I'll give you a couple of more unsolicited thoughts as I think more people would like to dimension by hand. Sharpening saws yourself is a must mostly the rip saw, and a big rip saw is the easiest thing you'll have to sharpen - you just go over the teeth of a saw in decent shape in a matter of a couple of minutes and don't overthink it.
From a productivity standpoint, though - the cap iron is an absolutely essential part of the process for the second and finish planes. It would quarter the number of trips to the stones by wood volume, eliminate any residual tearout aside from runout fuzzies that you'll get when wood grain orients into the face, and it will keep surface quality pretty consistent whether an iron is dulling or freshly sharp.
Point 1 other than this - if you do dimensioning and stick with it, you will be surprised how "highbrow" it is instead of low brow. It demands accuracy, but the accuracy is pleasant and it will be very easy to see where it pays off. Just simple rip sawing at 75% speed but accurately instead of wailing away will save far more time in the follow up, and you'll get to a point quickly where you can rip as accurately as a cheap table saw with no ball-drop events like you can have fighting wood in a cheap table saw.
Point 2 - everything has to be done in a position that is you working wood and not working to hold yourself up or being rigid and fighting your own body. Power comes from pushing your shoulder and arms do nothing but extend and hands guide things. Leaning forward as part of the extension generates great constant continuous power as long as the leaning isn't so far over that it's like bending down and coming back up. I am fat, at least relatively, and would be fit only compared to a median care home resident, but I can get after it for hours. Most of the reason that I can is neural development over time, there's some residual stamina, but a lot of it has to do with what *not* to do. No hard squeezing things, no wristy forearm killers, no leaning over and getting red faced, no stooping. Most of it is like a brisk walk.
Point 3 - it matters not so much how fast you're going but what efficiency you're getting with each stroke. Plane 95% as fast as you can and then contrast that with planing 2/3rds as fast and ensuring the plane starts on a board evenly across length and down width. The latter feels like half the work and you can think while you do it - it's engaging. It'll turn out far greater volume of work if you weigh the shavings, despite feeling like you're not doing much.
Point 4 - everything you use in much volume has to pull itself into the cut but not stop you or be "sticky" feeling in the cut because it's too aggressive. As soon as something requires you to bear down on it to work smoothly, different tool or sharper tool. Even rushing the last quarter of an hour will lead to problems - it is really measured like taking a brisk walk and refusing to run or stop.,
Shooting for accuracy in the rough work vs. just exercise seems like a pain at first, but you will be shocked at how good you are at the fine work even without doing much of it - the neural development carries over.
From a productivity standpoint, though - the cap iron is an absolutely essential part of the process for the second and finish planes. It would quarter the number of trips to the stones by wood volume, eliminate any residual tearout aside from runout fuzzies that you'll get when wood grain orients into the face, and it will keep surface quality pretty consistent whether an iron is dulling or freshly sharp.
Point 1 other than this - if you do dimensioning and stick with it, you will be surprised how "highbrow" it is instead of low brow. It demands accuracy, but the accuracy is pleasant and it will be very easy to see where it pays off. Just simple rip sawing at 75% speed but accurately instead of wailing away will save far more time in the follow up, and you'll get to a point quickly where you can rip as accurately as a cheap table saw with no ball-drop events like you can have fighting wood in a cheap table saw.
Point 2 - everything has to be done in a position that is you working wood and not working to hold yourself up or being rigid and fighting your own body. Power comes from pushing your shoulder and arms do nothing but extend and hands guide things. Leaning forward as part of the extension generates great constant continuous power as long as the leaning isn't so far over that it's like bending down and coming back up. I am fat, at least relatively, and would be fit only compared to a median care home resident, but I can get after it for hours. Most of the reason that I can is neural development over time, there's some residual stamina, but a lot of it has to do with what *not* to do. No hard squeezing things, no wristy forearm killers, no leaning over and getting red faced, no stooping. Most of it is like a brisk walk.
Point 3 - it matters not so much how fast you're going but what efficiency you're getting with each stroke. Plane 95% as fast as you can and then contrast that with planing 2/3rds as fast and ensuring the plane starts on a board evenly across length and down width. The latter feels like half the work and you can think while you do it - it's engaging. It'll turn out far greater volume of work if you weigh the shavings, despite feeling like you're not doing much.
Point 4 - everything you use in much volume has to pull itself into the cut but not stop you or be "sticky" feeling in the cut because it's too aggressive. As soon as something requires you to bear down on it to work smoothly, different tool or sharper tool. Even rushing the last quarter of an hour will lead to problems - it is really measured like taking a brisk walk and refusing to run or stop.,
Shooting for accuracy in the rough work vs. just exercise seems like a pain at first, but you will be shocked at how good you are at the fine work even without doing much of it - the neural development carries over.
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