New Plane Blade & New Scraper

[flatheadfisher]

I bought a new blade for my new Veritas Foreplane. I wanted to put a radius on the edge of one and keep the other straight. It took me a few hours to get it right but I finally did it. I tried it out on a piece of wide scrap and it worked really good. The radius kept the edges from gouging out the wood. I was able to get the board flat and reasonable smooth.

I took my new Veritas Cabinet Scraper out of the box and followed the directions to burnish the edge. I put it back in the scraper and used it for the first time. I am amazed how easy it is to use. After a few passes over the wood, it was very smooth. I am impressed with these tools. I put some polystain on it just to see how it looks. I expected to find some marks in the wood where I missed something. But, it looked perfect. I read somewhere that this technique doesn't clog up the pores and makes a glassy smooth finish. It seems to work! Tomorrow, I plan to do the dresser top the same way.

 

[ptt49er]

The pleasure that comes from working with hand tools is amazing isn't it?

Keep up the work and take some work in progress pics!

 

[Lamar]

I know I don't do alot of posting,.. But it seem's a "YOU SUCK" is in order for the tools.

Being how most of my planes are the old low knob Stanleys and the only scraper is a old Stanley #80...But as I have had the op to try the LV vertions it just seems a "YOU SUCK" is still in order...

Anyway..watch out for that slipery slope you've been warned about.

Lamar

 

[flatheadfisher]

I know I don't do alot of posting,.. But it seem's a "YOU SUCK" is in order for the tools.

Being how most of my planes are the old low knob Stanleys and the only scraper is a old Stanley #80...But as I have had the op to try the LV vertions it just seems a "YOU SUCK" is still in order...

Anyway..watch out for that slipery slope you've been warned about.

Lamar

I wish I had some of the older Stanley planes that were made to do the job well out of the box. I also wish I had the talent to get some of the newer planes working well. I bought a Buck Bros. and I just couldn't get it working like I wanted after messing with it for several hours. I don't have the talent. I am new to woodworking and I want to learn to use hand tools. I did lots of research and found there are only a few companies that make planes to the tolerances needed to have them running well out of the box. I was shocked to learn that some planes cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I wanted the Lie Nielson plane but they were out of my range. I like the Veritas. But, I am on the lookout for some older planes that were made better than the mass produced planes are today.

 

[Lamar]

Michael,

I can relate to the prices. I own at last count 20+ planes, only have duplicates of the smoothers. Mostly for differint ground irons. And no I don't reach everyone often, but it's good to have when I do.

Tho I have several different makers, I don't have any that was made after the late twenty's. And yes most all went through the rehab thing, but it was mostly a good clean up and alot of honing at most. The tools of that time was still used for making a living. So considering the price of one high-end Lie Nelson is more $$ than I got in my whole bunch. It would serve one well seek out the older tools and learn how to tune them. There are a few good dealers out there who will sell you an old tool ready to use at what I consider reasonable price.

You will find that the hand tool bunch is as generous with thier knowledge on the "net" as these folks here, and we have quiet a few here who will be glad to help.

So feel free to pm me and I'll hook you up with some good site's to help you along, and if enough out there are interested I'll post them here.

Regards, Lamar.....and don't get me started on saws and sharpening, braces and bits, ect,.ect,.......

PS, I enjoyed you're web site. Did you do the photo's, and what was you shooting with?

 

[michaelgarner]

I too have a fondness of hand tools. I was taught that they have a definite place in today’s woodworking, and if you don’t use a smoother, jack, and block plane in your woodworking arsenal your missing a huge part of craftsmanship. (In my opinion that is) All of my hand planes except two (VERITAS low angle jointer, and VERITAS scrub, scrub was a little more than an old Stanley) are old Stanley’s, I ran them through the usual refurbish and sharpened the irons and they work just fine day after day. I haven’t upgraded the irons or any funky mods to the old Stanley’s, just cleaned them up, tuned them, and threw a sharp blade in it and they work like the days of old. Now don’t get me wrong, the VERITAS planes that I have are wonderful, but for price I paid for two of them I could have purchased another set of old Stanley’s. Be careful though; once you start buying hand planes of all sorts find a way into your shop. And your right stay away from BORG hand planes. Tough Stanley is supposedly going to be coming out with a new top of the line hand plane.

 

[flatheadfisher]

I use a Canon Rebel XTi and a variety of lenses. Thanks for the compliment.

I can see how it would be useful to have lots of planes. I have been switching blades in the foreplane - one for edges and one for smoothing. I really like the way the wood looks and feels after being planed and scraped! Maybe after I use them enough, I can learn how to tune them up. I did learn how to get one lapped and sharpened over the weekend. That is a big step for me!

 

[froglips]

In some circles, talent you are born with, skills you earn. So don't feel that you are not talented enough!

We are always happy to help with opinions and our vast collective experience gained from years of doing things without the burden of proper technique.

Several of us are cultists in the COS (Cult of Schwarz) from Popular Woodworking/Woodworking Magazine. For my money, he's one of the best folks at explaining and teaching the masses about how to use hand tools (and power too).

I just found what I'd recommend as a great starting point for the infamous "what planes do I need" question.

http://popularwoodworking.com/article/understanding_bench_planes

Good luck and keep the bevel side down (or up).

Jim