Thread: Can't smooth with HNT Gordon smoother

Your videos are a great way to share.
Derek's tips are golden, but unless you've seen it done, felt a sharp blade (like the HNT one was when you pulled the rubbery stuff of it when it was new) it can be hard to visualize

Good luck

I struggled with my H.N.T. smoother for years, its 11 y.o.everyones contributions here are spot on.The setting block must be flat, it may cup with seasonal movement you dont notice.When setting the blade pinch the wedge and iron together with one hand when striking the wedge . if you can, watch Terry at the wood show, take your plane,he will run full diagnosis, cheers Rossco

Just got a response from Terry Gordon. He's offered to take a look at the plane (and at my technique no doubt) at the show this weekend.

Hopefully before then I'll have things working nicely with my Lie-Nielsen smoother and nutted out all the obvious things with my HNT.

Between Terry and the brilliant people here I know I'll bet smoothing effortlessly in no time.

Cheers,
Af.

Hi Af

While you are waiting to see Terry (give him my regards, please), try a few technique from this article ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...sInPlanes.html

The main one to use is this one, my glass setting plate:



Some will be concerned that the hard glass may damage the edge of a blade. But it does not do so. This may be due to the smoothness of the glass. However it is the unyielding nature of the glass that is the very reason for its choice.

When setting up a plane, the blade must not be permitted to project beyond the mouth.

It is much easier to adjust the blade outward, that is, increase projection, than to retract the plane blade. One increases projection by tapping on the back edge of the blade with a hammer. One retracts the blade by either tapping on the rear of the plane body with the hammer, or tapping on the nose of the plane (often a plane will have a button placed on the nose for this purpose).

The HNT Gordon Smoother

1. Place plane on glass setting plate.

2. Insert blade and hold it flat against the glass. Because of the cheek design, the blade is loose and will slide down and into the mouth. This must be held in place to avoid the extra, unwanted projection.

3. Insert wedge and continue to ensure that the blade is still flat against the glass.

4. Firm up the wedge.

5. At this point the plane should be set up to take fine shavings.



Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by Woodwould

Are you using the HNT the right way round?

Originally Posted by Afro Boy

I think so. You can use it either way round, push or pull. I assume that's what you meant? Both ways I have the same effect - no shavings.

I think Woodwould was refering to the blade orientation -- is the blade bevel up or bevel down
this has a major effect on how the plane performs

and Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

try a few technique from this article ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...sInPlanes.html

The main one to use is this one, my glass setting plate:



The HNT Gordon Smoother

1. Place plane on glass setting plate.

2. Insert blade and hold it flat against the glass. Because of the cheek design, the blade is loose and will slide down and into the mouth. This must be held in place to avoid the extra, unwanted projection.

3. Insert wedge and continue to ensure that the blade is still flat against the glass.

4. Firm up the wedge.

5. At this point the plane should be set up to take fine shavings.

great series of photos, but can you include one showing the blade orientation?

For you Ian ...

When I reviewed the HNT Gordon Smoother I used a shoulder plane to illustrate the BD (as smoother) and BU (as scraper) orientations...



This is the mouth of the smoother when the blade is reversed (BU) ..



Link: THE HNT GORDON SMOOTHER and TRYING PLANE

Regards from Perth

Derek

I hope I don't sound too silly saying this but is the timber concave? From what I saw with the LN you were taking deep shavings in the middle of the board, rather than flattening from the end.
If so, the HNT plane would cut at the beginning stroke and then less so as the timber falls away from the sole of the plane, and this seems to be what I'm seeing.

Cheers
OG

Originally Posted by ian

I think Woodwould was refering to the blade orientation -- is the blade bevel up or bevel down
this has a major effect on how the plane performs

Oops Of course. Silly me. Yes, the blade was the right way around. I made that mistake the first time when I was looking at the plane to purchase it and test it and Terry quickly corrected me. Unless I wanted to use it as a scraper that is.

About to do another round of quiet and slow sharpening. Will report more soonish.

Cheers,
Af.

Thanks Derek
I really wanted the photo for Afro Boy to discount the possibility that he had mounted the blade bevel up and thus turned his smoother into a scraper

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread. It's all be very helpful to me, and I hope others who come across it in the future.

Decided to focus on one plane at a time. First up, the Lie-Nielsen smoother.

I read a heap of articles and posts on sharpening and took each bit of advice which made sense to me. I again went back to basics and flattened my water stones and proceeded to flatten and polish the back of my blade.

I probably spent a good 15 minutes on this before moving on. There was one low spot on the back of the blade but set back from the edge. Video shows this a little.

I started grinding a new primary bevel but it was taking forever on my DMT. I got about half way up the original bevel. I then polished a smaller bevel (secondary, but in my case tertiary). Would this work or should I really go back and finish that primary bevel all the way to the end?

Finally ... some fine shavings on Celery Top Pine. That seemed to work nicely so I went to the original Vic Ash which also worked well. The plane was much easier to push. I couldn't do it with one finger but didn't feel I needed to really give it much effort at all.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DVNpxmDY2M]Smoothing problem III - YouTube[/ame]

I assume I'm headed in the right direction, but correct me if I'm wrong!

Cheers,
Af.

Hey mate,
Have you heard of the Charlesworth ruler trick? You could use that instead of spending all that time flattening the back.
Derek might be able to correct me as I learned this from him, but i'm prety sure on bevel up planes you don't need to hone a secondary/tertiary bevel. I believe you just hone a secondary bevel and that's it. Whereas with bevel down planes you can use the primary/seconary/tertiary method. Maybe Derek can explain this better?

Out of curiosity, what angle did you put on the bevel up plane?

All the best,
Andy

Originally Posted by groeneaj

Hey mate,
Have you heard of the Charlesworth ruler trick? You could use that instead of spending all that time flattening the back.

Hi Andy. Thanks for that. I did exactly that with the back, right as my last step. A few passes across the #8000 with the ruler to create a micro bevel.

I guess this works with a plane blade because you don't need so much of the back to register with.

Derek made a point earlier about your posture: "you are holding the plane too much side-on. You need to get behind the plane more and push forwards." Chris Schwarz made a video of him planing a long board which might help: Planing Long Edges | Popular Woodworking Magazine .

This page also has some useful tips: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/wh...-edges-110600/

AB, that result is better and it is easy to see you are lot more in control. The shaving is thinner, the action of the plane is smoother and you are using far less energy.

My suggestions would be:

Lock the right elbow and move your feet, when your body is in motion the action is smoother as your weight is continuously applied. Sweeping the plane across the front of you makes you push at the start and lift at the finish.

You appear to be squeezing the tote too hard (first pass on vid), try pointing a finger or two to make you ease the death grip (like you seemed to do on subsequent passes).