Not quite plane sailing...

[Tasky]

I just had a week off work, specifically to have a crack at building myself a proper workbench. As a woodworking newb, I figured I really ought to start with something solid to work wood on.
Got a load of wood in, made up a pair of sawhorses, prepped the boards, got gluing up and then went on to planing the bench boards flat... It hasn't been easy, as the sawhorses were made on a ricketty old workmate (Worx brand) that racked and rattled like a Jenga tower in an earthquake. The garage floor isn't exactly level either, consequently the sawhorses are restricted on how they can be placed to stop them from being rockinghorses!
However, they're solid enough to support a couple-hundred kilos of wood, plus me, the wife and three dogs all sat on top , and they don't wobble when placed on a proper flat surface. Hell, they even stack atop each other.

But aside from a few idiotic 'learning experiences' regarding glue-ups and PVA drying times, the biggest challenge so far has been planing...



Firstly - How the *heck* is your hand supposed to fit the tote handle? Were these things not made for people with big hands?
After trying various approaches, I ended up with index finger resting on the side of the frog and little finger curled around the handle base just in front of the screw, but still my hand was awfully squished up.
20 hours later, my little finger is still numb and tingly, and my middle finger knuckle has a numb callous from rubbing against the depth adjustment wheel...

Am I doing something wrong? This can't be normal?


Also, how much force is needed to properly plane a bit of wood?
With even the lighter settings, it seemed I had to put a fair bit of bodyweight behind this thing...
Granted, I was planing long boards low down on a sawhorse rather than at proper bench height and I was either sat straddling the boards (the insides of my legs are killing me from those sharp edges) or sash-clamped them to the sawhorses, but still I expected a lot less force to be required. Most of the time I've watched people planing, it looks almost effortless, especially when they're doing it one-handed. I guess woodworking for 50 years means you make it look easy?

It got to the point where I thought my plane itself (No 4½) was up the duff. I resharpened several times, with edges ranging between 29.9º and 30.3º, as well as trying the cap iron in steps from 2mm down to three quarters of a thirty-second of an inch from the edge... with no change. I checked the frog was flush with the back edge of the mouth, oiled the working parts with a few drops of 3-in-1, made sure the sole was flat, fiddled with the lever cap screw... couldn't get it shaving well at all. After taking up the slack, I would turn the wheel maybe an 8th to a 16th of a turn each time, but found it was always too little or too much. No happy mediums. I was this ][ far from throwing the plane across the room...

In the end, I actually went out and bought two more (a No 4 and a No 5) from the local antiques shop. Obviously I tried each one 'straight from the shop', to see how they'd been set up by the previous users and how they performed... Both shaved well, but still needed some force to push. Eventually brute force and 'throwing' the plane sideways (a Paul Sellers trick) got me working well enough and taught me a few bits about planes, but I still wonder if I'm missing a few tricks...?

After seeing how the other two were set up (cap iron about 1.5mm from the edge), I fiddled with the 4½ some more and somehow got it working well enough that I planed 32 feet of 15" wide worktop with just that one plane, even taking it mostly out of twist... But I haven't a clue what I was doing wrong or how I fixed it.

The only thing still bugging me at this point is that none of these planes take a full width shaving, unless I go for a really deep cut... but then I practically have to boot the plane along the wood, which I know is a sign that something is wrong. My boards so far are OK, but there's a lot of raised grain in the texture (aside from the occasional bit of tearout) and setting for shallower cuts just results in fluffy whisps of shaving. I can't seem to find anything that gives me that silky smooth finish I've been expecting.


What hints and tips might people have, or am I just missing something blindingly obvious, here?
I'm obviously not expecting gossamer-thin half-thou shavings that certain people use to sell planes, but I thought I should be doing better than this...

 

[D_W]

Three fingers in the plane handle. If it's still too constricted, you can allow your pinky finger out, too. light grip on the rear handle is best - you're pushing the plane, and giving it general direction and keeping it in the cut. As soon as you start putting pressure on the handle, you'll get fatigued or have sore fingers (or rubbed pinky fingers).

If you're planing in a straight line, find something that you can brace the wood or sawhorses against (attaching a post to a wall is always a decent idea for a lightweight bench if the space allows - like a backwards tow bar).

I think it probably took me 30 hours or a little more to put my bench together and I did most of the bulk work with power tools, and even then, as little possible to get by.

