Hand Planing Lessons?

[Anti-Powertools]

Hi guys, i've been attempting to plane some pieces of wood today and am just getting nowhere and i'm becoming increasingly frustrated. I've watched hours and hours of videos online which make perfect sense to me, yet when it comes down to me doing it practically, it feels like i'm planing myself into an early grave.

I think there is not much more i can learn online & that i really need to be shown in person.

Any ideas how i can find somebody to teach me in Liverpool?

Thanks.

 

[undergroundhunter]

Find a local member who would be willing to show you? I'd offer but I suspect I'm too far away (not far from Doncaster). What is it that your finding hard?

Matt

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

If Liverpool isn't too far away, I might be your man.

Mike.

 

[Anti-Powertools]

Find a local member who would be willing to show you? I'd offer but I suspect I'm too far away (not far from Doncaster). What is it that your finding hard?

Matt

Yeah a little too far. And it's hard to say what i'm finding hard, other than, i'm struggling to get a piece of lumber all in square.

 

[Anti-Powertools]

Hello,

If Liverpool isn't too far away, I might be your man.

Mike.

Hi Mike, Yes i live in Liverpool, that'd be great if you could help me out?

 

[Roughcut]

Find a local member who would be willing to show you? I'd offer but I suspect I'm too far away (not far from Doncaster). What is it that your finding hard?

Matt

Yeah a little too far. And it's hard to say what i'm finding hard, other than, i'm struggling to get a piece of lumber all in square.

Lumber? Try some Wood!

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

If Liverpool isn't too far away, I might be your man.

Mike.

Hi Mike, Yes i live in Liverpool, that'd be great if you could help me out?

Hello,

Lumber? Been watching many American videos, then? :shock:

What plane(s) do you have and how are you sharpening? 99% bet is you're not sharp. Also, do you have some sort of bench, that is not wobbling all over the shop? Rigid bench is essential. If you decide to visit, we'll sort you out. What sort of day/time are you thinking. PM if you want to arrange something.

Mike.

 

[Anti-Powertools]

Hello,

If Liverpool isn't too far away, I might be your man.

Mike.

Hi Mike, Yes i live in Liverpool, that'd be great if you could help me out?

Hello,

Lumber? Been watching many American videos, then? :shock:

What plane(s) do you have and how are you sharpening? 99% bet is you're not sharp. Also, do you have some sort of bench, that is not wobbling all over the shop? Rigid bench is essential. If you decide to visit, we'll sort you out. What sort of day/time are you thinking. PM if you want to arrange something.

Mike.

I've been watching tonnes of american videos mate yes! haha.

I have a stanley no4 smoothing plane and a stanley 5/1/2 Jack plane. I've had a go at sharpening them, based on what i've learnt from youtube, but i can't say i did a good job.

I have a fairly good bench yes, so that's not a problem. Although i have issues with my vice from time to time, which doesn't help.

 

[Trafalgar]

It's probably just a matter of a sharp iron with a little curvature on the end to keep the corners from digging. And most beginners set the iron way too rank.

 

[Ed Bray]

Can't Uncle Powertools help?

 

[woodbrains]

Can't Uncle Powertools help?

Hello,

I think anti and uncle are not talking to each other.

Mike.

 

[G S Haydon]

Nice offer Mike, can't beat some hands on learning!

 

[tomasg]

Is your bench flat ...do you use it for reference ... i.e ,do you have a light
be it natural light or an angle poise behind what your working on,
so you can see the light between the wood and the table on an unsurfaced piece ??????

Thats the kind of flat im talkin about ..
if you bench is not flat ,clean it up and take the 5 1/2 to it and at least take off a lump or two off
if your not confident with planing your whole benchtop
lay a composite or mdf board on top for the moment .

If you cant shave your arm hair ,,its not sharp enough

I bet you your just floating on the high spots but not actually hitting them
goin over and over
if you used the light under the wood technique you would see these high spots and take them down.
Aim for taking hollowing shavings with the intent of leaving just the very tips i.e
1 or 2 mm of wood at each end that will be touching the bench "in other words"
"When getting close dont take a full length shaving or you will introduce the banana effect again "
You should see a paper thin ray of light in the middle of your board
Good Luck

 

[deema]

Planing 4 square is IMO (for stock thinner than the width of the plane) all about getting the plane and your weight in the right place. What normally happens is that you can plane one side flat, but simply can't get the next exactly square to the first. On the sure your trying to get square, one side, normally the side closest to you keeps having too much taken off leading to it being out of square. This is caused by too much force / weight being applied to the plane pushing it down harder closest to the body. To over come this tendency you do what seems unusual, you don't have the plane centred in the stock, but off centre, with the plane hanging further over the side away from your body. There will be a natural point where by moving the plane further over the stuff that you will balance out your natural tendency to weight the plane closest to your body and plane square and true. This is why I believe the old wooden planes had the handles offset to one side to achieve this balance and enable the users to use the full width of the plane.

Once you have learnt how to move the plane to achieve a square surface, you will eventually get a feel of how to hold and use the plane to bring it back on centre and plane square and true. It comes from both doing it and being aware of what is happening.

To square up a surface that is out of square the common error is to tip the plane to remove the high side, don't, you move the plane over to the higher side instead. Again, by getting the feel of what the plane is doing you will work out how to achieve the results you are after.

 

[Anti-Powertools]

A lot of great advice here, thank you!

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Can't Uncle Powertools help?

:roll:

 

[Anti-Powertools]

Hi guys, just an update to how i got on. I met up with Mike (Woodbrains) from this forum, who pointed out that my planes were really dull and the sole of the planes weren't in the best condition either. So once sharpened, i resumed planing the piece i was really struggling with on previous attempts, and i had my piece of TIMBER not LUMBER! perfectly square within about 10 minutes.

So the good news is, it wasn't that i was necessarily doing anything wrong, but it was the dull blades on the planes which were letting me down. However i still picked up some great tips from Mike with regards to my technique.

I can now plane with confidence & you'll hear no more comPLANING from me

Ste.

 

[G S Haydon]

Well done Mike & Ste.!

 

[Anti-Powertools]

Well done Mike & Ste.!

I also watched your youtube video on planing & it was of great help, so thanks very much

 

[matthewwh]

Excellent stuff, I love it when little bits of magic like this happen, and thank you for taking the trouble to post photos of how you got on.

=D>