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  1. #1
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    Default Confirming advice about Flattening top of workbench

    Hi everyone,
    I have done some reading about Planing tops for workbenches. I am pretty limited to having only a number 4 plane, with the blade sent away to be sharpened. I know to use winding sticks, and working across the grain first.
    Is there a way that I can set up the plane to be more suited to a scrub plane, and how much clearance between the blade and the breaker?

    ThAnks in advAnce.IMAG0046.jpgIMAG0044.jpg

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  3. #2
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    Oct 2014
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    https://youtu.be/dEBtTxg7Z_Q?t=4m48s

    That is a video of Steve Hay (woodworking masterclass) set at the point in the video where he picks up his "hogging plane" to clean up the damage from his scrub plane. It's just a #4 plane with a cambered (curved) blade. You will probably need to be sharpening your own blade because the edges don't last long.

  4. #3
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    Flattening your bench top will be much easier with more than a single #4, but if all you have is the #4 and one blade then that is all you have.

    However, in terms of a successful outcome, I'm very concerned that you have sent the plane blade away to be sharpened. My experience of comercial sharpening services is that when it comes to wood working tools, commercially sharpened blades are not sharp enough to use effectively, and if by chance they are, the blade will be too blunt to use within a few minutes of starting teh task.
    So you will need to learn to sharpen your own plane blade -- and acquire the stones (or sandpaper and plate glass) and probably a honing guide to do it yourself. Without a sharp blade, flattening that top will be almost impossible. Likewise if the plane is not set up, or if you don't know how to set the plane up.

    With a short sole plane like a #4, technique in identifying high spots and taking gthem out will be very important.
    Sorry, but I can't suggest a YouTube link to help here.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  5. #4
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    Hi tomar..., like 'the other Ian' says, you need to start learning to sharpen your own blades, as of now! Sharp blades that are kept sharp make jobs like this two or three hundred percent easier (at least!). Even an inexpensive two-sided carborundum stone is better than none at all. It won't give you the polished edges beloved of the gurus, but it can give you an adequately sharp one for this sort of work. You can dispense with the honing guide, particularly if you are on a tight tool budget; learning to sharpen by hand takes a little bit longer, but not much - especially when you have a strong incentive like you have there.

    Tackling it with nothing but a #4 with a straight blade is going to be a chore - I guess I would've done the same sort of thing 40 years ago, when all I had was a #5, but I have acquired a few more planes since then (& I no longer have that sort of stamina!). I admire your tenacity, but it could be made a lot easier if you had two more tools to work with: some sort of 'scrub' plane to speed up the rough, side to side, levelling (i.e. convex or 'cambered' blade and wide mouth to allow big scoops of wood through), and a longer-soled plane as a follow-on to level the furrows & make straightening the length easier. I'd use 4 different planes on that job, but the two I mentioned would be a very significant improvement over your current choice.

    Since it looks like you intend using this bench for some serious woodwork, perhaps now is the time to do some fossicking for a 6 or a 7, or at least a largish jack like a 5 1/2? Buying the tools you need, as you need them, is the best way to acquire a tool kit, imo. Where are you, roughly, in Brisbane - if you're not too far from me, maybe I could drop by one afternoon with some reinforcements (and some sharpening gear!)? With a scrub, a jack and a #7, you should have your top straight & level in a couple of hours, easily.....

    Cheers,
    IW

  6. #5
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    Thanks guys.
    The sharpening place uses a wet stone grinder that would produce a hollow grind. I have in the past sharpened my own blades using a veteran sharpening jig(v1). I used either a whetstone or more often I used wet and dry sandpaper on glass and held by spray adhesive.

    I sold everything when I came back to Brisbane, the Leigh, Plano clamps, combo machine everything including the job.

    I have pondered about getting another sharpening jig to touch up blades and any regrinding would be done by the shop.

    I have just acquired a set of Nooitgedagt chisels that I will flatten the back on and have sharpened on the wet grinder.

    I was a bit impatient with the top and cheated by usi g rails, a flat bit of wood and a d handle router to flatten. It worked well but leaves me deficient of and skill using the plane to flatten the top.
    Thanks for the video link, I found him, easy to understand, .

    Cheers Tony

  7. #6
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    OK, if the top is already essentially flat, you should be able to finish the flattening using your #4.
    You'll need a sharp blade, the chip breaker set close to the cutting edge and a relatively narrow mouth.
    Be aware of how short a #4 is and have some fun removing the residual router cutter marks.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  8. #7
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    Apr 2001
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    Step 1: mark the high spots on the bench top. You could rub chalk or pencil over an aluminium straight edge, and rub this over the bench top.

    Step 2: plane these down with the #4. Repeat steps 1 and 2.

    By now you should be 95% there.

    Step 3: Traverse the bench top to ensure all is even across the grain.

    Step 4: plane with the grain the full length.

    Check flatness as you go.

    Set up the #4 with only a small amount of camber. It does not matter much if you leave a few track marks. More important is that the top is flat and not curvy.

    To avoid tearout, close up the chipbreaker (0.3 -0.4mm from the edge of the blade), and open the mouth (closing it will prevent shavings coming through since the chipbreaker will block a closed up mouth).

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  9. #8
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    Thanks Derek, will do.

  10. #9
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    Nearly done, sand and finish to go.
    Thanks everyone for your help.
    Tony
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #10
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    what is that piece on the right hand side next to the front vice? a edge planing end stop?

  12. #11
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    Yes, just a stop, I am left handed so the opportunity to customize the bench was a much desired outcome.

    I read three books, The Workbench design book by Schwarz, The Workshop book by Scott Lands and The Workbench by Scheining. These books showed different ways of working, influences and steps to built a workbench.

    I can get back to my previous task of finishing a tool cabinet on a tapered leg stand .
    Thanks again, I look forward to watching others woodworking.

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