If you could do much hand planing of the bulk work and get done in a week, it would be an awfully good week.

Planing more than just fine smoothing is a physical activity. It should feel like the same amount of exertion as pushing a lawn mower up a slight grade (far different muscles), or kind of the 70% of max type of exercise (meaning, if you can just barely push a plane, back off a couple of notches and work at that rhythm).

While I love to dimension wood by hand, when you just want something that's fairly coarse (a workbench is a fairly coarse process - more like timberframing than fine furniture) a lunchbox planer is helpful. You can even the thickness of your timber relatively easily and then glue it together (ignoring minor twist or bow that might bother you in a more precise project). that thing that thickness planers are so good at (making timber even thickness, but not so great at getting rid of twist or bow) is more difficult with hand planes.

You really have two choices - one to put in the grunt work and learn a lot about planing, but probably not end up with as good of an outcome and fight a lot of frustration, or 2 - use a thickness planer. In my opinion, working something like american cherry or one of the nicer oak selections that you have in England is a more tenable goal for learning to hand plane. You'll get through a couple of hundred board feet in a few projects, but the wood will be nicer to plane and in better context.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've only ever seen a plane held like this.

 

[NickN]

Maybe you have done this and not mentioned it, but when setting up the plane after replacing the iron, did you try the method of placing a fairly narrow 10-15mm piece of board in a vice and trying each side of the plane individually on this, to get the lateral adjustment right?

I struggled for ages with getting full width shavings and it came down to not enough care getting that bit correct. I have since bought a digital plane blade depth gauge:

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... nds+dk7036

and have found this has made the job a lot easier and quicker, which encourages more frequent sharpening as it's less of a faff afterwards. All I do is measure at each side of the plane blade where it protrudes, and adjust until the reading is the same each side. Then all you have to worry about is depth.

Oh and 1.5mm cap iron from edge is about what I do - I say about as for that I don't use an exact science, just what looks ok to me.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hi - I can't help you with the hand size thing but Phil P's picture looks normal.

There's no getting away from it - it is physical work - which most of us are less used to than we were a generation or two ago.

Tips to reduce the "stiction" effect:
- a bit of candle wax on the sole makes a big difference;
- planing "downhill" relative to the grain wherever possible;
- slightly twisting (i.e. yawing) the plane so the cutter is skewed in the cut (as you've already picked up from Mr. Sellers);
- getting the camber right (not to deep - it sounds like your cutters might have quite pronounced camber);
- not trying to take deep cuts with too wide a blade (2" is enough - e.g. #4 or #5, not their wider sisters);
- not confusing rough work (where you just want to shift a high volume of material) from finishing work (where you want smooth tear-out-free, whispy shavings) - the set-up is obviously different.

Hope the above is of some help. Cheers, W2S

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Forgot to ask - what kind of timber is it?

 

[custard]

Also, how much force is needed to properly plane a bit of wood?
With even the lighter settings, it seemed I had to put a fair bit of bodyweight behind this thing... Most of the time I've watched people planing, it looks almost effortless, especially when they're doing it one-handed. I guess woodworking for 50 years means you make it look easy?

Put a squiggle of candle wax down the sole, you won't believe the difference it makes. There are slightly more sophisticated options, like an old sock tightly coiled into a can and doused with one of specialist liquid waxes for lubricating machine tables, but a candle delivers 90% of the benefit for 10% of the effort and expense.

This is all I mean by a squiggle, no need for anything artistic. And that'll do you for about 50 strokes or more.

 

[Tasky]

Three fingers in the plane handle. If it's still too constricted, you can allow your pinky finger out, too.

That's what I was doing. It's still a bit tight...

If you're planing in a straight line, find something that you can brace the wood or sawhorses against

They were OK once I'd sash-clamped them down, but still move a bit if I hit a knot or take too deep a shaving.

I think it probably took me 30 hours or a little more to put my bench together and I did most of the bulk work with power tools, and even then, as little possible to get by.

:lol:

Nah, I have only a bandsaw and a drill-driver. Everything else is wireless.

If you could do much hand planing of the bulk work and get done in a week, it would be an awfully good week.

It's been a knackering one, certainly...!
'Good' will depend on how this thing looks once I've finished. Gluing up aprons and wellboard at the minute...

kind of the 70% of max type of exercise (meaning, if you can just barely push a plane, back off a couple of notches and work at that rhythm).

