f the cutter
is a mere slit. In the ordinary plane it is necessary to remove the
cutter in order to reset the frog, but in the Sargent plane and the
Stanley "bed rock" plane, it can be set by a set-screw at the rear of
the frog. Next, the cap should be set so that the cutter projects but
very little beyond it, or, in technical language, the cutter should be
set "fine." A sliding cut, see p. 53, should be taken with the plane,
and sometimes it may be necessary to move the plane nearly at right
angles to the general direction of the grain. By these means even
refractory pieces of wood can be well smoothed. See also scrapers, p.
91.

The choking of a plane is the stoppage of the throat by shavings.
It may be due simply to the fact that the cutter is dull or that
it projects too far below the sole of the plane. In a wooden plane
choking is sometimes due to the crowding of shavings under some part
of the wedge. When the adjustable frog in a modern plane is improperly
placed choking may result. The frog should be far enough forward so
that the cutter rests squarely upon it.

Choking may, and most commonly does, take place because the cap does
not fit down tight on the cutter. This happens if the cap be nicked or
uneven. In consequence, minute shavings are driven between these two
irons and choking soon results. The remedy is to sharpen the cap, so
that its edge makes a close fit with the cutter. The fit may be made
still tighter by rubbing with a screwdriver the edge of the cap down
on the cutter after it is screwed in place.

In no tool is it more important to keep the cutter sharp than in the
plane. To remove the cutter, in order to sharpen it, first loosen the
clamp lever and remove the clamp. Carefully remove the cap and cutter
taking pains not to let the edge hit any part of the plane, then using
the clamp as a screwdriver, loosen the cap-screw and slide the cap
back along the slot in the cutter, where it can be held fast by a turn
of the cap-screw. The edge is now free and can readily be whetted.
When the cap needs to be entirely removed, for instance, for grinding,
after it has been slid along the cutter slot, as before, it is turned
at right angles to the cutter, and then slid down the slot until the
cap-screw unbuttons from the cutter. The object in sliding the cap up
the slot before turning it, is to prevent the danger of injuring the
edge. Some caps are now made with the buttonhole at the upper end of
the slot.