Thread: Learning basic hand plane use

Grab a few pieces of timber from a roadside collection. Ensure your blade is sharp and start planing. Make all sorts of adjustments and try any different ways you can think of.
Having the blade sharp is the most important thing but just plane the timber away till there's nothing left. Practice planing the timber square and check with straight edges and squares.
you'll soon work out what feels and works best.

As NCA says, and
plane a bit, read a bit, ask a bit
rinse & repeat until you start to get the hang of it (and you'll know when that is)

Skewing the plane is really only for difficult timbers or going across the grain for rough flattening. The skew angle just presents a smaller edge for less resistance and better slicing if the grain is difficult.

I'd actually have to do it and take notice, but I don't believe I use my front hand for movement - more pressure and guidance. Difficult timber is a different story. Important to keep your rear elbow in the line of planing so that everything moves in a straight line.

What they both said above and a bit.
And a short little story of me and roll your eyes panel beating.
I was lucky enough to work in the UK for a period panel beating.
In one shop I worked we had a master panel beater and yes this guy was good very good with a hammer and piece of steel.The same gentleman had never grasped public relations just not his cup of tea.
But I fondly remember the conversation or actually it was more advice off such one late afternoon on my way past is work station when I was asking for advice on a particular nasty crease I was working on.
Quote, you stupid dumb .......... have know f.......... ideas you need to feel the f....... metal.
You can't just f......... smash it get with you stupid f........
Right thanks Bob( I actually never new his real name for obvious reasons.
Cut a a long story short filled with more expletives.
It was not till I started mucking about shaping metal by hand in my own time many years later that in dawned on me what "Bob" meant.
You need to practice practice practice practice I would even go so far to say stop reading about it now.
Just bloody do it do it till your arms hurt do it till you go through all the emotions.
Then you will know how to do it.
Note point I'm only a first year apprentice at wood planning.

Cheers Matt (sorry if that was long winded)

Thanks guys.

Brett, yep I soon got that my rear elbow needed to be in line to keep the plane in line. I'm getting better at it and it makes a real difference. I mentioned scewing because it was one of the few physical aspects of using a plane I found.

Matt, not long winded but that's coming from someone who often is. I guess being able to feel the wood is largely a matter of experience. I have been literally feeling the wood lately actually

Maye I'm at a plateau because the reason I'm asking is that I have been planing and planing and planing and I don't seem to be able to break through this stuck point so to speak. I haven't done any planing in the last two or three days but that's unusual, normally I don't go more than a day without planing for at least a couple of hours and generally I plane every day. I don't use handtools that much but I love planing. The sound is beautiful and the wood looks beautiful but if I want to use a piece I have to sand it because it I can't keep it flat and straight and it looks so dull after being sanded that it's sad.

Ok. Well I will try to use my back hand and the front as a guide and for pressure. I will try to think of things to try and see if I can get back to you with a specific question.

Originally Posted by Mnb

The sound is beautiful and the wood looks beautiful but if I want to use a piece I have to sand it because it I can't keep it flat and straight and it looks so dull after being sanded that it's sad.

There are plenty who like the finish straight off the plane (or scraper) like IanW, just for a start. It does get the chatoyance of the timber happening.

OTOH if it is sanded up to 2000-4000 grit it sure gets the timber glowing!

The folks over at Fine Woodworking offer a free 14 day trial of their site membership. You can subsequently purchase a membership if you wish, and this becomes cheaper if you subscribe to their magazine.

I mention this because they have a three hour video workshop online covering pretty much everything to do with hand planes - the link (once you have a login/trial account) is here: Fundamentals of Handplanes with Mike Pekovich - FineWoodworking

Personally, I find it worth a subscription and membership - there's a huge amount of resources in there, but a free account will give you a fortnight to examine that and make a decision.

In the meantime, that workshop (and there is more content covering hand planes and much more) might be of interest to you

There is a little here on body use ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...omPlanes3.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

If you are altering the depth of cut by simply adding more pressure I would hazard a guess that the sole of your plane isn't as flat as you'd like; it may be a bit concave.

