Toothed Blade in a LA Jack

[grwold]

I spent a good amount of time on the Work Mate this weekend, flattening a top for a drill press stand I'm making.  I ended up using my #5, 4, & 4 1/2 the most, but here's the question:  The LA jack I picked up here, recently, had a number of blades including a toothed blade.  I've heard the toothed blade is great for heavy stock removal ... so, what did I do wrong?

I tried it at a shallow depth, and a bit deeper; with a narrow mouth, and with the mouth opened wide.  In every case the shavings were shallow and light, and I had to repeatedly clear the mouth because it jammed--less quickly when wide, but still, every fifth or sixth stroke it seemed full.

How is one supposed to set up a LA jack with a toothed blade for stock removal?




If it matters, I'm working Douglass fir, 2x10 ripped at ~ 2" and laminated with Tite-Bond II.  Stock removal is to eliminate the rounded edges and the "float" from the clamping/glue.

[mdhills]

Are you loading the blade in, bevel-side up?
And are you adjusting the mouth of the plane?

I don't use my toothed blade a lot, but it saved my bacon when flattening my reclaimed doug fir workbench.
My normal roughing #5 was digging too much in the grain; the toothed blade left a coarse, textured surface, but without deep gouges pulling up the grain.  I didn't remove all of the texture with my #7 afterwards, as I liked the effect.
a
Matt

[Derek Cohen]

The toothed blade is not for "heavy stock removal". That is the job of a heavily cambered blade (say 10" radius). The toothed blade is for levelling highly interlocked faces, where it will not create tearout. One follows it with a high cutting angle blade on a BU or BD plane, or a double iron on a BD plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[grwold]

Are you loading the blade in, bevel-side up?
And are you adjusting the mouth of the plane?

I don't use my toothed blade a lot, but it saved my bacon when flattening my reclaimed doug fir workbench.
My normal roughing #5 was digging too much in the grain; the toothed blade left a coarse, textured surface, but without deep gouges pulling up the grain.  I didn't remove all of the texture with my #7 afterwards, as I liked the effect.
a
Matt

Yep, bevel's still up. I did adjust the mouth several times, from moderately open, to closed down, to opened wide. Did you find the mouth jammed, much, when working the mixed grain? Maybe I set the blade too deeply for that use.

The toothed blade is not for "heavy stock removal". That is the job of a heavily cambered blade (say 10" radius). The toothed blade is for levelling highly interlocked faces, where it will not create tearout. One follows it with a high cutting angle blade on a BU or BD plane, or a double iron on a BD plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

This explains what I saw, and makes sense. Thanks for the input/correction, both of you!

[mdhills]

Yep, bevel's still up.  I did adjust the mouth several times, from moderately open, to closed down, to opened wide.  Did you find the mouth jammed, much, when working the mixed grain?  Maybe I set the blade too deeply for that use.


This explains what I saw, and makes sense.  Thanks for the input/correction, both of you!

I don't recall the mouth jamming.
I was traversing or going diagonally over high spots with tricky grain.