Fun with a Stanley #45 - 01 - Cutting a Groove

Did you make that workbench and if you did do you have any video of that process? What's the story behind your Stanley #45?

I did make the workbench, and I do have a timelapse video of the earlier stages of working on it. The Stanley #45 is a combination plane that was made by Stanley, though there are several other manufacturers that made similar planes. It's a particularly useful plane for making grooves, and doing beading. I picked this one up in relatively rough shape, cleaned it up, and put it back to use. Thanks for watching and commenting :-)

Thanks for watching and commenting. I will hopefully get there eventually. I haven't had a chance to sharpen up the sash cutter yet. The slitter is a little tricky and I haven't quite mastered it yet. It will probably be one of the later videos. I've gotten some other projects done recently, so be on the lookout for more videos coming soon :)

My pack of cutters came with the bevel ground to about 35 degrees, is that the angle you sharpen yours at? Nice instructional video, very helpful.

Thanks for watching and commenting :) I'm still working on more videos as well. New camera too, so hopefully they'll look better too. For my cutters, I have been sharpening them at about the same as the secondary bevel on my bench plane blades. This is usually around 25-30 degrees. I freehand sharpen, so I can't accurately say what exactly they are, but they're probably close. I'm not sure that a 5 degree deviation would make too much of a difference in this case, either.

Oh, I also forgot to comment on the other part, I believe that the 35 degree was the "factory" angle for the cutters.

Thanks a lot for the help! I have struggled in the past, and this morning cutting a straight groove, and I found out that I didn't "lock" down the micro adjuster near the fence and I was actually spinning the adjustment dial as I was pushing the plane! oops. Thanks for your advice to just lightly push the plane too, that has made a big difference as well. My only problem now is making the bottom of the groove square... The groove always seems to be sloped up on the skate side of the cut.

Not a problem. I struggled with that same thing at first. I found out that I was rocking the plane down on the fence side, to continue the cut, when I should have just stopped. You could also set the depth gauge on the sliding section to match the one on the main skate, if the groove is wide enough for the sliding section. This will prevent it from rocking over. If that doesn't fix it, then check to make sure the iron's edge is perpendicular to the fence

Thanks for these videos on the use of the Stanley Combo planes. I have one with all of the cutters but haven't used it yet, hopefully soon.

Thanks Chris for the info i have a 45 and have started a hope chest for my granddaughter using all hand tools. the bench that you were using looks real nice did you make it yourself, if so do you have a video

thanks Craig 

Great Job.