Hotrod your LN #60 1/2

[Derek Cohen]

I spent the past weekend at the Perth Wood Show, and had a bit of fun demoing planing and sharpening for LN Australia. One of the bits I came away with was an adjuster modification by Bob Howard for the #60 1/2 (it may be used on some other LN planes as well). See: http://www.henryeckert.com/index.php?rou...th=290_316

Notice anything different?



Well, the adjuster mod uses a bearing ...



You can see the original adjuster alongside ..



The result is a much smoother adjustment of the blade.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ricky]

hmm? I always considered the adjuster on my 60 1/2 very smooth.

[The Irish diaspora in Munich]

Cool idea.

I recall Gerd Fritsche (http://www.traditional-handplanes.com) suggesting this some years ago.

Just goes to show.... There is nothing that can't be improved... It just needs a creative and open mind.

Greetings to Perth.... Gerard

[Bibliophile 13]

And here I thought the LN WAS a hotrod!

This from the guy who still uses an old Sargent block plane...

[SPWoodworking]

Thanks. I saved the link. As much as I love mine. If it has a weak link, that would be it! It may be worth getting. How did you like it? Was there a big difference?

[Derek Cohen]

There was enough of a noticeable difference to call this an upgrade. The standard adjuster works fine, especially if you wax or add a dab of Camellia oil. The bearing mod is cheap, looks great, and just works well without any fuss.

Now LN need to do something about clearance for fingers to the lever cap wheel. Here is the new Clifton block plane. You can see how much clearance it has. I am tempted to make a similar lever cap as an experiment (or put my fingers on diet ) ...



Link: http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/first...ca8e2cf817360f9

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Timberwolf]

The LN 60 1/2 I bought years ago was very hard to adjust when I received it..The friction was so great it galled the adjuster knob. LN knew about the problem and sent me a new knob which worked much better...I'll bet the ball bearing mod really makes it much easier to adjust.

[Admiral]

Yeah, it is an improvement, but frankly I don't see the value add at $40 delivered, that's almost 25% of the retail of the plane.

[John Clifford]

Neat idea. I wonder how much it would raise the price if LN made these standard on their planes.


John