Shooting board plane

[transatlantic]

Do you keep a specific plane for your shooting board? One that you perhaps keep sharper than you would a smoothing plane?

I'm finding that I don't seem to get the (effortless) curly shavings I see other people get. I never seem to get a full end grain shaving (redwood pine), it's fluffly bits like you get with a scraper, and it's a lot of work!

I'm sharpening using 1000/4000 grit water stones which is perhaps not sharp enough?

I do have a strop which I use on my chisels that I manage to get sharp enough to easily cut arm hair, but not yet tried it on my plane blade.

Oh and it's a low angle jack plane (25 deg blade).

 

[Ttrees]

I have a no.5 1/2 plane that lives on the shooting board.
You say sharp enough to easily cut arm hair,
Can you feel any hairs catching, or do you have to take a few strokes to shave a patch, while your doing this test?
Apart from the sharpness, perhaps the heel of the bevel could be making contact , and needs regrinding?

Edit: I only seen you are using a low angle plane
Have you got any other planes to try out?
Tom

 

[woodbloke66]

Some years ago I bought the LN51 which is specifically designed for a shooting board (and it doesn't need a dedicated track to work). It's expensive and the Veritas version is a lot cheaper; both are superb though for use on a shooting board. For sharpening I use the 3M films from Workshop Heaven and finally finish with a couple of licks across a strop - Rob

 

[thetyreman]

stropping it should solve the problem, it sounds like the blade is not sharp enough.

 

[Orraloon]

I was using a 5 &1/2 and getting reasonable results. Sharpening with my old 2 sided oil stone I bought about 1975. Quick strop after the stone. Only hastle with the 5&1/2 is it's not real comfortable to hold on its side for any length of time. I would love a real shooting plane but they are a bit expensive so I had to make one. Weight being an important factor I went big. I also had an old 2 1/2'' blade gathering dust. Bevel down at 37* pitch. It also gets sharpened on the oil stone at 25* as 30* would be not leaving much relief after the edge.
Regards
John

 

[MikeG.]

One little quirk to look out for in a plane used on a shooting board is the lateral adjuster. One of my planes has a lateral adjuster that is readily knocked out of position, and with the blade making contact only on one side on the shooting board, it has a habit of creeping out of place. As the blade hits the wood (on one side only), it gently nudges the adjuster over. This means the edge you are trying to square up is being hit by a blade which is in a slightly different position every stroke, which is obviously no use to anyone.

Along with the necessity of having a square edge to the blade (rather than cambered), it does reduce my choice of planes for use with the shooting board.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I was taught at about 13 to first check the edge of the piece being worked for squareness, and to check it again if I ever took the iron out to hone. Too much importance is put upon the side of the plane being dead square - it can be compensated for if it's not square, its not going to be so far out as to make that impossible.

 

[lurker]

If Pete Maddex reads this he might put up a photo of a jig/gismo/attachment he made for Temporary converting a number 5 with a side handle.
I made one and it work well.

 

[Racers]

Here it is.
DSC_3112_zpsxhd9vevx by pete maddex, on Flickr

DSC_3115_zps1jnl1zr5 by pete maddex, on Flickr

DSC_3116_zps5vcc0xmd by pete maddex, on Flickr

DSC_3117_zps8umhmql2 by pete maddex, on Flickr

Lovely and comfortable, much better than using a glove.

Pete

 

[ED65]

I've shot board ends with a low-angle block plane in the past, back when I needed the advantage the lower presentation angle provided. But over the last few years I've mostly done it with a specific no. 4 which is heavier than typical for a 4.

I'd prefer to use a no. 5 for the job, for the extra mass, so a proper shooting board large enough to accommodate a 5 is on my shortlist of things to build once I sort out storage issues.

I'm sharpening using 1000/4000 grit water stones which is perhaps not sharp enough?

Sharpness isn't a function of the stone(s) you use, in the sense that you can poorly hone an edge on anything. Good edges are mostly about technique, hence why a Norton combo stone can be the only stone someone uses while having no sharpness issues. And this is with the "smooth" side of a Norton being like a mountain range compared to a 4000# waterstone!

So [trying desperately not to ignite a sharpening debate] are you minding your burr and being sure to hone away the entire of the wear bevel?

I do have a strop which I use on my chisels that I manage to get sharp enough to easily cut arm hair, but not yet tried it on my plane blade.

Duuude! It's like 10-20 seconds to strop an edge.

That said though, if you apply your steel to that stone properly you probably don't need to strop. Lots and lots of waterstone users don't strop.

 

[transatlantic]

I've shot board ends with a low-angle block plane in the past, back when I needed the advantage the lower presentation angle provided. But over the last few years I've mostly done it with a specific no. 4 which is heavier than typical for a 4.

I'd prefer to use a no. 5 for the job, for the extra mass, so a proper shooting board large enough to accommodate a 5 is on my shortlist of things to build once I sort out storage issues.

I'm sharpening using 1000/4000 grit water stones which is perhaps not sharp enough?

Sharpness isn't a function of the stone(s) you use, in the sense that you can poorly hone an edge on anything. Good edges are mostly about technique, hence why a Norton combo stone can be the only stone someone uses while having no sharpness issues. And this is with the "smooth" side of a Norton being like a mountain range compared to a 4000# waterstone!

So [trying desperately not to ignite a sharpening debate] are you minding your burr and being sure to hone away the entire of the wear bevel?

I do have a strop which I use on my chisels that I manage to get sharp enough to easily cut arm hair, but not yet tried it on my plane blade.

Duuude! It's like 10-20 seconds to strop an edge.

That said though, if you apply your steel to that stone properly you probably don't need to strop. Lots and lots of waterstone users don't strop.

haha! I wasn't not stropping out of lazyness! ... just wasn't sure if I should do it