Embarassingly stupid planing technique question...

[Michael Campbell]

When smoothing or jointing along the grain, do you start the plane ahead of the edge? meaning, when you start the plane iron is "in the air" (with the toe on the stock) and contacts the edge as you go? The "logic" part of my brain (often faulty, mind you) says that the cutter will "slam" into the wood that way.

Also, and I hope this isn't a "holy war" issue, but when bringing the plane back, do you lift it or bring it back along the wood? I've seen both ways done, and was wondering if bringing it back along your stock has any /real/ effect on the cutter.

I'm more a pragmatist than an academic when it comes to this sort of stuff, so bear that in mind.

[Matt Woodworth]

Yes, the cutter on my plane makes contact with the edge of the wood. Honestly, I still sometimes get plane marks at the start of the board but that's improving as my skill comes along.

As for dragging the edge on the way back, I don't do that. It's supposed to dull the edge early so I never got into the habit.

We'll see what the rest of the forum has to say.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Michael, that's a very legitimate question and has a couple of answers. Most of the time I put the toe of the plane down on the wood with most of the pressure on the toe and then start the plane onto the board. If you are getting a chatter or a series of marks, or if the plane stalls and won't cut, you have the blade set too deep. Once the plane is completely on the wood and moving, I level the pressure out to an equal weight on the front knob and the tote. As I approach the end of the board I start to weight the toe end of the plane and just go right off the end of the board. The differential weighting at the start and the end of the cut prevents cutting too deeply at either end and helps maintain flatness.

On the odd occasion where I've made a bad stance and can't keep the plane moving along the entire length of the board I'll end up with those ugly start/stop marks which look kind of like a slight step. This is where a stroke starting in the air and coming down on the middle of the board and then being gently lifted off can be a lifesaver. I only do this if I have already reached my minimum thickness of the workpiece and can't afford to do full length strokes for some reason. Any stroke less than a full length is going to leave a slight hollow though most of the time it's not noticeable.

As for lifting the plane for the return stroke, my personal opinion is that it's desireable. I think it helps prevent wear on the cutting edge and therefore extra stops to hone the iron. Now that we've dispensed with the theory, the reality is that I only lift to return about 3/4 of the time. somehow that little bit of laziness always creeps into the equation.

[Alan Turner]

Further to Dave's excellent response, if you are trying to edge joint a board, and sight it from the end and find that it is convex (hump in the middle), then start your plane just short of the apex of the hump and take a short stroke, back up a bit, and do it again, until you have it about straight, Then go for the full length strokes. David Charlesworth writes about this rather common technique in the King's English, and it is effective. It is easier to do than describe, but basically you are just creeping up on straight by concentrating your strokes on the higgh portions of the edge (or face). The converse is true also, of course, should you have a concave edge. Not rocket sceince, and pretty intuitive.
Alan

[Mark Singer]

Michael, these are really good questions .I tend to agree with Alan..I don't always start at the edge because each board is different. If I am joining boards...I actually perfer a bit of concavity so the ends are touching first ..but slightly. This makes a better joint and only one clamp at the middle could be used (I always use several though).
I actually "drag" the plane back but lift the heal slightly. The toe stays in contact with the piece. It is kind like running a pool cue through your fingers prior to shooting. It gives you a constant reference of the boards surface. The other thing I tend to do is skew the plane ...hold it slightly skewed to the line of the board creates a shearing cut and the cut is a little better. Have a long metal straight edge nearby to check the surface. I am not sure there is one right way, but experience will tell you what works for you.

[Michael Campbell]

Thanks all for the advice. I know more than anything I need practice, but I wanted to get the "DONT EVER DO THIS"'s out of the way. I do pretty good learning from others' experiences and mistakes, and yet I STILL make a lot of my own! =) (Remind me sometime to tell you about my first handcut dovetail... oy vey.)

Thanks again

[Robert Goodwin]

No question is stupid, and as far as starting a flame war, that just doesn’t happen here, well that often J. As you will see, this board is as great of collection of people who are willing to help no matter what the question is. I was afraid that when badger pond shut down, there would not be a place like it. SMC IMO has the same feeling the badger pond did.

Anyway, ask away regardless of the question….

Have fun planning (It is something that I am learning right now, pretty addicting isn’t it)

[Eric Sanford]

Thanks all for the advice. I know more than anything I need practice, but I wanted to get the "DONT EVER DO THIS"'s out of the way. I do pretty good learning from others' experiences and mistakes, and yet I STILL make a lot of my own! =) (Remind me sometime to tell you about my first handcut dovetail... oy vey.)

Thanks again


One DON'T DO....don't drop your plane on the floor....had to get that one out of the way since everyone seemed to skirt around that issue :)

Take a straightedge and square and some scrap, you'll soon find there is not great mystique to it, just timing and some reasonable sense about what you're doing.

Eric