Thread: ""Just The Simple Bliss Of Planing""

I often just go out into the garage and find a piece of wood and start planing. Sometimes try and plane 2 edges square, sometimes just make shavings.
My wife looks at me like I'm weird as well. Surely its not us thats weird..

Don't especially like sharpening, but I love the feel & sound of a sharp plane taking off a transparent ribbon of wood - just to test it.

I'm a machinery man first and foremost, but handplaning timber is by far the most enjoyable part of woodwork. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's addictive. kinda like watching an open fire. My freshly sharpened blades are often blunt by the time I am finished "testing" how well I sharpened the edge

If I used hand planes and learned how to sharpen them properly I'm sure I'd enjoy that too

Haven't been in the shed today but as soon as I read this post I wanted to go out and make some shavings.
Something really therapeutic about the whoosh of well tuned plane.

I don't particularly like hand sawing, but hand planing, especially on hardwood, is truly addictive. The sound of the shaving coming off the plane, and the sight of transformation from a rough sawn moldy bit of timber to a silky smooth finish right before your eyes always seems so irresistible.

It is great, but l dislike the tear out especially when you think you have hand planing "Licked" (that sounds bad doesn't it) jes l wish they didn't invent P.C!

One day l will learn the finer aspects of this frustrating art! the same goes for cutting dovetails.

Originally Posted by Kuffy

I'm a machinery man first and foremost, but handplaning timber is by far the most enjoyable part of woodwork. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's addictive. kinda like watching an open fire. My freshly sharpened blades are often blunt by the time I am finished "testing" how well I sharpened the edge

great analogy ... the open fire ... not doing anything really productive ... just easing the mind

Rob

This is a really refreshing post.

I was beginning to believe I was the only one who did this kind of thing. Sometimes I will just go downstairs and grab a few offcuts and plane them for the sake of seeing how many strokes it takes me to do it, how thin a shaving I can get, and how best to reach a finish-ready surface on various timbers.

And yes. It is a joyous event every, single time.

Cheers,
Luke

What could be better, than to refine your planning skills, and to be rewarded with the sheer enjoyment of the newly sharpened blade slicing through a beautiful piece of timber.

I find the whole process or sharpening and adjusting and then using edge tools very satisfying. My no 7 jointer is an old Stanley. It was given to me as a gift by a very kindly old man. He came to my workshop every week for many months to teach me how to turn wood. One day as we were talking I mentioned my desire to one day get a jointer plane. But I was young then, with a large family and money was limited. Next week he showed up with this wonderful old no 7. I put a new pmv11 blade and a new cap iron in it some years ago. When it slides across a bit of timber it makes a sort of whistling noise. I have often just grabbed a bit of scrap timber and used it just to hear the noise and watch the almost transparent shavings come off. But more than the shavings, it reminds me of that man and his kindness.

There is nothing either odd or difficult to understand in this type of behaviour. I am not a painter nor do I knit. But I suppose those who have these hobbies find the sights and sounds and especially the tactile sensations associated with them pleasurable. I have sometimes seen people who can sit at a spinning wheel for hours turning amorphous lumps of fleece into finely spun thread. The process would bore me to tears in 5 minutes. But I suppose something in what they are doing stimulates the pleasure centers in their amygdala.

Using tools and especially sharp hand tools has a very soothing effect on me. I like machinery-big noisy machinery. But it does not produce the same calming effect in me as sawing, planing and chiseling does. The environment of my little workshop is a pleasant one. It is 54 square meters of my little kingdom. Nobody else either knows or cares what I do in there. I am under no pressure to meet anybody's expectations other than my own. There are no time pressures, government regulations, reports or rules - apart from not bleeding on the floor. The tools I have are a reminder of the people I have known who gave them to me as gifts, the time spent saving for them and the pleasure of seeking them out and purchasing them. I am not a gifted woodworker. Any small skills I have developed, have come kicking and screaming. Yet sometimes they come and I get a new or improved skill. My wife and kids try to look impressed and to understand. I remember the look of feigned awe when I showed her the first successful attempt I made at sharpening a hand saw. She did well, but I could see she did not really understand why I was so pleased at coaxing a 14 point cross-cut saw into life. But my hands and brain can now do something new. Great fun.

Today, after breakfast, I will begin making a small display stand for a friend of my wife. My little dog will keep me company, running about the shed looking for something. I have no idea what he thinks is hidden in every nook and cranny. Then he will go off to rest on his blanket near the door. I will, for several hours, be able to do what I like and as I like, in an environment I built myself and have setup just to suit me. I will use some skills and my creativity. What more could a man want?

Anyway, I was very happy to see that the pleasure I get was shared by others.

Thanks for the insightful yarn ... so uplifting

I have to fess up to this behavior also but my excuse is that the only way to set up the plane after sharpening is to try a test swipe or two.
Regards
John

Of course it is. And planes can go blunt over night so it is best to check them regularly.