IndyFEST Hand Plane Competition

[John Weber]

Don’t forget the hand plane competition at IndyFEST. We will sign up through lunch and start just after we eat around 1:30. Each contestant will be given a specific time limit to prep the board as he sees fit and produce the best shaving. We will be planing 1-21/32” Cherry, so anything above a #3 will work. As for what plane to bring that is a tough call. It’s a balance between a short smoother like a #4, or large jointing plane that would have the mass to produce a smooth continuous shaving. There will be an on-deck station and we have a third back-up board for more tuning. Above all a sharp blade is key to a thin full length/full width shaving. The main point to the contest is to have fun, and that is how it will be run. Please support our sponsors and I hope to see everyone there.

John

PRIZES:

http://www.weberwoodworking.com/planes/indyfestprizes.jpg

CONTEST WOOD:

http://www.weberwoodworking.com/planes/indyfestboard.jpg

SPONSORS:

http://www.weberwoodworking.com/planes/indyfestflyer.jpg

[Alan Turner]

While I am not able to come, and thus should probably not comment, I will anyway. It seems to me that at that width, given the way I sharpen a smoother, I could not cut that wide becuase of the camber I put on a smoothing iron. I would feel much more comfortable at 1.25" for such a competition (eith a no. 4), unless the competition goal were to take a full lengh shaving and make the board flat at the same time (my 607). Maybe a 1.5" board. If I drove a 4 1/2, I might feel differently.

[John Weber]

Alan,

I understand, it was tough to think of the "correct" width. Some of the other contest I've seen use 2" pine. We wanted hardwood and decided just under 1-3/4" would be good. Full width is important, so cambered blades will likely take to thick of a cut to get a full wdith shaving. Better to use a straight blade for the contest. A #4 with a straight blade should work nicely, but the extra mass and width of a 4-1/2" may make it a better choice. I've also tried some longer planes and the mass helps take a wonderful shaving, however because of the lenght of the plane, a full length shaving is much more challenging. So many tradeoffs, we've done the best we can and I'm sure will have a much better feel for it next time. But hopfully everyone will feels it's fun and fair.

Thanks for your imput - John