Here are MY planing tips. Forgive me if I am giving directions on egg-sucking here and expect others to jump in with their own recipes; just about every tip listed below has an equal mix of proponents and objectors. These methods work for me though.

All planing practices:
Sharp blade. Thin Stanley/Record ones can be sharpened by hand but a jig gives quick REPEATABLE results. I use a Veritas MkII. Ensure the back of the blade is as polished as much as the front, the last half an inch is fine. You are trying to get two polished intersecting edges; it doesn't matter if you effectively hone a 1/2 degree bevel over that polished area.
Flat sole. Well; as flat as you can get it anyway. A number 3 can be flattened in about 20 minutes; an 8 may take a bit longer... You can polish the sole if you wish but shinier than that gained with 240 or 320 grit wet & dry doesn't achieve much in use.
Cap iron/chip breaker. Must contact the blade across it's entire width. Polish the bevel so that wood shavings can simply glide upwards.
Mouth. Must be square and parallel to the blade; if not then careful work with a file will be needed to make it so. Clean up the inside face so that any shavings that touch it will meet minimum resistance.
Frog. Must be held flat onto the plane base and hold the blade flat against it. Use engineers blue to check the points of contact, if this isn't available you can substitute a qood quality black Texta but you'll be reapplying it constantly.

Stock removal:
As above but adjust the cap iron so that the bevel is 0.5 to 1mm MAX from the blade edge. Move the frog backwards to open the mouth enough so that thicker shavings will flow throw without choking. The thickness of the desired shaving dictates the cap iron position and mouth opening.

Smoothing:
This time set the cap iron only 0.1-0.3mm from the blade edge. Advance the frog until the mouth is open about 3 times the cap iron setting. If the shavings are choking in the mouth open it up slightly by moving the frog back a smidge.

Ok; technique. The plane consists of two flat bits with a sticky-out sharp bit between them. Applying downwards pressure to either flat bit will allow the plane to either try to plane uphill or down hill; therefore you should be applying equal pressure to them. While the plane is in the middle of a board that's pretty easy but when the tool enters and leaves the board one flat bit is now unsupported. So; when you first start the cut on a board the only downward pressure you should be applying is on the front knob, and you only need LIGHT pressure at that. As more of the sole covers the board you lessen the pressure on the front handle until all the sole is on the board; the front knob is now used to merely steer the plane. You don't apply any downward force to the rear handle; all you are doing here is pushing the tool horizontally. When the toe leaves the other end of the board you still should really only be applying horizontal pressure but light downwards pressure on the handle won't hurt...much. The weight of the tool should be enough to make a smoothing cut, for hogging off large shavings for stock removal a little downwards force shared between them can be used.

Nearly forgot; lubricate the sole of the plane. You can use paste wax, beeswax, candle wax, linseed oil, tallow, anything but silicone. My preferred method is a quick scribble with a lump of white hard beeswax. Sometimes you can get a slight build up of wood resins on the plane sole; keep a small lump of steel wool handy to rub it off.

Now; I have a 2 part question for you: firstly what is/are your plane(s)? Standard bench planes were made in 11 sizes as each one has an ideal use; although these sweet-spot uses differ from person to person. The single most common plane in the world by the sheer number made is the number 4 smoother; but the most useful plane ever made is the number 5 jack. Or the 5-1/2. Or the 4-1/2. Probably not a 6 but the 5-1/4 is a contender too... the point here is that each plane size does one thing well for one person but performs better in another role for someone else. When you are jointing the rule of thumb is that the ideal board length is 2-1/2 times the length of the plane's sole. Where as you can joint a 2m long board with a number 4 smoother... it's bloody hard to do. A bit easier with a jack, improving with a foreplane but really you need a jointer. Which doesn't lend itself to smoothing like a 4...

