Few day back I asked for help in two threads - "Making Board Square" and "Fixing a convex sole hand plane". Both the issues are resolved now. Instead of replying to the original threads, created a new one, since both had a common solution point.
Jim Koepke, graciously offered his help, to fix with the plane. I met Jim some 2 weeks back. Had the privilege to see his shop and more importantly see him work. I pestered Jim with lots of noob questions and Jim answered them all patiently. Thanks Jim! It was wonderful meeting and learning from you. Side note: plant is doing good as well, no wilting. I hope to see you and pick your brain again
Coming to the solutions. Jim fixed the sole of the plane. Then he fixed the screwed up (by me) cap iron, and not so sharp blade. I thought shaving hairs is enough, but there's the effortless part that I missed - to my amazement he sharpened the blade by hand - it's a feet to me.
I have read on forums that people get 0.001" shavings, saw it first time.
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Jim demonstrated making molding by hand plane (I use powered router). The finish on the molding was amazing. It came out with glassy finish. I brought home a small piece of molding, to remind/inspire me of what can be done by hand tools. Using the same #3 I tried smoothing a piece of wood. I think its Mahogany (its a off-cut piece from HomeDepot). Plane cuts it like butter. Surface is left with a faint shine. This piece does not need any sanding, by my standards and ability. If I sand it, I am sure I will leave the surface less perfect.
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I asked Jim on tips to square board. He took out his shooting board, took few swipes from his LAJ, and board was square. End grain was smooth. I asked him if LAJ is required, then he squared the board with #3 (one he fixed), and then with one of his other bevel down planes. All of them performed effortlessly. This was a practical lesson in sharpening and its effect. Surface left by LAJ was more smooth - I used this as my excuse to buy Lee Valley LAJ
I tuned up my miter saw. It does better than 1/64" now, but I could not better it further. So, I decided to build a shooting board - since have seen it working in practice. https://www.inthewoodshop.com/ as usual proved to be a valuable resource. Shamelessly copied, as much as I could. Used 1/2" BB Plywood and Mahogany.
Added Mahogany on long edges.
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Have a can of leftover Stain and Poly that gets used on all the jigs and likewise stuff. So gave the board a a coat as well. Waxed the plane track with Paste Wax.
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Like the adjustable fence design, so copied it. Will one day drill a hole through it, to attach other angle fences or a sacrificial fence.
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And the backside. Wanted to use Mahogany for the piece that gets in vise but had none left.
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Well shooting board is only good if it solves the problem. So tried squaring a narrow piece of Mahogany, and it worked. When I was facing problem squaring boards, I was working with fir/spruce board. So, tried squaring a scrap piece of same board. Drew the cut lines and left a little extra on long edge (essentially followed instructions that Warren Mickley suggested in original thread). Used LAJ to square it using the shooting board and it worked. Took hardly a minute. This used to take better part of an hour. It's difficult to express the happiness felt seeing the result. Living in Seattle, there are very few moments when not seeing light equates to happiness.
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In both the threads many people have provided help, tips and suggestions. Want to thank you all, it matters a lot.
- Anuj
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Originally Posted by Eric Danstrom
