Guilty !

[Bobby Hatfield]

Yes I am guilty, but please hear the explanation before banning me to the dark side. What to do when a glue up goes wrong and warped boards cause high places in a table top. Every thing is lovely and flat now but it was a struggle for a while. It was the construction grade lumber that caused all the problems not the help. The motorized planer was only 20" and top is 36".
Also I didn't inhale and I pulled the plane instead of pushing, it works so much faster for me that way.

[Dave Anderson NH]

you sure are welcome in our Neander world any time you choose to visit. All you did was show good judgement in picking the right tool for the job. More folks need to realize that sometimes the simple solution is just that.... the simple solution. I'm not an orthodox Neanderthal, I use power tools when it makes sense. When it comes to rough stock prep I rarely do it the Neander way unless I'm in the mood, it's often just too much work and too slow. On the other hand, to my mind nothing beats the subtle texture of a hand planed finished surface.

All you power tool folks are always welcome over on the quiet side of the board. We'll help you out in any way possible. Drop by and visit some time.

[Bobby Hatfield]

you sure are welcome in our Neander world any time you choose to visit.

Dave I had to do a scary sharp lick on the iron after finding it dull and the, ssssssshiipp, sssssshiipp sound it did on that pine sure does something for you, also substitutes for exersise I need more of.

[David Rose]

A nice sharp, well tuned plane is one tool that can really make you appreciate "hand" work. I've heard neanders say that they can flatten a board as fast as a planer. This would be amazing to see. No sarcasm there at all.

David

[Bobby Hatfield]

A nice sharp, well tuned plane is one tool that can really make you appreciate "hand" work. I've heard neanders say that they can flatten a board as fast as a planer. This would be amazing to see. No sarcasm there at all.

David

David I didn't spend a lot of time planing with that #5, on that 3'x7' top, maybe an hour, the rest day and a half was huffing and puffin to get my breath.

[David Rose]

Yep, and hour on a hand plane is a good day's work, huh? ;-) On that large a piece, positions your body had to be in didn't help a lot either.

I need to sharpen a couple of planes right now. Not using them regularly for more than just "touch up", I put off sharpening a little long sometimes.

David


David I didn't spend a lot of time planing with that #5, on that 3'x7' top, maybe an hour, the rest day and a half was huffing and puffin to get my breath.

[Doug Jones]

I've got two hand planes and know nothing about them. My grandfather gave them to me. I'd really like to learn how to use them. Maybe someday.

[Bobby Hatfield]

I've got two hand planes and know nothing about them. My grandfather gave them to me. I'd really like to learn how to use them. Maybe someday.

Doug check out the guys on the dark quite side and they will have using those planes in a snap. I have my grandpa's #6 plane plus another grandpa's #8 and some others also and plan to have it in for a dustin and cleaning to a gentleman that reconditions hand planes. A sharp hand plane and a little practice works wonders on wood and mind.

[Mike Evertsen]

I have a plane like that thought some stole the motor,,LOL

[Mike Schwing]

I've got two hand planes and know nothing about them. My grandfather gave them to me. I'd really like to learn how to use them. Maybe someday.

Doug, restoring an old plane is a joy. I absolutely love the mystique of using an old tool that has been passed on by several owners. I often wonder what things each tool has helped build along the way, and it gives me a super duper good feeling to know I'm next in line, taking care of it and using it as intended..not sitting in a box somewhere.

After you've properly flattened, sharpened, and tuned an old wooden plane and begun making shavings, I flat out promise you that you'll be hooked.

Its very easy to become frustrated with handplanes when they're out of tune and dull. Its just as easy to become addicted with a scary sharp, scary tuned one. I had a bunch of planes I considered to be worthless until I read an article or two about sharpening and tuning them. They're now some of the most often used tools in my bag of tricks.

[David Rose]

Mike, you are so right on that one! I always wondered what planes were really "for" until I studied their care and use on the net. My Dad gave me a few, some junk construction and some decent. All needed fettling. I put a Hock iron on a Stanley Bailey 5. I didn't even sharpen it. Imagine the look on Dad's face when I peeled off a long, thin shaving that you could see through. Then he asked what practical purpose there was for "paper thin shavings". Interestingly, I had a sticky drawer in a cabinet and could show him. I find myself grabbing one more often as I go. Now I need to sharpen those things...

David

***Its very easy to become frustrated with handplanes when they're out of tune and dull. Its just as easy to become addicted with a scary sharp, scary tuned one. I had a bunch of planes I considered to be worthless until I read an article or two about sharpening and tuning them. They're now some of the most often used tools in my bag of tricks.**

[Kevin Post]

I absolutely love the mystique of using an old tool that has been passed on by several owners. I often wonder what things each tool has helped build along the way, and it gives me a super duper good feeling to know I'm next in line, taking care of it and using it as intended..not sitting in a box somewhere.

To be read with eery music playing in the background...

Mike:

I used to think the same thing... That was before I purchased an old adze and a draw knife that I later discovered had been used to construct torture devices and wooden stocks in Salem, Mass. during the period they were barbecuing witches. :eek:

One day, I entered the shop to discover them levitating over the bench. They flew toward me and chased me around the shop but I was able to escape by hiding behind a sheet of 3/4" MDF. They hit the MDF and immediately fell to the floor. (Evidently, tools possesed by evil spirits are powerless against MDF.) I picked them up and buried them in my neighbor's back yard. Over the course of the following week, all of the wood siding fell off his house. (He replaced it with vinyl). The following spring a large, thorny bush grew over the spot where these evil implements had been hidden. ;)

Since then I have vowed to only purchase and use new power tools. I would hate to end up owning a used table saw that had been used to make electric chairs or maybe something worse... :D

-Kevin

[Noah Alkinburgh]

Kevin,

That is hillarious!!!! scarry ;) but hillarious

Noah