Veritas edge trimming plane

[steven c newman]

"...cannot saw square."

"Ve haft vays.."
squared off.jpg
Sawing square is the first thing one learns as a carpenter.....ask any "Cutman". BTDT.

[Jim Koepke]

"...cannot saw square."

"Ve haft vays.."
squared off.jpg
Sawing square is the first thing one learns as a carpenter.....ask any "Cutman". BTDT.

Now days the bulk of carpentry is done with a powered miter saw, not a lot of training required to get a square cut with one of those.

Sawing square is a simple matter of coordination between the hands and the eyes. My sawing is not great, but when care is taken my saw cuts are satisfactory. Maybe after a few hundred more all of the little steps to square cuts will become automatic and my sawing improved.

Clean Edges.jpg

This piece was marked all around with a try square then sawn on a bench hook. The knifed line can be seen all around and only a little 'fuzz' is left where the pieces broke apart at the end of the cutting.

Maybe one could say about the #95 or edge trimming plane, "It is like having a shooting board in the palm of your hand."

jtk

[Mark Rainey]

That is one nice end Jim. Makes me want to spend a few afternoons practicing hundreds of crosscuts!

[Bill Houghton]

And there are lots of useful habits in sawing that increase the likelihood of a square cut, like cutting "on two lines," meaning marking out your cut on both face and edge, then making shallow cuts on each layout line and, working back and forth, get guiding kerfs in both dimensions.

[Simon MacGowen]

"...cannot saw square."

"Ve haft vays.."

Sawing square is the first thing one learns as a carpenter.....ask any "Cutman". BTDT.

Sawing square has two dimensions to it: square to the reference edge and square to the reference face. If good enough is enough, of course, a lot of cutmen can saw square on both counts. However, if a high degree of squareness is required, I have known no cutmen or cutwomen who can repeatedly saw a wide board, say, 6 inches wide, square. It is a hit or miss business when sawing boards by hand no matter how many tens of thousand cuts a human being makes -- just more hits than misses for some better sawers.

Even a machine, a miter saw, for example, has to be properly tuned before it can cut square in both dimensions well and consistently. There is a reason why most miter saws cost a few hundred dollars while some a grand or two.

Simon

[steven c newman]

One can hold a square alongside the saw during the cut, to act as a guide. I use a thumb right beside the saw plate while using the saw. In fact, I bend the thumb so that the knuckle can guide the cut. There is even a "worn spot" on that knuckle.
good stuff.JPG
Had some old 2 x4s sitting around, with ugly, nail-sick spots, cracks, and other defects....these are the "good" pieces...the bad?
firepit.JPG
No lines were drawn, no square used...no "knife wall"
saw.JPG
Wasn't even the top of the line saw.....this and the MK1 Eyeball...
ends.JPG
Recycle....was resawn down into parts for a table project...
DSCF0007.JPG
Edges were jointed, and these were glued up into either the table's top, or, used for the aprons...

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have the LN version of this plane, and just like the others, it rarely comes out. I know this is a much mor expensive option, but the Veritas Rabbeting Block Planes are one of my favorite tools, and would do this job and many others.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...30,41182,48942
These can be trimming planes, rabbet planes, shoulder planes, block planes... I wouldn't be surprised if they could make tea or fetch your slippers. :-) Although pricey, they give you a lot of bang for the buck.

[steven c newman]

BS......never worked as a carpenter.....did you? Used a worm-drive saw to cut rafters a long time ago. Handsaws for bird's mouths, after the circular saw did it's thing. First day on every jobsite..we had to build a set of steps to the job trailers...they had to hold up for the length of the job, in any sort of weather....never painted, just plain old Pine...wasn't even treated stuff.

Stay in your tidy little shop...you'd have been fired by the end of the first week.....

[Tony Leonard]

I have one. I like it. I don't use it often, but when I do, I appreciate it. Works pretty well for thin stock as well. I'll never develop the skills with hand tools that some of the other members have, so I don't mind using something like this to get a nice smooth square edge. No guarantees though, still requires a bit of fiddling and learning - like anything. And don't forget to consider how you will sharpen the iron. For long edges, the short body will follow the shape of the edges (that can be good or bad!).

To qualify, I use a mix of power tools and hand tools. I usually use hand tools to sneak up on fits and things like that.

Now, I did get a chisel plane from Santa one year....I'll admit that one was an oops. Live and learn.

Tony

[Tony Zaffuto]

I have a LN right hand and a LV left hand (or is it vice versa?). I use both fairly often, just to make sure I'm square. I don't get anal about sharpening, but I do with square long edges as well as end grain (shooting board after my MF miter box or panel saw). This has become a such a habit, that I do it pretty much without thinking, and time spent is minimal.

Now I do have to add, when making panels, I joint edges at the same time and fold together for fit, which is generally tight.

[Simon MacGowen]

BS......never worked as a carpenter.....did you? Used a worm-drive saw to cut rafters a long time ago. Handsaws for bird's mouths, after the circular saw did it's thing. First day on every jobsite..we had to build a set of steps to the job trailers...they had to hold up for the length of the job, in any sort of weather....never painted, just plain old Pine...wasn't even treated stuff.

Stay in your tidy little shop...you'd have been fired by the end of the first week.....

BS? Your post about cutman cutting square etc. belongs to that.

You are all talks and have not come with any evidence how hand sawing can be consistently and repeatedly done to square stock.

Fired by the end of the first week...yes, if I were required to complete the impossible task of hand sawing wood square every time and all the time.

I couldn't but wonder what got into you today that made you bull like that.

Simon

[Dave Zellers]

Well this is my thread and everybody needs to behave. Both SN and SM are seriously valued members of SMC but I too am wondering just how bad SN's coffee must have been this morning.

Plus, I WAS a carpenter forever and back in the day co-workers would marvel when I would think nothing of pulling out my 12 point panel saw to cut the bottoms of the door jambs to length, even when they were to sit on a wood floor. I would put a 1º back cut on it and clean up the front edge with my block plane.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

I've had a LN 95R for quite a while. Used it occasionally but then I got a LN#140RH and haven't used it since. It's a better and much more versatile tool for me, so I ended up getting the LH version as well. I'll probably sell the 95 at some point. I never liked the blade adjuster on the LN95, but the Veritas has a different type that seems better. I also use a shooting board for end and long grain.

[Tony Zaffuto]

There's always more than one way to skin a cat. What works for one may not work as well for another. My methods have been pretty much consistent for the past dozen years or so (the point where the use ratio of hand tools surpassed power tools), and I'm really not interested in learning any other sharpening method, or experimenting with new chisels and so forth.

I can always learn more about the tools I use, and try to, but to some, please, for example, do not lecture me that a Stanley 62 style plane, with a bevel up blade, is all I need.

[Tony Zaffuto]

There are methods for cutting square with a square, with one being the reflection of the board on the saw plate, showing as a straight line. I ain't anywhere that good, but through the years, have been around that could cut square. Good enough for cabinet making? Nope! Good enough for house framing? Easily!