curvature.

[Aram]

Any plane that works wide surfaces and doesn’t cut joints should have a curved iron. The extent of curvature is up to you. I think my smoother has the least curvature.

Hi Adam,

Can you say what your reasoning is? Thanks, much appreciated.

[Handplanesandmore]

Like Bandit571, I do not put a camber on any blade other than may be a touch of slight wear on the corners as I press down on them in my last few honing strokes, with the intention of avoiding plane tracks.

If you intend to use your #7 as a shooting plane, do not camber it!

If you plan to use a bench plane as a scrub plane, a camber (plus opening up the mouth) will be needed.

Cambered blade or not, a plane can deliver the same results as long as you know to use it. For instance, Paul Sellers and Rob Cosman don't camber theirs, while David Charlesworth does.

Simon

[Derek Cohen]

Elijah, the only time you want a straight blade on a jointer is if you match plane two edges together. If you joint edges individually, a camber aids in steering the high spots. It also aids in avoiding tracking on the faces of boards.

You could always have two blades, one of each


Regards from Perth

Derek

[Elijah A.]

Thank you all very much!

[ZachDillinger]

I agree with the others. A trying plane should have a small amount of curvature, ideally it would leave roughly the same signature as your smoothing plane which will help you avoid having to smooth plane the entire face.