01-04-2016, 12:20 PM
This is a really great way to sell hand planes.
This is my response to a person that wanted to start using a hand plane to smooth with because he hates to sand.
You are starting down a slippery slope. First off is to get a hand plane to work properly you need to be able to clamp it solidly on a work bench. The bench has to be heavy enough so it doesn't move or you are wasting your time.
The blade needs to be sharpened with a slight curve or you leave gouges at the corner. LN says you need a 5, 7 and then a 41/2 to properly do smoothing. But the 4 1/2 has to be set so fine that a lot of down pressure is required to get it to cut. This is the way they get around the curved sharpening on the blade. PS: some think rounding the corners.
Personally I prefer to use a Stanley #80 scraper over a plane to smooth out planner marks, I also like card scrapers. However a plane if done properly will give a smoother surface.
The problem with both ways is a big learning curve and a lot of money spent on sharpening what ever.
Also if you plan on staining the project, both ways burnish the wood, crush the fibers. If using a pigmented stain, like the oil based stain one buys in a big box, the surface is to smooth and the pigments have no place to lodge. This makes staining , controlling the color difficult. And the solution to that problem is a light sanding of the piece. Even if you don't stain and just finish most all finishes need to be sanded in between coats so the next coat can stick to the first and if the wood is to smooth, in my experience the first coat has problems that bleed through but are mistaken for something else because it is finishing and not preparation.
Sanding is all but foolproof, not much of a learning curve, fairly inexpensive, and not labor intensive like a hand plane.
No body likes sanding. I have a friend that works in a cabinet shop and all he does is sand. So they think it is an important step in their process.
I sell planes to help support my woodworking habit but I used sanders. Usually the nice thing about sanding is one can go on auto pilot and not be there mentally.
The trick to being a really good woodworker is to learn to love all the steps and not the finished project. Whether it be a hand planes surface of sanded surface.
Tom
This is my response to a person that wanted to start using a hand plane to smooth with because he hates to sand.
You are starting down a slippery slope. First off is to get a hand plane to work properly you need to be able to clamp it solidly on a work bench. The bench has to be heavy enough so it doesn't move or you are wasting your time.
The blade needs to be sharpened with a slight curve or you leave gouges at the corner. LN says you need a 5, 7 and then a 41/2 to properly do smoothing. But the 4 1/2 has to be set so fine that a lot of down pressure is required to get it to cut. This is the way they get around the curved sharpening on the blade. PS: some think rounding the corners.
Personally I prefer to use a Stanley #80 scraper over a plane to smooth out planner marks, I also like card scrapers. However a plane if done properly will give a smoother surface.
The problem with both ways is a big learning curve and a lot of money spent on sharpening what ever.
Also if you plan on staining the project, both ways burnish the wood, crush the fibers. If using a pigmented stain, like the oil based stain one buys in a big box, the surface is to smooth and the pigments have no place to lodge. This makes staining , controlling the color difficult. And the solution to that problem is a light sanding of the piece. Even if you don't stain and just finish most all finishes need to be sanded in between coats so the next coat can stick to the first and if the wood is to smooth, in my experience the first coat has problems that bleed through but are mistaken for something else because it is finishing and not preparation.
Sanding is all but foolproof, not much of a learning curve, fairly inexpensive, and not labor intensive like a hand plane.
No body likes sanding. I have a friend that works in a cabinet shop and all he does is sand. So they think it is an important step in their process.
I sell planes to help support my woodworking habit but I used sanders. Usually the nice thing about sanding is one can go on auto pilot and not be there mentally.
The trick to being a really good woodworker is to learn to love all the steps and not the finished project. Whether it be a hand planes surface of sanded surface.
Tom
