Let's Plane!

[Brian Holcombe]

I'm setting for this year's Kez in NYC, and have detailed the efforts taken in a blog post.

Please have a look, and I look forward to your comments.

https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/2017/08/03/lets-plane/

[Kees Heiden]

The plane looks nice and tidy inside. Looking forward to your report about the competition.

How are you trying to tune the plane to better performance? Or is that a secret? ;)

[Paul Bent]

Another great write-up. Thanks for sharing.

[Pat Barry]

That's cool Brian, very nice work. Good luck with the competition. I have a question about the actual competition though. Is there a qualification type test before you run on the real lumber? Reason I'm asking is that they wouldn't want someone making a mess of the competition lumber so that it had to be re-leveled or does that happen anyway to give everyone an even playing field?

[lowell holmes]

Brian

Is that a Lie Nielsen 4 1/2 in the photo?:)

[Brian Holcombe]

The plane looks nice and tidy inside. Looking forward to your report about the competition.

How are you trying to tune the plane to better performance? Or is that a secret? ;)

It's a secret....one that I'm still working on! :D


Another great write-up. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you!


That's cool Brian, very nice work. Good luck with the competition. I have a question about the actual competition though. Is there a qualification type test before you run on the real lumber? Reason I'm asking is that they wouldn't want someone making a mess of the competition lumber so that it had to be re-leveled or does that happen anyway to give everyone an even playing field?

Excellent question! I actually did the prep of the competition board last year and likely will again this year since I'm bringing the 'zamboni' which is a LN 7 that I put a flat grind on. Everyone is given the option to either have a pass taken by the LN 7 before taking their shavings or to go with what was left behind.

Unfortunately if someone really runs off the rails its hard to totally recover with breaking out the winding sticks and so forth, something I may well do but it's not something I really want to with a crowd of people waiting for the show to go on.


Brian

Is that a Lie Nielsen 4 1/2 in the photo?:)

LOL, good catch.

[Graham Haydon]

Thanks for that Brian. Very much enjoyed the video of chopping. Aside from smiling at the Ralph Lauren, Carpet and bare feet I was impressed by the skill many of us underestimate, holding a mallet/hammer right at the end of the handle and swinging with confidence to hit the chisel in a good rhythm. Best of luck at the competition. My finest shavings I've managed were whilst reviewing a WoodRiver 51/2 http://www.gshaydon.co.uk/blog/woodriver-plane-review I was able to get the same results with the wooden jack too.

[Brian Holcombe]

My pleasure, good to hear from you Graham. Maybe Ralph will put in for a sponsorship. :D

It's not easy, even still I'm sure I've broken my thumb not long ago from the odd miss. I always hit my target, but for a while there I had a terrible habit of levering the chisel about one second too soon.

Thank you! That is quite a fine shaving!

[Patrick Chase]

Why is a 65 mm iron not optimal for planing a 2" (~51 mm) workpiece?

Also, I am thoroughly unsurprised to see that VAR White plane iron that you mentioned in the other thread make a featured appearance here :-).

[Patrick Chase]

Now that I've had more time to read: That's a very nice post. Best of luck in the competition!

What happened to your slippers, though? It's highly disconcerting to see you chisel barefoot like that.

EDIT: How thin is that "not thin enough" shaving? IIRC you did 12 mils in competition last year, and that doesn't look much thicker than that.

[Brian Holcombe]

65mm will cut it, but that is the measure of the full width of the blade, once you take away room for the grooves you're down to about 56mm, so it's tight. I've been consistently taking them, so it's not problematic, but a 70mm is easier still.

I plan to bring a few planes, whichever best behaves will be the go-to.

Good memory, I did pull 12mil. This is close to that, probably around 20mil, but I'll need to trim it down considerably. Really I need to be pulling 4-6mil to be a contender.

[David Eisenhauer]

Go Brian go, someday you will be a big star, Brian B Holcombe tonight!

[Brian Holcombe]

Haha, thanks David!

[James Pallas]

Looks to me like you are having way too much fun. All that to make one pass down the track. A bit like racing fuelers one pass and you could be done for the day. I hope you do well.
Jim

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks James! Haha it is exactly like fuelers, hours and hours of work for a four second pass :)

[Patrick Chase]

Thanks James! Haha it is exactly like fuelers, hours and hours of work for a four second pass :)

I think you should grow a mullet and show up on the day with a trucker hat and a flight-suit-ish getup festooned with sponsor logos (for tool vendors of course) and at least 15 pieces of miscellaneous flair.

[Todd Stock]

Micron, right? A mil is a miserable, fat thing to be relentlessly shamed when compared to the svelte little micron.

[Pat Barry]

Micron, right? A mil is a miserable, fat thing to be relentlessly shamed when compared to the svelte little micron.
I interpreted what I first read as microns also, automatically thinking he didn't really mean 4 mils since that's like falling off a log for Brian. One mil (thousandths of an inch)= 25 microns.
Ed: Then again, some folks refer to millionth of an inch as mils and if that's the case his 4 millionths of an inch shavings should win the contest hands down.

[Allen Jordan]

What angle is the blade bedded at? Very nice work and writeup, I'll go through it more thoroughly at home.

[Patrick Chase]

I interpreted what I first read as microns also, automatically thinking he didn't really mean 4 mils since that's like falling off a log for Brian. One mil (thousandths of an inch)= 25 microns.
Ed: Then again, some folks refer to millionth of an inch as mils and if that's the case his 4 millionths of an inch shavings should win the contest hands down.

Whoops, my mistake. I said "12 mils" by accident and then Brian repeated it.

A 0.3 mm shaving might be aesthetically consistent with the previously suggested "NASCAR-goes-planing" approach, though.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks gents, 4 micron.

Allen, I bedded the plane at 38 degrees. Thank you!

Patrick, that getup might be the ticket :D

[lowell holmes]

What do you guys think about the new Lie Nielsen 5 1/2? I would order one, but I already have an old 5 1/2 Bailey.
I really like it.

[Patrick Chase]

What do you guys think about the new Lie Nielsen 5 1/2? I would order one, but I already have an old 5 1/2 Bailey.
I really like it.

Err, what's new? L-N have offered their iron-body 5-1/2 for as long as I can remember. It has the same pros and cons as all of their planes (though note that like most of their iron-bodied planes it isn't particularly heavy).