3
Accurately Setting the Angle
Note:
Because not all planes have their wings
perfectly square to the sole and the fence itself
is only square within manufacturing tolerances,
when mounted, the fence may not be square to
the plane sole. Fortunately, what is important is
the relationship of the
blade
to the fence, not the
blade to the sole. You can compensate for lack of
squareness by setting the lateral adjustment of
the blade until the cutting edge is at right angles
to the fence. You know it is square when you can
take shavings of the same thickness by alternating
planing from either end of the workpiece. Because
one of the directions will be against the grain,
do this only on a test piece, preferably one with
straight grain.
90°
Figure 4: Setting the
angle.
