Thread: Can't smooth with HNT Gordon smoother

AF

Much has been written about bench height, & my preference for planing is much lower than yours appears to be. Try placing something on the floor in front of the bench so that when you stand at the bench with your arm by your side, your palm sits flat on the bench top. I find this the best height for planing. However, if you are doing other work that is not the case as it will cause back strain, and you may need to have a duck board that you can install for planing and remove for other work, or use another bench.

regards

Hi AF,
I am a bit rusty with my HNT smoother since I haven't used it for years (lucky the plane can't rust) but this thread makes me really want to go and dig it up again. Your videos are great! I have been building my house and workshop for the last couple of years and no need for my HNT smoother during. I do really love that plane though.

I think a lot of good advise has been given already. The only thing I remember about the plane that gave me my break trough when learning to master this smoother was how important the way you put pressure on it is. It takes a bit longer to master the HNT but when you do, I'm sure your LN is going to collect dust.

I found that you really need to learn to put the pressure on the plane in the right spot and keep it there during the whole pass. That is the same with a metal plane but maybe because of its weight slightly less important. Make sure the pressure is in front of the blade. I found that my index and middle fingers were pretty much doing all the work (takes a bit of getting used to). As soon as the pressure on the plane moves backwards you start skidding over the timber in my experience. Maybe to have a practice, try and plane by just using both 1st and 2nd fingers in front of the blade and push the plane along that way. (Then later you use more of your hand to get better directional control)

I also found that for practicing using a shorter bit of timber, planing away from your body instead of along your bench helps quite a bit.
I don't know if this is the correct way of using these planes but for me it worked really well.
Good luck with it. And thanks for making me go and find my smoother in storage somewhere, I look forward making some shavings with it.

Af

These are the type of shavings you should be able to make with the pine you are using. Get yours s-s-s-hhhh-a-r-p-p-p ..



Over 2m long ..



Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

These are the type of shavings you should be able to make with the pine you are using. Get yours s-s-s-hhhh-a-r-p-p-p ..
Over 2m long ..

Wow! Every time I get one step closer you move the goal posts!

Terry Gordon says "Hi" Derek. I caught up with him yesterday. He discovered a small hairline crack on the edge of the plane just in front of where the wedge sits. This was causing the blade to edge back as the wedge could hold it tight enough.

Here's the best news ... he replaced the plane body with a new one! Warranty claim (which he hardly ever gets any of). Now that's what I call bloody awesome customer service.

I'll do up a fresh video this week to keep checking on my technique, etc.

Cheers,
Af.

An excellent result.
It also is a bit of an object lesson when buying high-end tools where the maker has a reputation to uphold. If the obvious things like sharpening and setting the blade correctly in position don't work it's probably best to seek advice from the maker. If you mess too much you could void the warranty.
Cheers and congratulations,
Jim