Thread: Basic handplane use - an update

Derek, the record has a broken handle. The top is missing from just after where it starts to curve back up straight (sorry, I can't take pictures really). I've left it because it helps keep the force of my push down low. Doesn't force it but it does encourage it and I notice the difference - it feels smoother/more even and more engaged if that makes sense.

Thanks for the feedback.

Regards from Perth

Derek

for others reading this thread, I'd like to highlight Mnb's key observation

Originally Posted by Mnb

Thanks to now actually having a straight edge I found that the Stanley 5 I was using is significantly lower at the ends of it's sole than in the middle.

I think it was the problem with the sole that created the feeling of something basic I was missing when trying to learn to plane.

Glad you’re on the mend, Mnb. For the record, you’re not the only one who learnt from the thread you started a few months ago.

Yes, as the others have said, good to get feedback, Mnb, and very good to hear both your body & planing are on an upward curve.

A convex sole is exceedingly difficult to fix, lapping is likely to make it worse (as it seems you have already discovered for yourself). A concave sole won't rock as you lap, but holding a convex sole steady enough by hand to work the high spot flat is a job for person with better skills than I have. Filing & scraping the high spots is a better way to tackle it in the home workshop, but I think that also requires a bit of prior experience to ensure a good outcome.

I wonder how many folks get put off the whole hand-planing thing by a dud plane? My own experience was a close-run thing. By sheer chance, the first #5 I got worked tolerably well out of the box, despite being (an early model) made-in-Australia Stanley. Some years later, I bought a second Australian-made Stanley, a #4. That was in 1981, so that plane would have been made near the end of Stanley's tenure here. It was a bitter disappointment, try as I might, I could not get the damned thing to produce decent shavings under any circumstances! I had no one to turn to for help, & no internet in those days, so after exhausting my limited knowledge without getting it to perform half as well as the #5, I found it a new home (in a landfill pile). Had that #4 been my first plane, I think I would have given up woodworking altogether, but because of my #5, I knew things could be better. Sometime later, I picked up a made-in-England #4 which after a bit of fettling has become a favourite, especially since I replaced the modern 'high' knob with my own version of the earlier 'low' knob.

Since those fumbling early days, I've learnt a bit more about planes and I think I could diagnose the problem(s) with that #4 now, and possibly fix it, but too late, it's rusting quietly where it can't annoy & frustrate anyone anymore.

Magazines & this Forum have been great sources of information, but I think making my own planes was the best course in planes & planing I've taken. I learnt pretty quickly what makes a bad plane & (gradually), what makes a decent one. But it's hard when you don't have a good standard for comparison. This is why some old hands advise lashing out & buying one of the new high-quality planes to start with - at least you know it will work out of the box and you have a standard against which you can compare future additions to your kit. But if you are not so flush, and have a good stubborn streak, getting hold of an oldie & learning the hard way has its merits too - knowledge gained the hard way tends to stick.

Keep up the good work.....
Cheers,

Link to the previous thread if needed

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...6&share_type=t

I'm glad the first thread helped other people too. And thanks for the well wishes. It feels so good to be able to get back into things.

Ian, I tend to get mixed up with binary labels like concave and convex and so avoid using them, but I think the sole is concave. From your description above and caves curving inward. When I said the ends are lower I was thinking of lower towards the ground if the plane is up the way you would use it rather than lower if looking at the sole as you would a piece of wood. I think that makes sense. Anyway, with a straight edge held along the length there is a gap between it and the sole near the mouth of the plane. (I've probably over explained now...) Someone in the other thread suggested that as a possibility when I said downwards pressure on both handle and knob gave me a deeper cut. Sorry to whoever it was - I don't remember and I'm too lazy to go look right now. I realised that was correct at the time but not how much.

And, I have wondered exactly the same thing about people being put off hand planing by not starting with something decent. Particularly now machines are more affordable. It's as though you need to shrink everything down with hand planing. I mean that very small changes make a huge difference (like the bad explanation of chaos maths

And yes I am ridiculously stubborn. I bought myself a second hand inca planer thicknesser and spent days working it out and adjusted everything but still try to hand plane first and then use the machine if I totally screw up by hand.

Originally Posted by Mnb

....... I think the sole is concave. From your description above and caves curving inward. When I said the ends are lower I was thinking of lower towards the ground if the plane is up the way you would use it rather than lower if looking at the sole as you would a piece of wood. I think that makes sense. Anyway, with a straight edge held along the length there is a gap between it and the sole near the mouth of the plane. (I've probably over explained now...) ......

Nope, not over-explained, you've removed all doubt & now I know what you're dealing with. Convave it is, by the usual usage of the word (& yep, remembering a 'cave' is a hole helps most of us remember which is what. ).

So in fact, you've got the easier of the two types of sole defect to deal with. There've been a few threads on lapping, & scraping vs lapping, if you type "Plane, sole, lapping, scraping" into the keyword box you'll bring up enough to get you started (or confused). I guess I should warn you that it's quite the workout taking a few thou off a sole the size of a #5, so leave it til sometime when you are feeling very fit & vigorous........

Cheers,

Using a cave to remember is actually fairly obvious I guess. I hadn't bothered to think about it before

I've read a couple of threads on flattening soles since my original attempt.

Thanks for the warning Ian. I'll remember that when I get frustrated and feel like I'm not getting anywhere

Edit: I got a board 90?mm wide beautifully flat today. Great feeling