scrub plane blade

[Pop Golden]

I am very sure I've destroyed a plane blade. What is the preferred radius of a scrub plane blade? The plane I'm working on may have too small mouth. What should it be on a scrub plane?

Pop

 

[Mike Davis]

8 inch radius and as wide open as possible.

 

[mdbuntyn]

If you're talking about blades from a #4-#6, Mike's suggestion will work great. You can always change it if you find that it doesn't suit your needs.

"Real" scrub planes (Stanley #40, and similar) have blades that are around 1½" wide, and since their mouths are very large, they have a much narrower 3" radius.

 

[Gofor]

The 8" radius Mike stated works well for me using a #5 Stanley style plane. I find that the #5 with the 8" radius blade gets most of the work I need it for, which is flattening a surface and eliminating twist and cupping.

I also have the Lee Valley scrub plane like Matt referenced. The Lee Valley has a much thicker iron to stand up to the stress of the smaller radius. I have found it best for really hard woods (set shallow), or for reducing the thickness of a board when it needs a lot of material taken off.

 

[Pop Golden]

Thanks folks

Pop