It never looked that heavy in the YouTube videos...
I'm more used to mechanic stuff, with the lifting, twisting and arms-pulling type of work than the pushing side. I'm hoping it'll be a bit easier once I have a solid vice to hold stuff...

You really have two choices - one to put in the grunt work and learn a lot about planing, but probably not end up with as good of an outcome and fight a lot of frustration

Really just the one, then, as I'm limited by money, space and a wife waving an electric bill at me!!

I've only ever seen a plane held like this.

Yup, that's how I started.
I ended up moving my index finger to the frog, as I suspect I was actually moving the blade a bit by having it outside like that. I might ty and get a photo up tonight, if such technology does not defeat me...

did you try the method of placing a fairly narrow 10-15mm piece of board in a vice and trying each side of the plane individually on this, to get the lateral adjustment right?

Yes indeed.
Take up the slack, move the adjuster just a couple of mm toward the thicker side, rinse repeat. Didn't seem to make much difference.

it is physical work - which most of us are less used to than we were a generation or two ago.

I'm used to physical work, albeit usually carrying things.
I just didn't expect it to be this much, which made me think I was doing something wrong.

- getting the camber right (not to deep - it sounds like your cutters might have quite pronounced camber);

Not really - Sharpened square on to the best 30º I can manage, with slightly rounded corners - Standard issue Paul Sellers version. I've tried with and without a honing jig, too, just to be certain I'm square.

not trying to take deep cuts with too wide a blade (2" is enough - e.g. #4 or #5, not their wider sisters);

I seemed to have very wispy... then mostly wispy... then normal wispy... then THICK, whereupon the plane would really dig in and I'd often stop. It took quite a 'throw' to build up enough momentum to get a proper shaving, but it still felt more like taking a thin slice.
I'm seeking that middleground between... and it didn't seem to matter whether I was using the 2" or the and-a-½ plane.

- not confusing rough work (where you just want to shift a high volume of material) from finishing work (where you want smooth tear-out-free, whispy shavings) - the set-up is obviously different.

Not just a reduction in the depth and maybe slight closing of the throat?

Forgot to ask - what kind of timber is it?

Pine, I think. Smells like it... Might be Spruce... Basic CLS softwood type stuff... I was more interested in the affordability at the time, TBH.

There are slightly more sophisticated options, like an old sock tightly coiled into a can and doused with one of specialist liquid waxes for lubricating machine tables, but a candle delivers 90% of the benefit for 10% of the effort and expense.

The wife was throwing out some of her old clothes, so I nicked the cotton shirts and made a rolled-rag oiler can, with 3-in-1 liberally doused. Works rather well, from what I can tell.

This is all I mean by a squiggle, no need for anything artistic.

Nothing artistic...?
Does it work the same if you draw a pair of ****s?
What about a... no, I won't go that far!!

Nah, I do feel the difference when I use my rag-in-a-can thing.
I'm mostly just checking to see what stupid mistakes I've made and what needs correcting...

 

[Cheshirechappie]

First thing to say is - all credit to you for sticking with it, and having a bench to work on will be worth the effort!

I suspect that a lot of the problems arise from having to work at such a low height. On grip, you'll find that at bench height, your body position will put your forearm nearer horizontal, parallel with the bench top, and that will give a much more natural grip on the plane's rear handle. It'll also mean that you can 'get behind' the plane stroke, pushing more with your legs rather than your arms, making the whole exercise much less tiring. As it is (out of necessity) you're working far too low, which is hard on the back, and means that your arms have to provide all the planing power. Very knackering.

Full width shavings? Forget it, unless you have a plane with a very nearly straight-across ground iron set very shallow, and taking whispy, floaty shavings. With a cambered iron, set the plane such that you're taking off a decent depth of cut, but not necessarily all that wide. A jack plane will have a more pronounced camber, taking deep but fairly narrow shavings, and a try plane a less cambered iron taking wider but shallower cuts. Set the depth at what's comfortable to take off - twice as many shallower shavings is less tiring than half as many deep, wide ones. It varies a lot from timber to timber, too - less aggressive on beech than pine, for example. It's an aspect of the craft that's ripe for a bit of experimentation once the bench is up and functioning.

So, in summary, well done for getting this far, and stick with it to get the bench built. It'll be worth it, and planing will become less tiring once things are at a better height.

