afternoon gents,
thought id give those interested an update.
im in my 5th week at college and am absolutely loving it, things where tedious at the start when the basic HAD to be painfully explained to allow those less experience (me included) what was what.. to start things off we learn what a plane is, this shouldn't be hard i love planes
how to use a plane... ok i can do this. then the dreaded SHARPENING OF A PLANE!! i thought here we go again.... to my surprise it was a pleasant experience, nice a simple. not typically the way i do it, have done it or will do it but a very easy approach, grind 25 degrees, hold bevel flat on stone lift 5 and pull back, strop and done in more words than needs. i was surprised how many people struggled with this someone (no names) ground the bevel on the the opposite side :S "WOW" some even thought that the bluer you make it the better..... moving on lol
the first couple weeks where relevant demos such as setting up your plane we have 2 each a 4 1/2 and either a 5 or 5 1/2 (i got a 5), knowing your tools, sharpening, fire exit, sawing ect ect.
safe to say glad im further in on the course..
we have been set skill tests and through out the year to show we are capable of producing square stuff (what you call planned timber apparently) joints and the sort.
lucky for me i have a passion for woodwork and tinkered around for a bit before i decided to go to college so im whizzing through the standard to do list and am currently several weeks ahead. I've also made a few tools, these are extra jobs (walnut and ash winding sticks, bench hook and a push stick, next is a scratch stock) oh and im making a letter rack at the moment using rebates and a plough plane, which has a nice radius on the bottom, the extra jobs are so i don't get board and so others can progress before the next demo is done so we can all grow at the same pace so to speak
im not sure what is next but im sure it won't be anything exciting.. everything is done by hand no machines as first years are not allowed to in the shop room. and the tolerance levels varies from 1mm-3mm depending of what is being graded.
to day a very kind man called harry did a lecture on the history of planes which was fun and also brought in a grand selection of plane for us to check out, norris planes, transition planes, japans, stanleys all number even the no 1, bedrocks, verities, LN you name it... after that he did a tool sale of us the student various bits and bobs, i tried so hard not to buy anything but i could resist, i walked away with a pair of L&R skewed chisels
by stormont. was a fun day,
in november a guy from classic hand tools is coming down to do a demo on saw sharpening and bring a load of gear to play with so hopefully fingers crossed ill get to play with the new verities custom bench plane
)
i was going to do a blog following my college journey but lV1 isn't that exciting so ill just keep you posted on here.
sorry to ramble on..
im just happy to be doing woodwork and learning
TT
