JohnT Fitzgerald
02-25-2009, 9:10 PM
(somewhat wordy after a few IPA's....so bear with me.....or is it beer with me? haha).
I don't do a lot with hand tools - my chisels are a generic set I bought about 10 years ago, and I don't have a lot of planes and they're all nothing to write home about.
But I think I finally 'get' that the appeal, or satisfaction, is from using hand tools.
I made a point to work on learning to sharpen my chisels and planes. I thought I had done an 'ok' job a while back - they were sharp, sorta - but I recently bought a VeritasMkII guide, some fine grit sandpaper and plate glass pieces, and set out to use the "Scary Sharp" method at least to get my stuff sharp for a change - and wow, I realized just how badly I did it before.
I did the chisels - wow, what a difference! even though they're not quality chisels, they work very well. I had flattened the backs before and they were pretty good, but I spent some time putting a good bevel on them. what a difference!
Then I spent some time flattening the sole of a fairly generic Stanley block plane I bought - it's not totally flat, but MUCH better than it was. I can't believe how bad it was!
Then I spent some time sharpening the blade - had to 'fix' it from before (it was out of square, and I had a chip on one corner from where I'd dropped it - that seems to be my curse, sharpen something only to drop it). The back was OK, I had done an OK job flattening it, but then I put a good edge on it and a microbevel.
For some reason the other night - I was just tidying up some stuff from a small honey-dew project - and I saw a piece of 1x10 pine I had used for another project. it had a pretty good cup to it - and I figured I'd try out the "new plane". I clamped it down and started into it, and nice thin full-width shavings came peeling off the board - not quite effortless, but still much easier than I expected. I spent some time on it and before long it was reasonably flat (enough to run it through the thickness planer with no concerns), and I had a pile of shavings at my feet.
I produced absolutely nothing other than a pile of shavings, but it did make me feel really good. oh, and it made me realize that investing in a decent set of planes might be a good idea.
I don't do a lot with hand tools - my chisels are a generic set I bought about 10 years ago, and I don't have a lot of planes and they're all nothing to write home about.
But I think I finally 'get' that the appeal, or satisfaction, is from using hand tools.
I made a point to work on learning to sharpen my chisels and planes. I thought I had done an 'ok' job a while back - they were sharp, sorta - but I recently bought a VeritasMkII guide, some fine grit sandpaper and plate glass pieces, and set out to use the "Scary Sharp" method at least to get my stuff sharp for a change - and wow, I realized just how badly I did it before.
I did the chisels - wow, what a difference! even though they're not quality chisels, they work very well. I had flattened the backs before and they were pretty good, but I spent some time putting a good bevel on them. what a difference!
Then I spent some time flattening the sole of a fairly generic Stanley block plane I bought - it's not totally flat, but MUCH better than it was. I can't believe how bad it was!
Then I spent some time sharpening the blade - had to 'fix' it from before (it was out of square, and I had a chip on one corner from where I'd dropped it - that seems to be my curse, sharpen something only to drop it). The back was OK, I had done an OK job flattening it, but then I put a good edge on it and a microbevel.
For some reason the other night - I was just tidying up some stuff from a small honey-dew project - and I saw a piece of 1x10 pine I had used for another project. it had a pretty good cup to it - and I figured I'd try out the "new plane". I clamped it down and started into it, and nice thin full-width shavings came peeling off the board - not quite effortless, but still much easier than I expected. I spent some time on it and before long it was reasonably flat (enough to run it through the thickness planer with no concerns), and I had a pile of shavings at my feet.
I produced absolutely nothing other than a pile of shavings, but it did make me feel really good. oh, and it made me realize that investing in a decent set of planes might be a good idea.