Sole flattening - Paul Sellers

[Jacob]

I do the same but with a cambered bade. If Chris's edge is dead straight I guess he is simply putting more pressure on one side (effectively tilting the plane a touch) at the start and than transferring it to the other side towards the end.

 

[Jacob]

Hi

Watching the video it is interesting that Paul doesn't actually test whether the sole is in fact flat after his treatment, he just tells us it is.....

I guess he just assumes that it is flatter but then in using it may decide it's still not flat enough and give it another go.
That's more or less what I tend to do with many of these processes - flatten/hone/set a bit,then see how it goes.

 

[Mr T]

Hi

Rob said:

Same here...my blades are always honed flat (difficult to do anything else with a Kell guide) I've never had any sort of problem in planing an edge and do it in the same way as it Chris's clip...'cept I don't put the plane sole down on the bench - Rob

I've never bothered about that. Mainly because I think that at least if the plane is flat on the bench then the blade is protected from damage from other tools placed near it. I'm a bit of a slob and don't have the well ordered bench I'm sure you have Rob .

Sgian Dubh, I don't round over the edges far enough to have an effect. I would agree with Jacob that it's a matter of weight distribution.

Chris

 

[woodbloke]

I've never bothered about that. Mainly because I think that at least if the plane is flat on the bench then the blade is protected from damage from other tools placed near it. I'm a bit of a slob and don't have the well ordered bench I'm sure you have Rob .

Chris

Meant in jest Chris, and no offence whatsoever intended. My bench gets really cluttered at times which irritates the hell out of me, but I keep a pot of pencils in the bench well with long strips of wood (offcuts) in it...I put the planes down on these. I also have the 'Tool Wall' directly behind it so that when a particular section of the job's been done, the tools get replaced on the wall...just heaps me to keep the place tidy.
Interestingly, I've just done a piece for F&C where some of the issues touched on in this thread have been included...planing a long edge is one - Rob

 

[David C]

I have never suggested that squaring an edge cannot be done with a straight blade, as I know plenty of you do this.

It would be useful to know how, as I could then explain it to others.

David

 

[Jacob]

I have never suggested that squaring an edge cannot be done with a straight blade, as I know plenty of you do this.

It would be useful to know how, as I could then explain it to others.

David

By distributing the pressure, as discussed above. Try it and see for yourself.

 

[David C]

Right, I have been experimenting, without sucess. The plane sole has two possible positions, on the wood or tilted and balanced on an edge which is unstable and unusable.

When the plane is on the wood it takes an even shaving, despite being moved from side to side.

If it is moved over far enough, until one side of the edge is not being cut, a correcting shaving can be taken, but this has nothing to do with distribution of pressure.

Perplexed.

David

 

[Jacob]

........The plane sole has two possible positions, on the wood or tilted and balanced on an edge which is unstable and unusable........

It has to sit flat on the wood so there is only one position, but you can vary your hand pressure to bring more weight to bear on one side, and then the other.
Perhaps you are being too analytical and just need to do it! Like riding a bike - most of us can, but very many haven't the faintest idea how it stays up. Luckily one does not really need to know!

 

[David C]

Well, I've been doing it again, with very little sucess.

David

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Well, I've been doing it again, with very little sucess.

David

Maybe your plane sole is too flat?

***dives under bench***

 

[Jacob]

Well, I've been doing it again, with very little sucess.

David

OK try this then. Ignore MrT's video - do a straight cut down the board with the middle of the plane in the normal way, except try to round it over with more pressure at the heel at the start, moving to pressure at the nose at the finish. Then repeat this but along the diagonal line joining the high points at each end of the board.
Can't get into the workshop or I'd try it out myself, I'm sure it would work!

 

[bugbear]

Well, I've been doing it again, with very little sucess.

