Does Righty Need a Lefty?

[AHill]

I love my Veritas small plow plane.  I purchased one of the early models, and it's been modified to the newer version.  I also purchased some of the beading blades.  I was practicing with it the other day, and decided the RH version doesn't work very well if you need to plow a bead against the grain.  I could solve the problem by extending the fence, and using the other side against the fence, but this doesn't always work for wider pieces.

Short of buying a left-handed version of the plane (with the additional blades -  because the blades are configured L or R), who do you solve this problem?  I generally don't have the same problem with grooves, because I can finish with a router plane in either direction.

[Admiral]

For beading, I'd pick up a #66, or make your own beader, they go both ways.....

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

I think Derek Cohen discussed using a back-bevel on the beading blade for the plow plane to control tear-out last fall.  Here it is, from October:  https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.ph...pid7360056

or if you search for "beading blade" it comes just below your post from today.   

His pictures from going into the grain are impressive.  I haven't tried it, but it strikes me as pretty brilliant.

[wmickley]

Generally we take care of this problem in the planning stages. We lay out the board so that we will plane the bead the right direction.

If you need to make a bead in the wrong direction, start it out cutting the wrong way, then after a groove  has been established, take of the fence so you can plane in a favorable direction.

[Derek Cohen]

A combination of a backbevel and Warren's suggestion could give the best results. Most of the damage is caused by planing into the grain, hence the advantage of a backbevel increasing the cutting angle. However, once the cut is established, the blade can be guided without the fence. This means that you can complete the bead by reversing the plane direction.

It is difficult to tell which is which bead was with the grain and which was against the grain ...



http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews...Plane.html

Regards from Perth

Derek