Low angle, 5 or 5 ½ jack plane for a beginner?

[Jacob]

I just edited post above. It now reads; So yes you are right Mike - it'll work but only if they are parallel, but I'm right too - it'll work even if they aren't parallel but are identical! Might as well make them identical and keep it simple!
Which is all I'm saying really.

PS Mike I hadn't twigged that you were using the bottom edge of the further stick - I always use the top edges as it eliminates the possibility of an error due to them being not parallel!

Phew!
Hope nobody is nodding off at the back!

 

[Sgian Dubh]

It's just simple geometry - nothing to do with parallax ... :roll:

On reflection, you're right, it's geometry, not parallax. The situation was incorrectly thought through on my part - idleness I suspect, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[Bodgers]

Wasn't this originally a fairly innocent question about a plane choice...?

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

 

[Geordie Joe]

oh yes here they are

£55 for winding sticks! :roll:

That's nothing, take a look at this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Advanced-A...&qid=1519039259&sr=8-1&keywords=winding+stick

I wonder what happened to the other one?

 

[Silly_Billy]

Joe, I think you've stumbled on a brilliant business idea: sell one winding stick for £70, then you're virtually guaranteed a repeat sale when the customer realises the need for a second stick. It's genius (hammer)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

And ensure the second is a different width.

 

[Jacob]

And ensure the second is a different width.

Never give a sucker an even break!

 

[Tasky]

http://owdman.co.uk/winding.jpg[/img]

A-HAH..... so everyone who calls them winding sticks is wrong in the first place.....!!

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I suspect that rather than Winding Strips they perhaps actually ought to be called Unwinding Strips ? :idea:

 

[David C]

Has the chap using the sticks nodded off?

The illustrator makes the same mistake as the photographer usually does. There is a wonderful Hayward photo.

One has to view the sticks from about three timed the distance apart, to give the eye a chance to focus on both sticks.

Best wishes
David

PS Parallel and same height is best!

 

[Tasky]

Has the chap using the sticks nodded off?

Nah, murdered by his wife. Stabbed in the back with a chisel.
Seems he was spending too much time ignoring her needs and arguing about bloody woodworking nonsense on the internet, again... !!

 

[DBT85]

One has to view the sticks from about three timed the distance apart, to give the eye a chance to focus on both sticks.

Wait. So if I'm checking an 8ft board I'm supposed to be stood 24 feet away from the nearest?

 

[MikeG.]

....with your binoculars.

 

[DBT85]

....with your binoculars.

By the time I've got that far away the cat will have jumped up and moved one of them!

 

[Tasky]

....with your binoculars.

Lucky for me, I have an old pair of artillery binos with a right-angled scale reticle - Don't even need winding sticks with that!!

 

[El Barto]

Late to the party here but as a fellow beginner I thought I may as well throw my two pence in. I didn't read every page so apologies if I'm repeating earlier posts.

As you're probably aware there are multiple arguments for every kind of plane. I started out with a knackered old No.4 smoother and learnt how to tune it up and get it working well. If I was to do it again I'd get a 5 1/2 but that's beside the point. Learning to get the most out of an old "traditional" plane was really enlightening and the effort paid off, although it did take a while and there things still to learn. The feeling of turning an old plane into something that's yours and then producing a beautiful finish with it is wonderful and it doesn't get old (at least for me). I'm really glad that that's the route I took BUT ...

Further down the road I got a bevel up jack plane and I love it. And I can see why people who get one as their first plane also love it, it's easy to use and produces excellent results. I also didn't notice any difference in sharpening difficulty compared to a 45° bevel down plane, if there is any it's negligible. Although I generally add a small camber to my blades, I haven't yet to my bevel up and so far I have no need to.

The Quangsheng BU jack from Workshop Heaven is brilliant: https://www.workshopheaven.com/quangshe ... plane.html

 

[Silly_Billy]

Thanks El Barto - great to read a fellow beginner’s experience.

 

[DBT85]

For what it worth. My 600mm bits of ally to use as winding sticks arrived. Not bad for a tenner. Perfectly aligned and everything.

Now I ahead to put them on at 70ish degrees to the board, stand on one leg 53 feet away to use them, right?

How do I sharpen them?

 

[patrickjchase]

For what it worth. My 600mm bits of ally to use as winding sticks arrived. Not bad for a tenner. Perfectly aligned and everything.

But are they identical height?

 

[DBT85]

For what it worth. My 600mm bits of ally to use as winding sticks arrived. Not bad for a tenner. Perfectly aligned and everything.

But are they identical height?

Only when I stand them both up.