David

OK try this then. Ignore MrT's video - do a straight cut down the board with the middle of the plane in the normal way, except try to round it over with more pressure at the heel at the start, moving to pressure at the nose at the finish. Then repeat this but along the diagonal line joining the high points at each end of the board.
Can't get into the workshop or I'd try it out myself, I'm sure it would work!

But you don't have any straight blades to try with; all yours are cambered, so they'll OBVIOUSLY cut tapered shavings, in the way described so well by Mr C.

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

..
But you don't have any straight blades to try with; all yours are cambered, ....

No they aren't.

Another way to visualise the prob is to pencil in square across at each end - then join these up along the length with a straightedge.
Then work down to the lines.
If you want to see exactly how you are getting on you could pencil over the whole of the waste above the lines with a fat soft pencil.You can buy pencil lead in a block, which makes this easier. Then every stroke of the plane will show itself clearly.
If you do it properly you should be taking off the high points first and effectively contouring down to the low points - which roughly coincide with the valley joining the low corners.

 

[bugbear]

..
But you don't have any straight blades to try with; all yours are cambered, ....

No they aren't.

In fact I think people who plane with straight edges will probably find that if they look closely they are not as straight as they thought and they have been using a cambered blade all along - straight edges are difficult to achieve, but luckily they are also pointless!

So how many "pointless" blades do you have?

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

..
But you don't have any straight blades to try with; all yours are cambered, ....

No they aren't.

In fact I think people who plane with straight edges will probably find that if they look closely they are not as straight as they thought and they have been using a cambered blade all along - straight edges are difficult to achieve, but luckily they are also pointless!

So how many "pointless" blades do you have?

BugBear

Yawn.
He's following me about again! He never gives up does he? :roll:

 

[bugbear]

Yawn.
He's following me about again! He never gives up does he? :roll:

Caught self-contradicting AGAIN Jacob? It's almost as if you'll post anything counter to the current tenor of a thread just to be argumentative.

Surely not...

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

I can (and will) contradict myself as often as I like.
I'm flattered that you follow everything I say so carefully, I'm sure it doesn't deserve it!
NB would you mind putting dates and references on any old quotes of mine so that I can remind myself of the context?

 

[Jacob]

..
But you don't have any straight blades to try with; all yours are cambered, ....

No they aren't.

Another way to visualise the prob is to pencil in square across at each end - then join these up along the length with a straightedge.
Then work down to the lines.
If you want to see exactly how you are getting on you could pencil over the whole of the waste above the lines with a fat soft pencil.You can buy pencil lead in a block, which makes this easier. Then every stroke of the plane will show itself clearly.
If you do it properly you should be taking off the high points first and effectively contouring down to the low points - which roughly coincide with the valley joining the low corners.

Apologies for replying my own post but some other things occurred to me:
it was Angela (late of this parish) who described woodwork as being mainly about controlled removal of waste.
Once you've identified the waste as above, by pencilling all over it down to the lines, it becomes easier to deal with. You aren't relying on mysterious properties of the plane or hard won skill to do the job. All you have to do is remove the waste before your eyes.
Anything will do it, penknife, axe, adze, file, rasp, chisel, etc but some things will do it easier than others, in this case a plane.
With it all marked up you can see what to attack, and you can see step by step the results.
Does this make sense? What I'm trying to say is that it isn't dependent on high level skills, like driving a golf ball, it's a lot simpler.
But if you believe it's semi mystical or all about precision engineering you will find it a lot harder.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Jacob

You haven't explained how to make a tapered shaving with a straight blade.

I remember when I first started woodworking trying to joint two edges with a straight blade and it took me ages, and they came out badly, so if you could explain again as none of you previous explanations have made sense to me.


I now use a cambered blade.

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Hi, Jacob

You haven't explained how to make a tapered shaving with a straight blade.

I remember when I first started woodworking trying to joint two edges with a straight blade and it took me ages, and they came out badly, so if you could explain again as none of you previous explanations have made sense to me.


I now use a cambered blade.

Pete

Varying pressure.