Getting back into things...

[Alan Peck]

Took a very long hiatus from woodworking (sold all my big power tools when we moved) and now I'm back in a position to pick things up again. This time space is a real factor and it seems like the perfect time to get started with hand tools. Plus, my wife's grandfather is like the ebay of old tools and he's been very kind if you know what I mean.

First I built a bench and a sharpening station. Of course now I want to change several things to the bench but for my first go-around I'm good with what I ended up with.

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Next I got my hands on a lovely #40 that had what looked like completely dried out or unfinished handles. The sole took very little lapping and I refinished the beech tote and handle. Some honing on the blade and I'm good to go.

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Anyways, my plane collection/addiction is continuing and I figure I have several hundred dovetails to cut in order to get up to speed. The way I see it, it's all about the journey so I'm going to enjoy it.

Alan.

[Sam Takeuchi]

Very nice bench. Shiny and all. Without having a closer in person, my first thought was "that top looks slippery". Is it?

You didn't need to lap the sole of your #40. Scrub plane is where flatness matters the least among the family of hand plane, it could have 1/16" out of flat and still happily spits out thick chunks. When you are taking wood chips as thick as 1/8", each cut creates enough variation on the wood surface that a quite a bit of out of flatness can go without problems. Of course, if it's flat, there is nothing wrong with that at all. It can be a bit too much of a plane to use in most situation, though unless you dimension from rough lumber.

[Matthew N. Masail]

nice looking bench! what do you want to change ?

[Jim Matthews]

You're on the right track - make a list of the tools you never used, before you sold them off.

See if there's a local co-op where you could go to rough lumber into shape or resaw. That will eliminate the occasional need to dimension lumber.
I read Jim Tolpin's "The new Traditional woodworker" and found it a reasonable approach to working more by hand. It's slower, cheaper and safer in the long run.

That, and dust control involves windows and a dustpan.

*****

A couple suggestions;

Get any metal tools off the ground.
Buy a couple second hand dressers to use for tool storage. With VOC bags, oil at storage time and dessicants - they'll be sufficient to prevent rust.

If you're keeping the space beneath your bench open, don't store anything there. It's the only handy rest for tools you're using.
If you're willing to enclose the space, it's ideal for the tools most frequently used - that's as good a place as any to practice making dovetails.

[Alan Peck]

Nice suggestions guys.

The only plane I used on the bench was a LN low angle block (man I love that thing). The photo of the bench was taken just after a coat of boiled linseed oil. That's all it has on top and it's kind of satin-ish but not slippery.
Last year I read the Anarchist's Tool Chest (Schwarz) and The Hand Plane Book (Hack) and that's what really jump started this new direction.
Currently have 7 other planes (2, 4, 605, 5 1/2, 6,7, 8) all waiting to be tuned or refinished. I told you Grandpa has been kind ;)

[Jim Koepke]

Alan,

Welcome back.


it's all about the journey so I'm going to enjoy it.

My twist on this is it's all about the journery…

jtk