Why you need more than one...

[Mark Stutz]

smothing plane. Working on the finishing touches on a raised panel tonight. Reached for the LN 4...remebered it needed a touchnup after the first pass. Honed it, and couldn't get it gack to working like I wanted for love nor money...my Dad would have said I wasn't holding my tongue right! Picked up the ECE,and still couldn't get it right. Finally went to a Type 16/17 #3...took a few extra passes, but now it's smooth as silk.

The nexttime it will be some other one thatI can't get going. Anyone else have these gremlins running around their shops?;):D

[Dewey Torres]

Mark... sounds like you have ticked off the wood gods.

The only thing that I could come up with is that you have your planes tuned slightly different and you are getting different reactions to the particular wood grain you are working with.

Other than that... be nice to the wood gods.

Dewey

[Wiley Horne]

Glad you got the panel done to your liking, Mark!

I think one thing that can cause a plane to come up a little different, especially after sharpening, is the presence/absence of a little camber. A little camber, even on a smoother iron, is a magic ingredient. The plane becomes much less sensitive to truly minute variations in lateral adjust, and the interaction between lateral and depth adjust. It becomes a much smoother operator, and more predictable. In my experience, anyway. 2 cents.

Wiley

[Doug Shepard]

... Anyone else have these gremlins running around their shops?;):D

Yup. It's called the Goldilocks Syndrome. ...this one feels just right.:D

[Dave Anderson NH]

Sometimes it just isn't your day, or the stars aren't in the correct alignment, or you're not in the right mood, or you wore the wrong color shirt, or.........

Been there and the language in the shop wasn't pretty. Most often this type of problem occurs when I'm either in a hurry and careless, or I'm tired and careless. The results are the same, I miss some little thing I normally do automatically and things just don't work right. I consider it a signal to give up, put the project aside, and go back to it later. Rarely is the problem a major error in technique.

[Brian Hale]

It's happened more times than i care to remember. Sometimes just walking away helps, but rarely. Lately i've been starting over by grinding a new bevel on the grinder till i get a heavy burr and then working my way thru the x-coarse diamond stone, fine diamond stone and honing my secondary bevel on the fine and extra fine ceramic stones. I'm not saying the blade needed all that work (which is my routine for a new or damaged blade) but it seems to put everything back in order and appease the woodworking powers the be.

YMMV

Good Luck!

Brian :)

[harry strasil]

pour some salt on a dead chicken, swing it around your head 4.5 times in a counter clockwise direction and then toss if over your left shoulder, if it lands in the waste can its gonna be a good day. also lay all your chisels with the cutting edge pointing north.

[Mark Stutz]

pour some salt on a dead chicken, swing it around your head 4.5 times in a counter clockwise direction and then toss if over your left shoulder, if it lands in the waste can its gonna be a good day. also lay all your chisels with the cutting edge pointing north.

LOL:D That's about the only thing I didn't try!

Dave, as you can see from the post time, it was late. That was the last thing that I was going to do.

I usually do have just a slight camber, and the funny thing was that I was getting shavings on both sides of the blade but NOT IN THE MIDDLE! No clue as to why. Redid it this AM...good to go. I really should try the chicken thing.:eek:

[Tyler Howell]

You can't be too rich, too thin, or have enough toyls:rolleyes:.
I'm working on the last.

[Clifford Mescher]

pour some salt on a dead chicken, swing it around your head 4.5 times in a counter clockwise direction and then toss if over your left shoulder, if it lands in the waste can its gonna be a good day. also lay all your chisels with the cutting edge pointing north.
That was funny. My father told me many times that 10 minutes of good luck will make you forget all the bad luck you ever had....Clifford.

[Jim Koepke]

I usually do have just a slight camber, and the funny thing was that I was getting shavings on both sides of the blade but NOT IN THE MIDDLE! No clue as to why. Redid it this AM...good to go. I really should try the chicken thing.:eek:

This is why it is good to have more than one plane. It is also a good reason to have a few extra blades. They can be switched around to test these problems.

My first thought before reading the whole thread was something that happened to me. After sharpening a blade, the cap iron screw was only finger tight. This allowed the cap iron to move, but the blade did not. Caused a moment of consternation.

jim

[Matt Bickford]

"the funny thing was that I was getting shavings on both sides of the blade but NOT IN THE MIDDLE"

it may be time to flatten your stones. This comes from a crown.