 

[D_W]

It's "craftsman's sense", as Warren Mickley often says to describe things that aren't easy to explain. If you keep planing, all of the things will come together.

I ditched long metal planes for wooden ones, because I hate to stop to wax all the time, and sometimes you forget and realize that you're sucking the life right out of your cardiovascular system leaning on a plane that's unwaxed - both of those are toxic to productivity, leaning on the plane and forgetting the wax.

But it's a ton of little things. Certainly, not having a rear end pucker thinking about the potential of tipping benches or flying boards will help you find your rhythm.

Things, to me, that make it faster (and despite being not that burly of a fellow, I can outplane most people):
* using the cap iron for everything after the jack, and once in a great while the jack. It evens out the force and takes the shock-factor out of the skipping, tearing cut. It's just smooth resistance exercise after that
* learning to sharpen quickly and realizing that there's very little that needs a multi step slow process
* increasing the shaving thickness to that 70-80% effort level that's similar to pushing a push mower
* doing your marking as part of the process...take a break for a minute or two every 20 or 30 minutes. if you're getting jello triceps, do something else for a bit. You can blow yourself out in a half hour, or you can plane for 3

The body soreness is an initial thing, but just like any other exercise, it'll disappear quickly within relatively few sessions.

As far as your grip, two things are important in a western plane grip.
* One- the web of your thumb and index finger needs to be nestled
* two, the handle needs to have the hump seated well in your palm mid push.
Your grip should be relatively loose on the push, and even on the pull back. Snug web of the thumb and forefinger on the push and hump on the palm is where the power comes from. it won't generate pain. If your pinkie is rubbing, skew the plane a little bit in the cut.

Hand dimensioning is a delight. If it gets to be too much, it's not, but had I had more time to make a bench (I just wanted the bench quickly), I would've hand dimensioned that, too, because it would've been another chance to learn subtlety (my bench is ash, it saws and planes differently than some other woods, and can be contrary - the machine planer and cheap tablesaw don't complain too much as long as you don't ask too much of them).

It's quite possible to make this dimensioning a regular exercise if you have enough projects to supply you. You can easily pick a target heart range and stay there if you pick your stock out and put it in que for yourself.

Japanese tip that I heard years ago is applicable. Pick a rhythm and try to work in rhythm smoothly. You'll get more done, even though it seems semi relaxed. A good rhythm is 10% slower than what feels fast, and in careful work, slow enough that you can see "done" developing and not overshoot it. I generally regard japanese suggestions as superstitious or hokey, but this one is a good one. The western notion of self torture, rush and self suffering to impress someone else is pretty dumb and doesn't get more work done, at least not well. It does sometime lead to doing things twice, which as a friend of mine likes to say "I always meet people who don't have enough time to do something right on the first go-round, but they always seem to have time to do it wrong, and then right."

 

[Ttrees]

Tasky
It sounds like your condensing a lot of scenarios together, so I will probably need clarification.
I believe you problem may have been because of the blade.
You describe to me what I remember starting off
I was using a flat blade at the time...
Could you have made a hollow instead of a camber or perfectly straight?

It sounds like your using a jig ... Could the iron be a bit skewed, thus throwing off things slightly?
On Stanley irons I have not found them to be parallel with the slot, just something to be aware of.


The no.5 1/2 for me, makes some of the problems you describe less annoying, but I was using a new to me,no. 5 today, and did not have any issues with it I must say.
Bigger handle
Full width shavings...well I have one no.51/2 for jack work, and one for smoothing full width shavings.
The extra width of these means the jack will take a wider shaving, you don't need one though,
as you can shape your camber for the job you foresee for the next while.
I just find the 5 to have a bit too much scoop, both length and width-wise
and the 51/2 to have a gentler camber which has less undulations.

If you need to skew the plane, its defiantly time for sharpening.
I can get good shavings easily with hardly any resistance on a jack, but taking off half the thickness that I probably would be doing to be productive.
With smoothing I agree with the lawnmower statement ...once again its when taking a productive cut that the resistance gets this noticeable.
No need to rush getting the max cutting depth from your plane, only to end up turning a high spot
into a low one, as you could do with some more planing "therapy" by the sounds of it

And a free temporary flat bench before you make another, will make life easier (hammer)

Sounds like your the other side of that hill now anyway
Good luck
Tom

 

[profchris]

I began using a Workmate, and planing was really hard work. Once I got a bench, planing was lots easier. I reckon the wobbliness of the Workmate absorbs at least 1/3 of the energy you put into each planing stroke, maybe more.

