Catching up to Dave! (My Shepherd family)

[John Allman]

I had already planned to complete my Shepherd smoother this past weekend, but Dave and Roger's posts were an added impetus to doing so. This was the plane I worked on during the "Great Meander of '03".

The smoother is my third plane after having built the shoulder and the chariot. I am pleased with the initial results, I measured the shavings and they are .002" thin. Ben tells me I can get .001". This gives me a target to aim for!

This experience has been wonderful. Certainly like any other worthwhile project it has had its challenges and disappointments, but they have not been fatal. Just like working with wood, learning how to deal with and fix your mistakes is a process to be learned.

One of the informal discussions during the meander was how building your own plane (or other tools), takes the mystery out of the process. As we build our confidence, we are more inclined to tackle projects that we may have avoided in the past. I would no longer be afraid to take a file to a plane to improve its performance, or to repair a finish.

Again, I have to thank Ben and Doug for their help, education, guidance and encouragement.

John

[scott pollack]

way to go john! it looks sweet. please let us know when you get that .001 shaving.

scotty

[Paul Barnard]

Great job John. That's quite a growing family you have there. I've just managed to log back in after the meander. My hard drive crashed taking out all my links, passwords and worst of all all my digital pictures. I have a new disk now but then got sent to Las Vegas by my company. I hope to be posting again now though.
Once again an impressive line up! 0.001 is well within your grasp.

[Ben Knebel]

Well done John--they look great--you're missing at least one from the set though---there needs to be a panel plane in the picture and maybe a jointer :D
After you get the smoother doing 1 thou shavings you need to shoot for sub 1/2 thou shavings--definitely doable. You've built a smoother with a tight enough mouth to get there.
Regards
Ben

[Dave Anderson NH]

That's a nice looking assortment of infills there John. I have no doubt that the .001 shavings are just a few days away. A little bit of practice and you'll be there. Just remember that in some cases the thicker shaving is preferable since it removes stock quicker. Only in nasty grain is the thinner shaving necessary. Sometimes we make a fetish of this thin shaving thing to the detriment of efficiency. Your workpiece will give you all the feedback you need. When Doug gets the CDs done from the Meander and sent out, you'll see a couple of good pix of yourself working on your plane. I sent him about 50+ pix which I took over the 5 days.

[Roger Myers]

Family is looking great there John....if you pay attention to the kids, nurture and love them, they reward you with beauty and performance...now, I agree with Ben, looks like there is some room for "grampa panel plane" :)
Very nice indeed!!
Roger

[John Allman]

Hi Guys:

Thanks for the nice comments. I will have a go at .001 this weekend with any luck, although Dave has given me an out. I did not put a micro bevel on the blade so I will give that a try.

I still laugh at Paul telling us he has two smoothers. One for .001" and the other for hogging out at .004".

I will look forward to the Meander CD. I hope I didn't embarass my self in the pictures.

Roger: Did you get your frequent buyer card stamped? When you buy three planes you get a free one! Right Ben? I know other folks got theirs. I am sure mine will arrive any day now.

Maybe the chariot will grow up to be a panel plane.

(Paul: Being an IT pro you had a backup. Right?)

John

[Paul Barnard]

Hi Guys:

(Paul: Being an IT pro you had a backup. Right?)

John
Oh yeh sure did. Problem was the CD was unreadable. I have diligently backed up to rewritable CD over the years but had never tried to recover anything. It simply didn't work! Neadless to say I tryed a few things including letting our IT support guys loose on the job.

Anyone making backups I'd advise that you do a test recovery of some of the data to another computer. Those not making backups, especially of digital photos, you are facing exstinction of your treasured momentoes. Back it up right now.