New Moderator.......

[Ken Fitzgerald]

With Dave out of town for a few days, I'll take the liberty of announcing Prashun Patel as a new Moderator for the Neanderthal Haven Forum. He is a welcome addition to the volunteer staff here at SMC.

[David Weaver]

sounds good to me!

[Jim Koepke]

Yeah Prashun!

jtk

[Steve Schlumpf]

Welcome Prashun! Looking forward to working with you!

[Chris Hachet]

Sounds like a good choice.

[Brian Holcombe]

Awesome! A very fine choice!

[Frederick Skelly]

Great news! Congratulations and thank you, Prashun!

[Jim Matthews]

You would have to appoint someone who actually knows what he's doing,
working both sides of the Neanderthal divide.

He can probably even parse COBOL while freehand sharpening
his Cooper's adze.

[Pete Moe]

Huzzah! Thank you for your service!

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks for the votes of confidence. This is a humbling forum to play this role on. I'm here to help not to be an authority.

[Kees Heiden]

Good luck Prashun!

But I really think you need a lot of authority to keep this bunch under control :D

[Mike Holbrook]

You are a brave man Prashun!

This doesn't mean you want find time to at least give us a short review on the new Veritas BU Jointer does it?

[Prashun Patel]

It'd be hard to improve on Derek Cohen's reviews, Mike. But I will tell you this much: It's my new favorite plane. I finally know what a jointer is supposed to feel like. Despite its mass, there is a lot of 'feedback'. I always thought feedback was a euphemism for 'chatter' but on this plane, there is no chatter, but somehow I can feel the blade riding over lows and cutting through highs better than with shorter planes or other jointers I've used. I theorize that perhaps the adjuster and set screws are letting me to easily fine tune the depth such that I can find tiny undulations much easier than before.

About the ONLY thing I'd nitpick on this is that the sides are not flat as they are on the BU Jointer and Small BU Smoother. This prevents the jointer from being used for shooting.
Unlike my other BU's, the jointer toe adjusts with a separate brass knob, not the wood knob. I find this design a little easier to use than the knob adjusters on my BUJack and BUSmoother.

I also purchased the edge jointing fence. It's so well-designed: it screws to the base, and is shimmed into square with a set screw. When not attached, the knobs go into other screw holes in the guide upside down such that the guide then can be stored easily. It's just classic, elegant Veritas design.

I think flattening is a little like sharpening: there is always flat (or sharp) enough, but as I'm learning what more flat (and sharp) is, it's making the work go so much easier.

[Mike Holbrook]

Wise words Prashun. I have been wondering about the mouth adjustment system, glad to hear you like the brass knob vs using the front knob. We even got a little review of the fence system.

I like the comment about flattening & sharpening. I have been obsessing on the sharpening aspect for a while now. I am determined to get very good at keeping all those bevels and tool edges well prepared for the work. Once I can optimize my tools cutting edges maybe I can tackle flattening.