Blum Jack plane

[Peter Quadarella]

So, I said that once I got this I would post my impressions of it, and here they are. For some background, I am a new woodworker, and was looking for ways to flatten things without a jointer. I got it in my head to try out a bench plane and of course I had to go down the road less traveled and purchase something that no one knew much about.

Here's a link to the Jack Plane I purchased (mine is Mesquite):
http://www.blumtool.com/pages/benchplanes.html

First off, the thing is a work of art. I mean, it's almost worth the money to me just to admire it sitting there on my garage windowsill. OK maybe not, but it is pretty.

I have used a bench plane exactly once in my life - I took a few swipes with a Lee Valley at a Woodworking Show. When I took the Blum plane out of the box, I clamped a piece of white oak into my bench and took a few swipes at the edge. It worked great - long curly shavings came out. Since then I've been going in and out of the shop just to plane a random board - it's really fun :).

From my extremely small amount of experience, the main difference I could tell between it and the Lee Valley was that the wooden plane is a lot lighter, obviously. I think I prefer the handles on Mr. Blum's plane. I'm sure there's lots of pros and cons to wooden and metal planes that I don't know about so I won't try to speculate.

[Terry Beadle]

I've looke on his site and the design is intriguing. I would be interested to know how you've come out at resharpening the blade. He says they are disposable which is not attactive to me. However, if you can resharpen the thin blade and get good service, I might change my attitude.

Have you re-sharpened the blade yet?

[Peter Quadarella]

I haven't sharpened it yet. I did buy his fixed angle sharpening jig for $20, which came with another replacement blade, and I got a third as well for a few bucks more. So I have 3 blades to go through before I have to sharpen (the replacements are like razors also right now). I did this because I am so new to planes and figured I'd get a real good feel for how they should behave before I try to replicate the sharpness.

I'll let you know how it works out when I do sharpen it though.

[Derek Cohen]

Here is a quick input.

I am reviewing a couple of Gary Blum's planes. I have a smoother and a trying plane.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/Blum%20planes/Blumplanes1.jpg

Incredibly light planes. So far the trying plane is my favourite - it is an excellent performer.

The blades are small but I can hone then quite easily by freehanding them on waterstones (in addition to the two sharpening aids Gary provides. I have both these for review as well). With freehanding, just lock the bevel onto the stone and work it side-to-side. They hone up quickly.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Here is a quick input.

I am reviewing a couple of Gary Blum's planes. I have a smoother and a trying plane.

Incredibly light planes. So far the trying plane is my favourite - it is an excellent performer.

They look nice, but I have to ask, what is the water faucet handle for?
Are these things so hot that they need water cooling to keep from over heating your work?:rolleyes:

jim

[Gary Herrmann]

I like the look of the handles. If you've got big hands, they look like they'd be comfortable to use.

[Peter Quadarella]

The handles are very comfortable. I have been having trouble with my carpal tunnel in my right hand and haven't experienced any issues when using the Jack plane.

I have this huge pile of shavings in my garage/shop right now that are so nice, I hate to throw them away. :) They seem like they should have a use, like for paper or something. Maybe kindling, for starting fires.

[Gary Herrmann]

Keep them if you have a wood burning fireplace - they're great kindling.

[Peter Quadarella]

OK, so it turns out the other 2 replacement blades I got were only coarse honed, so I had to learn to sharpen these sooner than I thought. I have an 8 foot by 10" wide board of hard maple that I wanted to flatten. My goal here is just to flatten enough to clean up in my new power planer for now, although maybe that will change in the future ;).

My first time sharpening with Gary's fixed angle jig was pretty much a failure. I couldn't get the shavings I was getting when the plane was new, just some dust and stuff. (Keep in mind this is my first time sharpening any plane blade - I've done only chisels before).

So I gave up for the day and came back to it this afternoon for a bit. On my second go, I spent a little more time with the steps Gary explains in his included instructions. It seemed a little better, but whether I didn't set up the blade properly in the plane or it wasn't sharp enough, I'm not sure. I considered it a minor improvement but still a failure.

After dinner I went back in to give it another try. This time I watched his sharpening video and really payed meticulous attention to what I was doing. This time I used Gary's version of that ruler trick. I was pretty confident that the blade was sharp this time. It took me a while to set the mouth opening and depth properly, but once I did, success! OK, it's not quite as smooth as when it was new, but definitely serviceable. Next time I will be even better.

I was able to plane my 8' board fairly flat. I just came back from it and am satisfied that I can stick it through my planer now. :)

This plane is great - I'm already considering the jointer version. There is a big savings in the large Blum planes compared to the LV and LN ones.

[Terry Beadle]

Hello again,

I was wondering how it's going with the Blum plane? Is the sharpening getting easier? How is the performance?

I'm kind of interested in getting one of the jack plane size.

Thanks!

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Terry

I have been experimenting with a number of different methods for honing the Blum blades.

The latest method is to use the Veritas short blade holder in the Veritas honing guide Mk II.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/Blum%20planes/Withbladeinposition.jpg

This makes very quick work of the honing process. Sharp blades!

The advantage of the Veritas holder is that the blade is held on with a magnet. So the blade can be removed between waterstones to remove the wire edge.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Peter Quadarella]

I'm still using the fixed angle jig that I bought with the plane. I'm not having any issue with the sharpening or use. I have nothing to compare against, as this is the only plane I've ever used. It takes nice shavings and I can get the blade very very sharp. I bought an 8000 grit stone (I was going straight from 4000 to green honing compound) which makes it even sharper than the first couple times I did it.

I'm looking for ways to speed up the process now. My next step is to replace the coarse diamond stone with some sandpaper on mdf for the initial bevel creation.

Getting the blade in the right position for cutting took a little practice. I really had no idea what I was doing, so it is mostly just trial and error with me. I'm amazed how little the blade needs to protrude from the sole to take a light shaving, and how small the opening of the mouth should be. I'm getting better/faster at putting it in the right place.

I feel like I can sharpen a little faster using this jig as opposed to the Veritas one because I can move the stone around in circles all over the place, instead of just back and forth. Although, I haven't actually tried the Veritas (I think I need to get the small blade holder) yet.

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm getting better, enough that I am seriously planning on purchasing the Jointer plane and the bigger sharpening jig so that I can switch to this method for my chisels. I also emailed Gary about a block plane (because I need one), and he responded that he is working on one he hopes to come out with sometime in the next few months.

[Jim Koepke]

I have this huge pile of shavings in my garage/shop right now that are so nice, I hate to throw them away. :) They seem like they should have a use, like for paper or something. Maybe kindling, for starting fires.


One of my daughters has used them in her preschool and after school classes.

These and a paper bag and the kids can make "Fandango" puppets. Named after the theater ads. Also known as bag puppets.

The plane curls make great puppet hair.

jim