I used my hand planes today

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Although I own hand planes, I do not often use them. I do own a surface planer, but, I do not own a jointer.

I have rough cut lumber. To make one edge straight, I usually use either a track saw or my table saw. When I use my table saw, I usually make one edge straight using a hand plane. IT often feels like I am a slow learner, but, I have improved at this significantly in the last year. I used to have lots of problems with this.

I am building a case out of plywood for my shop and I decided to use real wood on the edges rather than edge banding. I have a fancy setup on my fancy router that allows me to trim by real wood edging flush with the plywood. Well, today I decided to use my block plane. Wow did that work well. Much less dangerous, way less mess (the router throws stuff everywhere), and very quite. I was very happy with the results.

[Jim Koepke]

Sounds like an enjoyable quiet time in the shop. Being able to hear my music often has me hesitating to use power equipment. Life just seem more enjoyable with background music.

Much less dangerous, way less mess (the router throws stuff everywhere), and very quite. I was very happy with the results.

The safety factor is often another reason for my preference toward hand tools. (of course this doesn't count when it is time to cut firewood.)

jtk

[Dan Hulbert]

The noise reduction and the safety are two the the bigger reasons I use hand tools more and more. I also have found that I make fewer "big" mistakes using hand tools. With power, things go bad too quickly.

[Jim Koepke]

The noise reduction and the safety are two the the bigger reasons I use hand tools more and more. I also have found that I make fewer "big" mistakes using hand tools. With power, things go bad too quickly.

All the above. One of my mottos about hand tools is my mistakes are made slower.

jtk

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I use 2 or 3 different block planes often. I have them set differently. I use the little planes way more than any of the others........ Actually, most planes I have are seldom used. But I keep them cleaned up and try to play with them every so often. Wish I had time to use all of them....
I also "joint" one side of the lumber before running it through my table saw like you did. I have a jointer. The plane is way funner.
I'm in the middle of a workbench build now. Next step is flattening the top. Got my #5 sharp and ready. Looking forward to that. It's just plane fun!

[David Eisenhauer]

"It's just plane fun". I saw that Kyle. You did not slip that one past me. I like the sound a hand plane makes when it is working well with a sharp iron in place.

[Jim Koepke]

Today while cutting and splitting firewood a couple of pieces made me want to use one of my planes on it.

Didn't bother today, but last week while stacking rough sawn mill ends a couple pieces caught my eye:

Firewood Chatoyance.jpg

It is unusual to see this in a piece of alder.

jtk