The next part of this question refers to the quality of the planes you are using. Stanleys made in the USA or Canada before 1942 are the best ever made as they had tighter tolerances and good quality control. After that every attempt was made to reduce production costs until no corner was left uncut. The majority of other plane manufacturers only started to copy the post WW2 Stanleys so they started behind the 8-ball anyway; the exception is Record who didn't follow Stanleys path into misery until the 1950's. What this all means is that although a brand new Stanley from Bunnings can be made to shave the hairs off of a bee's winky there is a hideous amount of work in initially preparing and fettling the plane; and then a painful time trying to get repeatable adjustments. The older models just work so much better and are actually really quite cheap; for the price of one modern Stanley from Bunnings you can pick up at least three or four interwar Stanleys from markets and garage sales that will outperform it in every possible way. So if your plane(s) are later models Stanleys or their copies it's time to keep an eye out for better examples. If the name on the lever cap says anything truly nasty like "Gripwell" or "Carter" stop trying to use it immediately and consign it to doorstop duty!

Originally Posted by Mnb

Hi people. I'm trying to learn to plane and I'm looking for suggestions on internet sources to help. I've had great advice from forum members and the useful sites I've looked at have been recommended to me by members too. On my own I have really found little for the level I'm at so I thought I would ask here.

Through experiment I know that the amount of pressure on the plane downwards will change the depth of cut but that's about it. I noticed recently that by the end of the stroke my plane was to the left of the line I started planing on and I have been practising keeping my left hand (the one on the handle for me) parallel to the front so I can go in a straight line. I want to know those sort of basic things - pushing forward from the handle and how much compared with pulling from the front makes the cut different. I can feel it but I don't know what is happening or why and sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't.

Can anyone point me to explanation or demonstration of those sort fundamentals?

some questions for you

1. what size plane are you using?
2. is your plane tuned? is the blade sharp? is the sole flat? is the frog fully bedded, or does it rock? is the front of the chip breaker "eased"?
3. how long is your practice piece?
4. how high is the work piece in relation to your physiology?

in terms of using the plane, you should be pushing forward from your hips.
Go to your local Mitre10, Bunnings, whatever and purchase a short (400 to 600) mm long piece of DAR hardwood as a practice piece.

Then practice.
Initially concentrate on one aspect -- e.g getting a straight long edge with no dip at the start of end or the stroke.
then move to getting the edge square to the face.

have you seen the Lie Nielsen planning videos? Here is just one of them

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

There are plenty who like the finish straight off the plane (or scraper) like IanW, .....

Hmm, that needs a bit of qualifying Brett - I like to get as close as I can to a finished surface with planes, but I ain't no purist. I'll use whatever seems the most efficient, so I still go through a few sheets of abrasive paper each year. I also admit to being unable to finish a tabletop or other large surface to my satisfaction 'off plane'. It may look perfect, with lovely clean-cut surface, but put a few rubs of polish on & tilt it to the light & too many small imperfections show up. So anything that has to be polished gets (hand) sanded. My only boast is that I usually start at 400 & rarely need to start coarser than 320 grit......

To the OP I can only say practice, practice, practice. Just keep in mind what it is you are trying to do & the hands seem to learn of their own accord, eventually. The two things that eluded me for a long time (& most people seem to find the same) were planing truly square edges when edge-jointing. Long-bodied planes help with end-to-end straightness, but keeping the edge square with any length of plane takes a lot of concentration at first. I use the 'finger-fence' we were taught at school - easy & convenient, but you need a thick hide & some calloused fingers, and even so I occasionally get a dose of splinters. I can see why people turn to 'artificial' aids like magnetic fences on their jointers.

The rounding you get planing the top of a board (especially short ones) is another common problem. This is pure technique, you have to learn to lean on the toe as you start the cut & ease back to almost no pressure at all on the front as the plane gets into its stroke. I put my palm flat on the front knob, which automatically promotes the transfer of pressure. For that reason, I've chucked the 'high' style knobs on every Bailey type plane I own & substituted the old-style low, flat-topped knobs.

