Iron and Chipbreaker upgrade.

[Derek Cohen]

You can't tell the finish out of those irons from a video. The complaint I've seen posted here and other forums is that those A2 irons chip, leaving a surface that needs to be sanded or scraped. My one and only A2 iron is on a new Stanley 9 1/2 block plane I use for endgrain, when it chips it leaves a line on the surface.

It's a bit risky to generalise from one blade, Rafael. I have been using A2 steel for at least 20 years, and must have had dozens in this time, from both Veritas and LN. It's decent steel and produces decent results. There are nicer steels to sharpen, but it is not a limiting factor. I do not automatically find chips in the wake of these blades.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Charles Guest]

You can't tell the finish out of those irons from a video. The complaint I've seen posted here and other forums is that those A2 irons chip, leaving a surface that needs to be sanded or scraped. My one and only A2 iron is on a new Stanley 9 1/2 block plane I use for endgrain, when it chips it leaves a line on the surface.

Does the craftsman in the video appear to you to be somebody who would chuck it all at the very end to get lousy results from his hand planes? Not only is the work itself stunning, but the investment in other equipment besides his hand tools quite significant.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCja...Lj3_03Q80iTc_g

[Rafael Herrera]

It's a bit risky to generalise from one blade, Rafael. I have been using A2 steel for at least 20 years, and must have had dozens in this time, from both Veritas and LN. It's decent steel and produces decent results. There are nicer steels to sharpen, but it is not a limiting factor. I do not automatically find chips in the wake of these blades.

I'm not generalizing, I said I only have one and when it chipped it left tracks on the work. It's been mentioned before that this steel has a tendency to chip if not properly sharpened.

I used my A2 block plane last night on endgrain Bubinga. It did an excellent job, the iron is not chipped and the surface was smooth. I still prefer my OEM irons, though.

Cheers,
Rafael

[Warren Mickley]

You can't tell the finish out of those irons from a video. The complaint I've seen posted here and other forums is that those A2 irons chip, leaving a surface that needs to be sanded or scraped. My one and only A2 iron is on a new Stanley 9 1/2 block plane I use for endgrain, when it chips it leaves a line on the surface.

I watched the video also. There is nothing to suggest a high proficiency with planes. I don't see that they know how to usea trying plane or a smoothing plane.

[Laurent Marshall]

A2 does not warp in heat treat like O1. Their commitment to A2 is for less labor costs.

I wasn't aware of that, but it certainly makes sense.

[Clifford McGuire]

I watched the video also. There is nothing to suggest a high proficiency with planes. I don't see that they know how to usea trying plane or a smoothing plane.

Just watched a couple of their videos. Gosh, they turn out some beautiful work.

What were they doing wrong?

[Charles Guest]

I watched the video also. There is nothing to suggest a high proficiency with planes. I don't see that they know how to usea trying plane or a smoothing plane.

Thanks for the laugh.

[Warren Mickley]

Yes, Clifford, I suspect that all they were doing with the planes was skimming off a little wood between machine work and sanding. In other words they were just covering up their methods.

When we use a trying plane to make a nice flat surface we use winding sticks and straightedge to test the work. This yields very precise results.

When they planed they used sloppy strokes, kind of in an arc, and also a lot of partial strokes. This kind of stuff will show up in the work unless you sand it to get rid of all the evidence.

For a fine planed surface, you want all full length straight passes.

[Charles Guest]

Yes, Clifford, I suspect that all they were doing with the planes was skimming off a little wood between machine work and sanding. In other words they were just covering up their methods.

When we use a trying plane to make a nice flat surface we use winding sticks and straightedge to test the work. This yields very precise results.

When they planed they used sloppy strokes, kind of in an arc, and also a lot of partial strokes. This kind of stuff will show up in the work unless you sand it to get rid of all the evidence.

For a fine planed surface, you want all full length straight passes.

Here's more crappy work by the same guy (may need to rewind the video to 0):

Block Front Chest Building Process by Doucette and Wolfe Furniture Makers - YouTube

Clearly has no idea how to wield a plane or other hand tools.

[Charles Guest]

Yes, Clifford, I suspect that all they were doing with the planes was skimming off a little wood between machine work and sanding. In other words they were just covering up their methods.

When we use a trying plane to make a nice flat surface we use winding sticks and straightedge to test the work. This yields very precise results.

When they planed they used sloppy strokes, kind of in an arc, and also a lot of partial strokes. This kind of stuff will show up in the work unless you sand it to get rid of all the evidence.

For a fine planed surface, you want all full length straight passes.

And here's the poor, hapless, clueless hack stumbling, staggering, and bludgeoning his way to a set of eight Chippendale chairs :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0suZRvmmIq8

This is Part 1. I think Part 2 will play automatically but not sure.

[Charles Guest]

Yes, Clifford, I suspect that all they were doing with the planes was skimming off a little wood between machine work and sanding. In other words they were just covering up their methods.

When we use a trying plane to make a nice flat surface we use winding sticks and straightedge to test the work. This yields very precise results.

When they planed they used sloppy strokes, kind of in an arc, and also a lot of partial strokes. This kind of stuff will show up in the work unless you sand it to get rid of all the evidence.

For a fine planed surface, you want all full length straight passes.

I can't say for sure what his complete routine for surfaces is, but I'm not seeing any problems with the figured mahogany here though granted it's a video. Anybody have quibbles with how these turned out? Watch the whole thing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TNt...fd9r1R1kkAmrqq

[Charles Guest]

Yes, Clifford, I suspect that all they were doing with the planes was skimming off a little wood between machine work and sanding. In other words they were just covering up their methods.

When we use a trying plane to make a nice flat surface we use winding sticks and straightedge to test the work. This yields very precise results.

When they planed they used sloppy strokes, kind of in an arc, and also a lot of partial strokes. This kind of stuff will show up in the work unless you sand it to get rid of all the evidence.

For a fine planed surface, you want all full length straight passes.

They seemed to have dealt reasonably well with the Claro Walnut used in this project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv6A05yKgiQ