So annoyed with myself :(

[Ransoman]

I make no secrets that I am very much new to woodworking and therefor have little to no experience.

I have always believed that you should buy the best tools you can afford as they perform better, last longer and hold value. With that I snapped up the chance to get a much discounted Veritas block plane and Plough plane from Dieter schmidt a few months back.

I very much like both tools, they feel excellently crafted and of very high quality. I bough both with the plan of making a lot of drawers for some custom furniture at home.

Initial testing with the plough plane went well and I am very happy with how easy it is to use. I just need to work on my hand position a bit so that I am putting the correct pressure on the guide rather than the handle.

I went to use the Block plane to trim some end grain on a wall stud just to shave off 1mm so that it would fit and this is when my mistake happened. The stud was clean and cut on one end only. The end that I was going to trim was the unsawn end so it had the barcode staple still in. I extracted this completely, had a good look at the end, decided it was clean and made my first ever swipe with the block plane..... Turns out there was a tiny bit of glass/grit, completely invisible to me in amongst the fibres that I just couldn't see and I now have a nice deep scratch on the beautifully polished sole, mouth plate and a nik in the blade.

I have managed to repair the blade by re-sharpening on some wet and dry paper but my honing guide didn't seem to work properly with the tapered plane iron so it wasn't perfect but at least I have rid of the nik so it cuts cleanly again. But I still have the scratch.

They day went downhill from there, I broke the handle of a trigger clamp then accidently hammered my chisel into a hidden screw and wrecked the edge. Fortunately it was just a B&Q cheapy.

Lesson learned, be more carefull and only trim cleanly cut edges. Also, watch out for grit

 

[custard]

Rights of passage mate. Everyone does it and as long as you've taken lessons away then no real harm done. Good for you for sticking with it though, whether people are getting drippier as time goes on I don't know, but there seems to be plenty of beginning woodworkers these days that just throw in the towel at the first hurdle, so you deserve a round of applause for resolve and determination!

=D>

 

[n0legs]

Sounds like you've got yourself some nice tools there.
War wounds and a few scars appear on the very best of them. Good in my opinion, shows they're getting the use they were designed for and not owned just for bragging rights.
It is a shame though when it happens like that, but hey ho! Windsor Davies Moment. As Custard says you deserve a round of applause for sticking with it, here's mine =D>

 

[Vann]

It feels bad when a nice new tool gets damaged. But all tools get battle scars sooner or later - and yours just got one sooner. No lasting harm done (it just won't look as nice), but tools are made for using, not looking at.

Carry on.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Zeddedhed]

I'm re-furbing a bar at the moment and just dragged my freshly sharpened and beautifully honed and polished German Ulmia smoother over a lump of Oak only to ding it on not one, not two, but three buried bits of metal. Blade now looks like a rip saw #-o

I s'pose I could use it as a toothing plane - it also now sports a corrugated sole!!

 

[bridger]

Like the first parking lot ding in a new truck... now you can stop treating it like something precious and put it to work.

 

[deema]

You can always by looking in persons tool chest work out which are their most used favored tools......their the ones that have the most battle scars or as the dealers call it patina!

 

[woodchip]

I feel your pain. I put two new blades on my double headed mitre saw at £200 and the first thing I cut was my 1m metal rule! Many new teeth required.

 

[Ransoman]

Thanks everyone, you have made me feel a lot better.

I put the plane to use to make some wooden shims to fill some spaces around a window so was pleased to see that It was still usable and my first attempt at sharpening the blade was successfull.

 

[mouppe]

I wouldn't worry about it but if it continues to nag, then you can polish it out on some 100 grit paper. You'll find that after a while the sole gets a little marked from the wood anyway.

Don't forget to oil the sole after using it.