But everyone has their quirks & methods they develop over time, and they are all good for them. For now, just stick with the basics, & keep asking yourself what you are actually trying to do, imagine what he plane has to do to achieve it & after a while, the hands take over & the mind can do other jobs, like thinking ahead....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Mnb

Hi people. I'm trying to learn to plane and I'm looking for suggestions on internet sources to help. I've had great advice from forum members and the useful sites I've looked at have been recommended to me by members too. On my own I have really found little for the level I'm at so I thought I would ask here.

There is a lot of stuff on sharpening and how to setup a plane. Then there is the advice to put pressure on the tote when at the start of the board and on the handle at the end. Oh and scewing the plane.

I've seen the advice to overlap your strokes and methods of planing the edge. There are lots of videos demonstrating how to flatten and/or dimension wood. These are assuming you can plane though really.

Through experiment I know that the amount of pressure on the plane downwards will change the depth of cut but that's about it. I noticed recently that by the end of the stroke my plane was to the left of the line I started planing on and I have been practising keeping my left hand (the one on the handle for me) parallel to the front so I can go in a straight line. I want to know those sort of basic things - pushing forward from the handle and how much compared with pulling from the front makes the cut different. I can feel it but I don't know what is happening or why and sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't.

Can anyone point me to explanation or demonstration of those sort fundamentals?

I can't afford to take a class at the moment btw which I imagine would be the most effective way to learn.

Learn to use the cap iron to control tearout. It will eliminate all of the other nonsense that various sources teach about snaking a single iron plane around or skewing it, etc. Skewing a plane is still useful, but it's more so to change the angle of attack or take advantage of the length of a plane to keep a board flatter along its width.

Be deliberate (not slow, but not rushing) when planing, and find a comfortable setting where the plane will cut and stay in the cut, offer some resistance to you but not so much that you're fighting it. that's your work rate for anything other than final smoothing.

When you're working a piece of wood that's not flat, work the high spots first. Don't get stuck in blind method that has you working all over the place where the problems aren't. After you get the high spots down, then do progressive work to get a finished surface.

Use the combination of the cap iron and your technique to try to keep the plane in the cut as much as possible when you're removing any significant material. A plane skipping across ridges isn't a plane that isn't getting anything done, and you'll get more use between sharpening cycles with the combination of having the cap set and the plane staying in the cut. When you have to push the plane down to get it to stay in a cut, sharpen it. Don't fight it, it's a waste of energy even though it seems like you're "squeezing more" out of it.

Celebrate the progress and embrace making mistakes at first as part of learning. You can't learn without them. If a plane is uncomfortable beyond muscle fatigue, see if you can adjust use with it, and if you can't, find another plane. A well designed plane that fits your working style will not give you sore wrists, rubbed fingers, etc.

Do a few small projects entirely by hand. Including thicknessing boards. You'll learn more in a couple of small projects than you will with years of intermittent planing.

Study your sharpening regimen. If it takes long enough that you avoid doing it, think about sharpening a different way. The fastest way to get back to work if you're doing a significant amount of work is a single stone and a strop, and some sort of hollow grind (dry grinder, etc) every four or half dozen times that you hone to keep the amount of metal you're honing relatively small. if you're working something really hard, a single stone may not get you as sharp as you want to be, use metal polish on a strop sparingly instead of bare leather. No modern set of three stones (that you have to water, flatten, etc), etc, will ever be as practical. Sharpening time without grinding should be about a minute, that's your goal. With a grind, perhaps two. If you have an arduous routine that gets you submicron sharpness but takes a long time, you'll soon figure out that it's getting in the way of your keeping the plane in the wood, and that the effeminate need for "razor sharpness" provides you with a very transient initial edge that is soon gone in any serious work. What you want is something functional and durable, quick to refresh and that leaves a uniform surface. Lack of chipping and use of the cap iron provides you with a good surface. Constantly refreshing an edge to do ordinary work (the tight mouth and sharpen sharpen sharpen school of blog woodworking) gets nothing done. If you want a brighter finish, you can always touch up a plane iron just for the last strokes of smooth planing.

