Plane withdrawl - is this as oddball as I think?

[Frederick Skelly]

On weeks when I havent used my planes, I sometimes feel this tug to go into the shop and just run a plane over some leftover board. Just to make a few passes and watch the tool make well-formed shavings. Even 3-4 minutes scratches my itch. Im not working on a project mind you - I just want to handle the tools and see/feel them perform well. This has been happening for a while now, but its increased since I restored that #2 a few weeks back (it really performs well) and amped-up even more this week after I finally got my MF#9 fully tuned.

And other times, I just want to go LOOK at my array of planes for a couple minutes (like before leaving for work).

Addiction seems too dramatic, but what else fits?

Does this happen to you guys after you worked hard to get your tools setup right, and finally succeed? Or am I turning into an obsessive nutcase?

This is ... wierd.

Fred

[Bruce Mack]

I have a piece of pine ~ 3/4 thick, 1 1/2 wide and periodically take a plane to it to see and feel the gloss of the wood. If I'm feeling contrary I take out the 4 1/2 bevel-down smoother and go at it against the grain. All in good fun and not violating the terms of my parole:)

[Joe Bailey]

You are by no means the first person I've heard say this, though I know of no equivalent sentiment expressed by power tool users.

[Bill Houghton]

You are by no means the first person I've heard say this, though I know of no equivalent sentiment expressed by power tool users.

When I bought my first real 'lectric router (Porter-Cable Model 100, one of the best power routers ever made), I went out every night for the first several months I owned just to admire it.

But hand tools have a special romance. No, you're not crazy or obsessed unless you find yourself not doing anything in the shop except planing pieces of stock into toothpicks.

[Jim Koepke]

Does this happen to you guys after you worked hard to get your tools setup right, and finally succeed? Or am I turning into an obsessive nutcase?

You are not alone.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys. I was starting to worry!
Fred

[Derek Cohen]

I've been known to keep a tool or two on my desk. Sometimes you have to ask who is the shrink and who is the patient. :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Daniel Rode]

I never gave this a moments thought until now but you are right. I don't feel the desire to run or handle any of my power tools but I often do exactly that with hand tools. I can take a 2x4 offcut and plane the edge for 30 seconds to create surface that glows and feels silky out of what was literally garbage. There is no purpose to doing this but I still get a kick out of it.


You are by no means the first person I've heard say this, though I know of no equivalent sentiment expressed by power tool users.

[Sean Hughto]

I dunno, it happens to me with a couple of power tools - my lathe and my bandsaw. The lathe is addictive in a way, and its not uncommon for me to mount scraps to mess with just for practice and the feel not to mention the smells of some fresh cut woods. On the bandsaw, it's not as much about the joy of using the tool I guess as playfully shaping and discovering the internal beauties of scraps of wood.

[Brian Holcombe]

I used my planes from 9am to 11pm yesterday, safe to say I think it's out of my system for a day or two.

[Judson Green]

Yup!

I go into the shop often to just play or fiddle with something, even if just for a few minutes. I think it helps to keep me feeling connected to my craft.

[Matthew Hills]

Share the love -- post a photo!


I sometimes feel that urge to recenter a bit. Even if I don't have time to do anything productive in the shop, just going out to the workshop, looking through the tool cabinet, maybe sitting down with some paper and doodling a bit.

And then the darker side: a particular boss spurred my initial use of hand tools. Many evenings I'd go out to the shop, take an old Handyman plane and attack some construction lumber just to get the day out of my system. Sheesh.

Matt

[Shannon Brantley]

I do it too. Sometimes when I'm working on a project, I take a break to make some shavings. Right now in my shop there are a couple of off cuts of old growth cypress laying amongst 2 planes and a pile of thin shavings. After work I'll probably make some more. Stress relief and relaxing.

[Dave Cullen]

You are by no means the first person I've heard say this, though I know of no equivalent sentiment expressed by power tool users.

The exception (for me anyway) being a lathe. I have many times gone into my shop and mounted a piece of scrap between centers and simply admired the way I can shave a spindle to a high sheen with a shear cut from a sharp tool. If it's not clean enough, the tool needs sharpening... it's very much the same gratification that I get from a bench plane.

And yes, I fondle my planes too.

[paul cottingham]

On the days when I can't spend quality time in the shop, or my hand hurts too much to work, I will go into my shop and stare at my tools, and yes, I will just rest my hands on them, or plane a piece of scrap just to feel the tool work.

There is something meditative about it, I can't deny it.

if I had something resembling a desk in my house, I am sure a couple of my older planes would be sitting on it, just so I could stare at them.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Guilty as well.
A few, pillowy shavings can reset your clock, so to speak.
I liken it to when we lived in a place that we heated with wood.
A pile of rounds sitting by the woodshed did nothing for me, but when the 8 cord shed was chock full, all the bark cleaned up, and this well before winter, well, that did it for me.

[Tom Vanzant]

Sometimes I plane a pile of shavings, sometimes I chop a couple of dovetail corners, sometimes I chop a few mortises...sometimes I sit and sketch for my next project. Any time in my shop is good time.

[lee trevett]

It's good to know that I'm not alone with this! Nothing clears my mind like an hour or two alone at the bench with some fine tools as company. Therapy indeed....

[Richard Line]

Do realize that you are getting these comments from us fellow addicts. :D

[Jim Neeley]

287924

Me too, Derek. I've got the Veritas miniature shoulder plane (smallest above, 1/4") I sharpened and keep on my desk with a piece of hard maple.

It's not just me though, many othep by my desk and take a pass, just to watch and feel the tiny curl come off.

I bought it as a conversation piece but it's turned into co-worker therapy!

Jim in Alaska

[Mike Allen1010]

Your only certifiably ill if you:

1) reflexively sharpen to OCD microscopically perfect edge before touching tool to wood

2) Must have BB King (or suitable alternative), playing at concert levels.

While making practically useless but therapeutically priceless shavings.

Respectfully , Mike

"Honey I know it's weird, but at least it's not drugs.....I'm pretty sure"

[Simon MacGowen]

Glad that you enjoyed planing as you described. I don't think I'd engage in such workout (if you may) simply because I use wood as well as my shop time (both are precious to me) mainly to build projects, especially when using hand tools. As a fact of matter, after I sharpen my tools, I don't want to dull any edges other than putting them to good use in a task or job. I personally certainly know of no hand tool woodworkers who extract joy in the manner you shared here other than when they do demos to clubs or workshops.

Simon

[Eric Schubert]

Jim, those miniature planes are very cool! Just seeing them makes me want the entire set of four!

[Jim Koepke]

"Honey I know it's weird, but at least it's not drugs.

It may not be drugs, but it can be addictive.

jtk