Sharpness of plane blade is also a factor. I'm not a very good sharpener, but when I get it right I can set a no 4 for a light shaving and push it one-handed with little effort. When I get it wrong, I've failed to remove the wire edge fully from the back of the blade and my one-handed effort grinds to a halt.

Planing direction is also important. On most pieces of wood, one direction is noticeably easier than the other. This is because of grain runout - if you imagine that the wood fibres run at a slight angle (vertically) to the surface you're planing, it's obvious that planing into the ends of those fibres is harder work than going the other way, just like stroking a cat or dog the wrong way. This might also explain why you go rapidly from a shallow to a too-deep shaving.

 

[Tasky]

First thing to say is - all credit to you for sticking with it, and having a bench to work on will be worth the effort!

Well I have naught but my arms and hands to power the tools, so very little choice, but I am taking this woodworking thing seriously... albeit relaxed.
That means I *need* the bench.

And yes, my back has been aching too, although that's partly from being bashed off the motorcycle when a Corsa hit me up the bum (it's always a Corsa!!).
But yeah, mostly as I suspected, just wanted others' input to be sure really.

Full width shavings? Forget it, unless you have a plane with a very nearly straight-across ground iron set very shallow, and taking whispy, floaty shavings.

My iron is pretty straight. It's just the very corners that are rounded. Sellers style.
I'm getting maybe 1" width shavings on average. Had a few that were closer to 2", but some that were barely ½". Anything shallower and it's bits of sawdust, with thin stringy shavings, more like what I get when I break a corner or chamfer it.

I'm sure I'll figure it out along the way. Just want to make sure I'm not doing anything drastically wrong, so far and keep the motivation up long enough to be working from a proper bench!

It's "craftsman's sense", as Warren Mickley often says to describe things that aren't easy to explain. If you keep planing, all of the things will come together.

To me, that 'sense' is marrying up the theory I have in my head, with what I'm feeling as I actually do what the theory says. It works best for me if I understand as much as possible about what's going on at the time, sort of like having a map (and preferably a nice Francis Barker prismatic compass) just as a reference while I go about finding my way - I don't mind developing feel, but I need to know what I should be feeling for, if that makes sense?

both of those are toxic to productivity, leaning on the plane and forgetting the wax.

The rag oiler seems to be working so far, although it wasn't as much cardio as I expected. Mainly muscular effort and skeletal stress.

The body soreness is an initial thing, but just like any other exercise, it'll disappear quickly within relatively few sessions.

Just making sure it was supposed to be there, mainly. I don't mind, so long as it's not a sign I'm doing summat wrong!

As promised, a pic showing how my hand fits the plane:

Oddly enough, when the 'pinkie crush' got too much, I put my whole hand on the outside-back of the plane, in a V-shape and pushed from there... which is how I understand wooden planes are sometimes held?
Maybe I should get some of those, after all....

It's quite possible to make this dimensioning a regular exercise if you have enough projects to supply you. You can easily pick a target heart range and stay there if you pick your stock out and put it in que for yourself.

Oh, I have enough for now and my To Do list is still growing... I may even take well to dimensioning once the bench is up. It's then just a case of how much wood I can afford.

Japanese tip that I heard years ago is applicable. Pick a rhythm and try to work in rhythm smoothly.

For now I'm working on the 'smoothly' part, so I can drop the rhythm in. Technique, technique, technique, perfect practice makes perfect, and all that....

The western notion of self torture, rush and self suffering to impress someone else is pretty dumb and doesn't get more work done, at least not well.

My client portfolio (which for the woodwork currently comprises just two mates, my wife and her dad) have always been instructed that things will be done when they're done and not before.... but I do need their requests for that initial motivation to get going on a project.

Could you have made a hollow instead of a camber or perfectly straight?

I checked that all three blades were sharpened perfectly in-square, both with the honing jig and when doing it by hand.
It's possible I suppose, but the jig was well-set and the angles measured to 0.1º accuracy and they were done on diamond stones...

It sounds like your using a jig ... Could the iron be a bit skewed, thus throwing off things slightly?