The best time to skew a smoothing plane is when entering a board. Always begin the board with the plane at a skew. This will avoid chatter that often occurs at this time.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Forgot about that. A little bit of a skew and a "bump" to start, which will make sense. As derek said, chatter can occur without the skew (especially on a short plane) or bump, or you can just skip the beginning of the cut. Once you have a board relatively flat, you want to be deliberate enough at the start to be sure that the nose of the plane is down against the board, and the cut starts evenly at full depth, or if you do significant work, you'll end up with a high spot at the start. Of course, you can just plane that off if you're planing an edge, but if you're trying to thickness a flat surface, it's problematic to have a hump at the start running the width of a board. turning the board around to plane it off of the far end isn't always a good solution if the grain is running against you - even if you can plane the hump off without tearout (due to use of the cap iron) the surface won't be as good as it would be planing with the grain.

[Sorry for the delay with my reply. I started writing yesterday morning and haven't had a chance to come back to it until this evening. I didn't add much anyway.]

First off - I love this forum. It's fantastic that you guys take the time to help like this. I really appreciate it.

OTOH if it is sanded up to 2000-4000 grit it sure gets the timber glowing!

I think when your 15 yr old daughter tells you you lack patience it says it all... Truthfully though, I haven't had enough experience to really tell if I prefer one over the other once something is finished. In my short experience I have found that some bits of wood seem to come up better with sanding anyway. There were a couple of bits recently that looked so much better planed and I was frustrated

MM - In the past I avoided any online buying or subscribing but I have recently given in. So even though I don't tend to think of that sort of thing it is an option that I'll look at.

Derek, Will have a look at the link. I'm reading the other site now and the page on chip types answered my question. Thank you.


ChiefTiff - I copied your brilliant post and saved it on to the desktop for reference.

Ian, IanW and ChiefTiff - Brilliant, thank you. The first question I ever asked on the forum was about sanding. Most of the advice was information that I had already and had forgotten or hadn't put together in my mind and seeing it laid out in one place really helped. Your posts did that and added new info too. So

The Questions:

I have a Stanley from Bunnings and a second hand Record 5 but they are never used.
The "usable" planes I have are a number 4, a 4 and 1/2 and a 5. All made in England mid 60's or earlier. The five seems the oldest - the 50's or earlier. It is also the one I've spent the most time trying to tune. The 4 and 4 1/2 I got maybe a month or so ago. I cleaned them up and got the blades decent but I haven't had a go at the soles or mouths which I am now motivated to do.

The chip breakers are all eased and I had a go at the underneath so they make good contact along the width of the blade.

The frogs are bedded I think - they seem to sit flat and definitely don't rock.

Are the blades sharp? Well that's a good question. Mr Brush generously donated his old water stones to me in February - up to 8000. It was probably only a month ago though that he helped me (through advice) to file down my honing guide so I can sharpen square and straight. My blade's are so much sharper than they were but I know I'm not yet getting them to a consistent sharpness. Sometimes they are better than other times and sometimes I have to re sharpen because the edge isn't straight. They can take off hair on my arm but there the ease of it varies.

I am planing Tassy oak pieces of various widths and lengths. Usually 600mm or more I guess. My bench plus planing board is almost to my elbows.

I can't make my brain work anymore so some notes:

*I feel like I've learnt the need to take the time to set things up and how much difference things that seem small can actually make in woodworking and then along the lesson comes yet again. Tuning and sharpening relate.

*With the hips - I think I perhaps lean forward too much as I go through a plane stroke. It could be why the far end of my boards reduce more quickly than the near end.

Keeping even pressure. At one point I thought that was the aim and then thought I was wrong. Explaining going on and off the board as keeping the pressure even makes real sense.

Thinking about what I am trying to do and practising a specific thing is great advice and though I do tend to do that when learning something I haven't really been doing so with my planing when I think about it.


Tune, keep improving sharpening skills, keep it even, keep it straight, practise with an aim and remember the plane is metal with a blade sticking out.

I don't know what I'm sayig anymore.