Thanks: 0
Needs Pictures: 0
Picture(s) thanks: 0
Results 1 to 15 of 19
-
26th April 2020, 02:06 PM #1
How sharp is sharp. and the plane pull test
An often raised topic is that it's hard to know what sharp is unless you've experienced a degree of sharpness to gauge against. For those of us who've taught ourselves to hand sharpen with only online resources, it can indeed be tricky to know.
Paul Sellers posted a video a while back where in one part he pulled a hand plane across a piece of wood with a rope from the front knob, allowing it to cut under its own weight, with no additional downforce. He recently posted another much shorter video demonstrating the same technique as an example of what a sharp blade should be able to do.
That got me thinking, it is a good litmus test for us hand tool users when discussing sharpness. It's an easy and universal benchmark to strive for, and a simple measure when it is suspected that someone's issues may be due to lack of sharpness... "how do you go with the plane pull test?"
That all said, I decided to measure my own sharpening journey against the plane pull test, with pleasing results. To be honest, I was secretly hoping I would "pass", but it did feel a little like getting ready for a driving test!
Here's my effort with my #4 and a length of pine:
Phew. does that mean I'm officially off my L plates?
-
26th April 2020 02:06 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
- Join Date
- Always
- Location
- Advertising world
- Posts
- Many
-
26th April 2020, 02:47 PM #2
I will try it later, although I do not want to know how many planes fall of the bench trying this.
I had to say made me nervous watching that [emoji6]
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
-
26th April 2020, 03:16 PM #3
Yeah I'm not sure I'd be keen to try this [emoji1]
I have nightmares about dropping my planes just putting them down on the bench!
-
26th April 2020, 03:18 PM #4
I can tell you that i did have visions of the broken #7 that was recently posted in mind as I was pulling my plane along the bench!
-
26th April 2020, 03:21 PM #5
-
26th April 2020, 06:00 PM #6Member
- Join Date
- Oct 2019
- Location
- ballarat-ish
- Posts
- 59
i guess if your dogging system is close to the edge of the bench like that, you could improvise one along the centre by clamping a scrap down at each end. and then if the plane falls it'll hopefully just land on the bench and not the floor
i notice that paul did his tests on a fairly wide board. but i also notice that the plane jerked quite uncomfortably at the start of his second pull, so maybe a wide board alone isn't protection enough
-
26th April 2020, 07:40 PM #7
I would love to try this , if I remember when I back in the workshop,
But I think I will definitely be using a guard rail.
I wonder if we can turn this into a sport/competition lol.
Cheers Matt.
-
27th April 2020, 02:55 AM #8
-
27th April 2020, 09:41 AM #9
Well, then I would like to enter a few of mine:
In the Smoother Class my #4:
20200426_195729.jpg
In the Jointer Class my odd 7 1/2 (just to clarify, it used to be a #8 ):
20200427_071450.jpg
In the Baby Class a #2:
20200427_075353.jpg
And finally in the Oldtimer Wood Class a Coffin Smoother:
20200427_082128.jpg
However, I guess one would need to clarify criteria / conditions: type of wood and dimensions for the board, thickness of shave to be achieved and probably a few more.
I tried to pull it with a cheap suitcase scale to see any difference . But my set-up is not good enough for any result. And before anyone jumps on that. I am not serious. I know it wouldn't say anything and I was just having fun and fooling around in the shed
-
27th April 2020, 09:57 AM #10
-
27th April 2020, 10:02 AM #11
-
27th April 2020, 11:05 AM #12
To be honest, I realised the blade of the coffin smoother is not quite straight. So I still need to tune it up a bit. Will give a better try this avo.
Until then here is some fun to watch on how to take that even further D
YouTube
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
-
27th April 2020, 01:10 PM #13
My interest in this is the Centre of Effort issue, which I wrote about some years back. Briefly, these video demonstrate that downforce is unnecessary when pushing a plane, and that pushing forward is all that is needed. In other words, drop the hand on the plane handle and push from lower down for efficiency. Do not push down at the toe (the knob). If you need to do so, then the plane iron is dull.
Regards from Perth
DerekVisit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.
-
28th April 2020, 04:19 PM #14
My understanding also from Paul Seller's video is that as long as the blade is sharp it will cut into the wood. I would then think that with the blade angle it should basically pull the plane onto the wood and all one needs is to push forward. I would think that the downforce one would have to apply is in some relationship to the sharpness of the blade. But I only know a fraction of what the majority of you guys know.
Anyway, I gave it another go with my wooden smoother. I tuned it to the best I could, but could not get any shavings from just pulling it. Using it normally with my two hands it produced nice thin shavings with no effort. It probably is too light for my ability of blade sharpening
20200428_113921.jpg
Anyway, it was fun trying things out and I will leave it at that
-
28th April 2020, 08:25 PM #15Member
- Join Date
- Oct 2019
- Location
- ballarat-ish
- Posts
- 59
that's also my understanding, for whatever that's worth
with regard specifically to the pull-test, i think the risk comes in when the plane is just sharp enough to bite in, but not sharp enough to keep cutting -- and that's where pulling on it is prone to make it stick and then jerk free, launching itself to the floor. i guess the same would happen if the blade is sharp enough but is extended further than it's capable of cutting
i guess if you already know your planes are sharp enough, and you can dial in a fine shaving, then the pull test is reasonably low risk; and if you know they're definitely too blunt to even bite, then it's also reasonably low risk. but if you know they're sharp, but you aren't sure they're sharp enough, or you don't yet have a feel for how much of a cut is appropriate, then that's where it becomes a risky test
Similar Threads
-
Sharp (Rexon type) Drill Press , Sharp SE-330BS User Manual
By mike48 in forum GENERAL & SMALL MACHINERYReplies: 6Last Post: 24th January 2024, 08:08 PM -
How Sharp is Sharp Enough?
By Luke Maddux in forum SHARPENINGReplies: 16Last Post: 13th February 2016, 08:22 PM -
Keeping chisels and plane irons razor sharp minimum fuss
By Tiger in forum SHARPENINGReplies: 13Last Post: 21st May 2015, 04:53 PM -
The benefits of a sharp plane blade.
By Mirboo in forum SHARPENINGReplies: 15Last Post: 9th August 2006, 06:57 PM -
plane sharpening scary sharp
By DarrenSmith in forum SHARPENINGReplies: 2Last Post: 7th September 2003, 09:16 AM