Well, the 4½ iron was slightly skewed when I got it a few months ago, although it planed just fine back then before I started dicking about with it... But I'd have had to sharpen it at some point anyway.

On Stanley irons I have not found them to be parallel with the slot, just something to be aware of.

Is that not corrected by adjusting the frog, or the lateral lever?

My 4½ does have the most tote space out of the three, I think, and so far has actually been the best to work with once I started finding my way. It just bugs me that I don't yet know exactly where I was going wrong in the start.... and that my 'rage' made me go out and spend half a month's salary on two planes I may not have needed just yet!! :lol:

With smoothing I agree with the lawnmower statement ...once again its when taking a productive cut that the resistance gets this noticeable.

Umm.... do you have another pushing analogy?
I gave my hover-mower away to someone with a flatter lawn, who had just bought their first starter home... but I'm sorry to say, I don't actually do my own gardening any more - A local retired chap does it for a few beer tokens and I'm a proud supporter of local village economy!!
besides, he has a whole fleet of mega-powered industrial mowers far better suited to 'quaint countryside' gardens... or as my wife likes to say, "Gardening? Oh, we have staff for that!!"

And a free temporary flat bench before you make another, will make life easier (hammer)

Fire door from a skip, by any chance? :lol:
That's one bet I've won...!

I reckon the wobbliness of the Workmate absorbs at least 1/3 of the energy you put into each planing stroke, maybe more.

Oh good God, no... I wouldn't *dream* of actually planing on that rickety piece of *****!!!!!
No, that was just to make the sawhorses on. As is, I busted the thing halfway through (wasn't even a proper Workmate™ anyway) and ended up sash-clamping them to a table leg while I finished the sawing!

Planing direction is also important. On most pieces of wood, one direction is noticeably easier than the other.

Unfortunately I placed the boards according to how well they fit for gluing up, so grain orientation was less of a consideration... not that it makes much difference as there are enough little knots to change the grain at various inconvenient points along the worktop, anyway.
I think you're right about hitting the grain, as well as possibly hitting sudden high spots, so it's just another thing to work on and find my way through.

I'm still optimistic, though.
If it works out well enough and the bench doesn't look a complete pile of cack, I'll see about posting a couple of pics for everyone's entertainment!!

 

[Ttrees]

That tote looks very small to me, as in there is quite some distance between it and the blade. but then again
even if it was taller. I'd still skin my knuckle off the adjuster wheel on a no.4

Comments about the non-parallelness and non square grinds were to make sure you are not skewing the frog.

Tom

 

[Tasky]

That tote looks very small to me, as in there is quite some distance between it and the blade.

I find just about every woodworking took I've bought so far seems smaller than it looked in the pictures... Dovetail saw, tiny. Tenon saw, very small. Mortice gauge, tiny. No 4½ plane, small (but surprisingly, heavier than the 5). Marking knife, very small. No 4 plane, absolutely teeeeeeeny!!

I do note that my 4½ looks to have had a new tote at some point. The wood feels lighter, less dense and quite new. Also slightly different feel to the shape compared to the 4 and 5 which definitely have their original totes.

Comments about the non-parallelness and non square grinds were to make sure you are not skewing the frog.

Ah right - In that case, nope. Definitely checked all my frogs and even adjusted the 4½ one slightly.

 

[D_W]

Front finger up alongside the iron or around it. You'll find another half inch or more of vertical room on that handle and no issue with space. Pinkie draped out is still an option if you need more, but watch for other things on your bench (guaranteed draped fingers will find items on benches mid stroke).

Once you get rhythm, you'll find the cardio part. Work becomes continuous, even flipping boards. If the shaving has to be slightly less to keep the rhythm, that's a good thing.

The other excellent thing about rhythm is that once you attain it, you don't have to think about the activity of planing, but rather observing what you're doing (how close are you to the mark, do you feel anything funny, etc). You can knock high spots off and then plane from left to right or end to end and do very uniform work.

Laziness will get you there. Yes on the technical stuff, you want to do it right. However, the craftsman's sense is all of the little things that you feel that would take forever to describe, but you do them without a full conscious thought because...well, laziness brings you to them, as well as risk aversion.

In the discussion that we had about planing the ends off of boards, I've gone to great lengths to describe the things that I do and how I set up planes. I really don't like talking about things in that detail. It doesn't benefit me, and it draws fire and ends up with people making statements like "you're lying, you can't plane a board without planing the ends off eventually".

