Thread: Plane (and saw) till

Popcorn at 2 minutes notice…

I like Oregon pine; it’s got a beautiful orange colour. Raff Nathan made a dovetailed wall hanging tool cabinet for AWR; must be about 15 years ago but the write up is available HERE.

Hmmm, nice enough cabinet, Chief, but at the time I thought it was a rather inefficient use of the (small) space (& still think so). I guess you could say that every tool in there is easily accessed, there's always a trade-off between fitting in the maximum number of tools & being able to easily fish out what you need. My approach is to decide what you want to store, figure out a rough internal layout & add about 25% extra space for expansion, and fit out the interior in a way that allows at least some modification & re-arrangement. Not a very specific design brief, I know.....

Ian

Thanks Chief. Great article. I hope the popcorn doesnt get too stale before the next installment.

One other thing I was going to mention was the difference between the cutting action of the saws. Both were sharpened by me but one felt more aggressive than the other. It seems that the less rake the better, particularly as I was starting in a well established kerf.

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

Thanks Chief. Great article. I hope the popcorn doesnt get too stale before the next installment.

One other thing I was going to mention was the difference between the cutting action of the saws. Both were sharpened by me but one felt more aggressive than the other. It seems that the less rake the better, particularly as I was starting in a well established kerf.

MA

Since we are talking trade-offs (everything, including life, is a compromise ) less rake equals an easier and sometimes smoother cutting action. A more aggressive rake ( "tending" towards zero ) will give a faster cutting action, which will also require more effort up to the point you will not be able to saw at all. Having two saws set up slightly differently will likely demonstrate this better than we can describe.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

..... It seems that the less rake the better, particularly as I was starting in a well established kerf.....

To a point. There's no doubt a 'perfect' rake for each wood & each situation, but I've settled on somewhere between 5 & 7 as being a good compromise that covers most things I saw. For softwoods, you could bring that forward a degree or two, but 5 deg will saw softwoods efficiently, so I can't be bothered keeping saws with different rake angles. The angle at which you saw can also make a difference, the more perpendicular the tooth line is to the wood fibres, the less smooth it feels.

I don't think that feeling of "aggressiveness" in a saw necessarily means you are removing more wood per stroke, it might, but it also may mean there's too little rake, or that there are some high teeth, and although you think you are steaming along, you may actually be cutting more slowly than with a very well-sharpened saw where all teeth are doing their share of the work.

My 2c..

Hi Paul and Ian. An excuse for having more saws? I love it! The difference between my 1st and 2nd attempts is huge. I quickly got out of the kerf and cut into the good wood. This wasted time, energy and timber (although I can probably hide the dodgy bits). 2nd time I set the wood up in the vise at a roughly 45° angle and paid more attention to the blind side. Much better result (still warmed me up though). Scrubbed away the high spots and ran them through the thicknesser. Now just waiting for them to acclimatise (or cup!)

Oooo I might just sit in on this one.
Cheers Matt.

20210906_170651.jpg

Hi all. Things have progressed a little further. The above photo shows the sides in the leg vise getting their bottom tails cut out. The wider shelves were glued up last night and one face cleaned up today with my scrub plane. Bit of a messy business with Oregon, some tear out still a little visible. Chipping away (quite literally ) when I can, using this project as the perfect opportunity to work on my hand tool skills. And keep busy during lockdown!!

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

20210906_170651.jpg

Hi all. Things have progressed a little further. The above photo shows the sides in the leg vise getting their bottom tails cut out. The wider shelves were glued up last night and one face cleaned up today with my scrub plane. Bit of a messy business with Oregon, some tear out still a little visible. Chipping away (quite literally ) when I can, using this project as the perfect opportunity to work on my hand tool skills. And keep busy during lockdown!!

MA,
Progress is progress is progress, but I don’t know what those curly things all over the bench are [emoji851].

Cheers Matt.

I do like the piles of shavings all over the shop, MA - looks like a set for a Roy Underhill programme....

Thanks Matt and Ian. I once saw a photo of a guy (I now think it was Peter Follansbee) planing at his work bench and the pile of shavings on the floor, at the end, was at least as high as the top of the bench. My inspiration!!

When I make or see a big pile of shavings I am tempted to fill up the pool or a ball pit with them and jump in. [emoji16]

I wonder if you can use the shavings to fill a bean bag and go for a snooze on the corner.....

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Somewhat off-topic... but I have a good use for shavings; particularly (real) oak and redgum...

Take a jar and loosely fill it with shavings; then pour in your preferred choice of beverage (eg Bundy Rum)

Allow it to steep for at least a month; then decant the liquid.

The shavings make an excellent potpourri for the shed!!!

(The liquid may be imbibed if you have no other suitable method of disposing of it. As a bonus the flavour of the spirit is enhanced by continuous contact with the wood; a bit like putting it back in the barrel).

Hi CK and CT. I like the sound of both ideas!! CT I was thinking you might recognise some of the shavings but my new #3 makes shavings that are too thin and see through .