Matt Ranum
03-13-2008, 8:48 PM
Well its official now. I'm hooked on hand tools.:p I got into this kinda by the back door in January when I got some planes from a lady I was buying some power tools from. All of them I got from her were pretty old, 1900 era, and since I didn't use hand planes and didn't want to use hand planes(bad experience from a new piece of crap) I figured I would clean them up and put them on a shelf. But I'm curious and wanted to know what I had and started looking. Thats when I found this site and a couple others.
Long story made short, I had a Stanley/Bailey No.8C type 9 that I got from the lady, and I thought , ya know it would be pretty neat to have a set of those type 9's, well all except the #1 & #2, I can't see mortgaging my house to get them. So I start looking at that auction site. Meanwhile I decide to build a new bench and figured its as good as any reason for an excuse to buy more tools. After watching a bunch go by that were way more than I want to spend I ended up buying a #4 and a #5, both later type 9's with the frog adjuster, nice shape except a chipped horn on the #5. Anyway I spent a day reconditioning them and got them ready just about the time my new benchtop was all glued up.
So today was the day, I decided to spend the morning working the new top down. I ended up resharpening 3 times. Each time they got better and the last time I put it back together and it cut like butter.:D I still didn't go the level that I'm sure most of you go to with sharpening but I will be.;) All in all it took me 3 hours to flatten both sides of a 30x60 slab made out of Maple, Walnut and a little red Oak thrown in for good measure. Some of the Maple is figured and I had a little tearout with the #5 but not terrible, I then set the #4 real shallow with the blade and the frog and cleaned most of it right up with shavings I could see through. With my learning curve I didn't figure that was too bad.
My grandfather was a carpenter and was born in 1888. I found it oddly strange although extremely satisfying that here I was using a tool that he himself could have used when he was a teenager. The feeling I got while doing this job is hard to describe although I'm sure most of you felt it before as well.
Thats why I say. Its official, I'm hooked.
But my power tools are here to stay.:D
Long story made short, I had a Stanley/Bailey No.8C type 9 that I got from the lady, and I thought , ya know it would be pretty neat to have a set of those type 9's, well all except the #1 & #2, I can't see mortgaging my house to get them. So I start looking at that auction site. Meanwhile I decide to build a new bench and figured its as good as any reason for an excuse to buy more tools. After watching a bunch go by that were way more than I want to spend I ended up buying a #4 and a #5, both later type 9's with the frog adjuster, nice shape except a chipped horn on the #5. Anyway I spent a day reconditioning them and got them ready just about the time my new benchtop was all glued up.
So today was the day, I decided to spend the morning working the new top down. I ended up resharpening 3 times. Each time they got better and the last time I put it back together and it cut like butter.:D I still didn't go the level that I'm sure most of you go to with sharpening but I will be.;) All in all it took me 3 hours to flatten both sides of a 30x60 slab made out of Maple, Walnut and a little red Oak thrown in for good measure. Some of the Maple is figured and I had a little tearout with the #5 but not terrible, I then set the #4 real shallow with the blade and the frog and cleaned most of it right up with shavings I could see through. With my learning curve I didn't figure that was too bad.
My grandfather was a carpenter and was born in 1888. I found it oddly strange although extremely satisfying that here I was using a tool that he himself could have used when he was a teenager. The feeling I got while doing this job is hard to describe although I'm sure most of you felt it before as well.
Thats why I say. Its official, I'm hooked.
But my power tools are here to stay.:D