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What's the Difference Between a Standard and Low Angle Block Plane?

comments (0) April 16th, 2009 in Blogs

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By Gary Striegler

A standard bed angle of 20° (large drawing above) is good for general-purpose shaping and smoothing work. A low bed angle of 12° (inset drawing) is designed for planing end grain. The lower cutting angle allows the blade to shear end-grain fibers more effectively. Conversely, when planing with the grain, a low bed angle is more likely to cause tearout, so a standard bed angle is preferable. With either type of plane, using an adjustable throat plate (available in some planes) to minimize the opening in front of the blade (called the throat) also helps to minimize tearout.

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