When I make an infill plane (like shootenstein) and need to have a blank tapered one hundredth over 4 inches, and square to within two thousandths or less, I have no clue how to describe that to someone (esp. if you're planing rift or quartered purpleheart, which isn't that well behaved), but you come up with all kinds of little feel things that make the process reliable. I've never ruined an infill or wooden plane blank.

One last side comment - what you'll learn from dimensioning if you drive to do it efficiently and without undue risk, all of those little craftsman's subtleties. You sort of own that knowledge. It isn't something you need a bullet point list for - like riding a bike or walking. It just is, and that kind of thing is far more satisfying than rudimentary steps that you have to stop and make sure you're not skipping. Every bit of the hand sawing and rough planing will refine your brain and make you better at the fine work.

I like dimensioning so much that if I rush a project and use a planer and table saw now, I feel a little bit cheated.

 

[Tasky]

Front finger up alongside the iron or around it.

Would that not risk misaligning the iron?
That's the main reason I abandoned that attempt, although it wasn't much more spacious.

I really don't like talking about things in that detail. It doesn't benefit me, and it draws fire and ends up with people making statements like "you're lying, you can't plane a board without planing the ends off eventually".

Depends on what and how you're planing I assume...
But to be honest, any information is worthwhile... and while it may open things up for further questioning, challenging and mere checking of understanding, it's all good and it's up to other people to decide if it's of particular use to them, or not.

I have no clue how to describe that to someone

This is why God gave us pencils, paper and flatbed scanners!!
Also why Hurley, Chen and Karim gave us YouTube... well, that and Janet Jackson's ****s, supposedly.

So far, I seem to be doing okay-ish at planing. I daresay I'll get much better once I have something proper to work on and can focus on feeling for what I know to feel for, etc.

Onwards.... and also to filing a new saw, tonight!

 

[D_W]

Yes on the context (having something to make to a standard makes you much better, and makes the learning more instructive).

No on the adjustment. Your front finger is a dangler - it's just pointed straight out and not putting pressure on the plane. If the iron moves with finger pressure, the lever cap isn't tight enough. Almost all of the pressure that occurs planing is on the hump of the handle and perhaps some in the thumb web. Anything else is undesirable unless you're trying to do something very specific (like plane the left half of a 4/4 edge to square it - even then, that's more about positioning the plane and adjusting pressure a little - there's no tight-white fisted work and now hawk claw fatiguing finger action).

The most instructive thing to do planing (more than discussing excruciating detail) is to dedicate yourself to working through a couple of hundred board feet of wood on various projects. That will refine your idea about sharpening technique (anything that's slow will seem punishing), plane setup and the physical act of planing. In a good way.

 

[Tasky]

Well I'll have a good hundred of that done by the time I've finished this bench...

 

[DBT85]

First up Tasky, I have the same issue as you with my hands. I typically put my index on the blade and my pinky on the side of the sole. If I try and use it with my pinky curled under as well it just feels uncomfortable.

From my very limited experience of planing to do the exact same thing you're trying to do, this is what I found.

If you know the blade is protruding from the sole, and you know it's sharp, and you know the sole is flat, but you still don't take a shaving, then the problem might well be the wood. But its ok, as that problem is the problem you are trying to fix in the first place! With a shallow set it really won't take much bow/cup/twist in the wood for your sole to be resting on the high spots and the blade lifted clean off the surface. You struggle and struggle to understand why it wont shave what looks like flat wood, you give it more and more set, and then on the next go it takes out a huge great shaving. Once it has finally been set deep enough to catch and take that shaving (and especially when going against the grain) you blade will dig down, bend the sole a little (it doesn't take much) and will then just dig down deeper and take a huge shaving.

Once I'd worked that out I started trying to get going from those high spots in the first place which in my case was typically at the ends or the edges though obviously not always. It'll take small shavings at first and then with each pass that shaving gets longer and longer as that high spot comes down, until you're now taking a shaving along most of the board and in the process its also now flat.

Of course, had my wood been a bit flatter this might not have been such a struggle.

With laminated pieces, if your lamination left you with some 1mm+ differences between boards, the same thing happens even when trying to plane along the length. One side on the low board, one side on the high, no shavey shavey.