The merry crunch of shavings - a pointless post

[Alf]

Well for the first time in what seems like months, I actually did a little working of wood to make something. Nothing special, you understand, just a Rob Cosmanesque dovetail marking wotsit, but it was satisfactory doing it. Especially when I stepped back for a breather and heard that crunch of shavings beneath my feet. Yes friends, a crunch. None of your namby pamby whispy "I'll merely pass this smoother across this PT'd board, these are so light they stay suspended in the air" shavings, but down and dirty "making some wood fly" ones. The little ol' Record #043 grooving plane - darn, but I love that plane - did most of the work to remove the waste for the rebates (crispy, curled up shavings), the Marples M78 rebate did the hard work getting almost finished (flat, thick shavings) and the Record #073 shoulder cleaned up (concertina'd whispy-ish shavings). All finished off with a light sprinkling of end grain curls from the low angle smoother on the shooting board. Sigh. Lovely.

Of course, after such a lay off, I managed to make a Design Opportunity. :roll: Although you could argue it was simply that I was having too much fun whizzing down with my rip cut tenon saw... Still, the resultant, er, slot lends itself to a slip of veneer I think. A classic DO in fact :wink:

There you are, told you it was pointless. 'Fraid I felt the urge to share - heck, I may never reach 2000 posts otherwise... :lol:

Cheers, Alf

Enjoying the neander life, deep in shavings somewhere in Cornwall.

 

[Chris Knight]

OK, enough of that. Where are the pix?

 

[Gary H]

Ditto... :wink:

Ta muchly

Gary

 

[Anonymous]

About time too! :wink: :lol:

Sounds very good but what on earth is a 'Rob Cosmanesque dovetail marking wotsit', Alf??

Cheers Tony

 

[Pete W]

A bit gloatish there Alf, in an understated sort of way . Actually, I'm just jealous.

Good to learn a little about the tools, too. In fact, could you (or somebody) point me to a resource that explains a bit more about the varied handplanes. I know there are lots of websites around, but I'm thinking of something that discusses the practical use of the planes, rather than the technical info directed more at collectors.

What I need is something that can answer the following kinds of questions:
a. What do I use to produce a quarter-inch rabbet on the edge of a board?
b. How about a three-quarter-inch dado/groove in the middle of a board?

There seem to be an awful lot of planes for comparatively few kinds of woodworking tasks?!?

 

[Alf]

I must admit, in the excitement of making shavings, I forgot about pics. But for you, I rushed down to the workshop; result - a posed, staged and generally fake one :wink: :

And a more honest shavings on the floor one:

Tony, it's a marking doo-flicker such as can be seen to the right of the three in the first pic. It allows you to mark the angle and square across the ends in one easy movement. This is a bit of an experimental one for me, not sure of useful dimensions and so forth, hence it's in poplar ('cos it was a handy piece).

Pete, I wish there was such a site. The trouble is many planes can do many tasks, but each will only do maybe one or two really well. When time is money and all you had were hand tools, it paid to have exactly the right tool for the task. In the meantime:
1. A rebate plane - something like the red Marples in the picture, the Stanley #78 being the most commonly found.
2. A dado plane - wooden, 'cos the metal ones are pricey. More practically a light or full combination plane such as a #50/050, #45/405, #46 (ideal 'cos of the skew blade) or even a #55 if you're a masochist.
Or you can do both with saw and chisel...
Oh, and you're quite right, it was entirely gloatish. I think any time spent having fun has to be a gloat really.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Midnight]

Yes friends, a crunch

shavings...?
ya call that wee suppy.... shavings.....???

sheesh... anythin less than shin deep is just a sprinkling... hardly worth ticklin the blade for....
;P~

'bout bloody time too

 

[Chris Knight]

Alf,

A good first step - now we want to see the dovetails you cut with the aid of your marking wotsits!

PS. Puzzled why you used a 43 at all when you had the 78 to hand?

 

[Pete W]

Thanks for the additional info, Alf. At least there's two more I can keep an eye out for...

 

[Alf]

shavings...?
ya call that wee suppy.... shavings.....???

sheesh... anythin less than shin deep is just a sprinkling... hardly worth ticklin the blade for....

Well the original piece was only about 8" long to be fair, and the majority of the waste was removed in a chunk. :roll: You're right though, a poor showing. Still, I never said it was a loud crunch. :wink:

A good first step - now we want to see the dovetails you cut with the aid of your marking wotsits!

Yeah, I was afraid of that...

PS. Puzzled why you used a 43 at all when you had the 78 to hand?

Well I used it to plough narrow grooves at right angles to each other to cut out the majority of the waste in a chunk, which came in handy later to support the T-shaped piece while I cut and shot the angles. Really the #043 doesn't cut deep enough, hence the need for the tenon saw too, (if it did, I could actually have dispensed with the #78 ) but a #50 or #405 is too darn long for the short length of wood I was using. Trouble is the whole thing was so spur of the moment I probably didn't plan how I was going to tackle it in the best way (funny, that's never happened before... :roll: ).

Oh all right then, I confess. I just like using the #043, and I've got to justify this wide range of tools from which to choose somehow. :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[colinc]

Alf,

I too love my 043, everyone should have one. Mine was my first 'real' woodworking tool purchase, I was about 13-14 at the time. I saw it in a 2nd - Hand shop window and saved up my pocket money!!!

I guess I started younger than most, that was a the late 60's!!

Eeh, times were 'ard when I was a lad and tools hard to come by. Remember cigarette tokens - I think it was Players? I scrounged enough off my grandparents (smoked like chimneys) to get a small paramo vice and a Record 03 plane - still use it today.

 

[Adam]

Pointless post? You just wanted to show off your workbench, and your insulted floor mats. Show off. :wink:

Adam

 

[Alf]

Colin, you don't get forward-thinking lads like that these days, do you?

Adam, I wasn't showing off the mats but rather the enormous are of floor without a machine in it - I knew it'd get you jealous. :wink: :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Midnight]

You're right though, a poor showing. Still, I never said it was a loud crunch.

I ummm.... benefitted form yet another reminder today.... that progress, no matter HOW small should never be taken fro granted...

<not gettin into the details..

tasty lookin bench ya got there too Alf...
NOT that I'm jealous...
;P~~

 

[Aragorn]

You're right Mike - I noticed that too. Alf must be spending most of her workshop time testing those new and secondhand planes by re-finishing the surface of her workbench!

 

[Midnight]

Alf must be spending most of her workshop time testing those new and secondhand planes by re-finishing the surface of her workbench!

no dents, no dings, no scratches nor scribbles... it umm... COULD be a sheet of fancy photographic backdrop.... quick wash and iron.... looks good as new...

:wink:

 

[colinc]

I think I'm displaying the first symptoms of a bad habit!! I just paid £17 (£21 inc postage) for an 078 rebate plane off Ebay, having decided I needed one after struggling to clean some routed rebates up last weekend...... Did I do a bad thing?

 

[colinc]

Oh no, I did it again!! Another item on Ebay; I just bought a Stanley 050 and full set of cutters in what looks to be excellent condition for £41.

 

[Pete W]

Did I do a bad thing?

Not the first time, but I'd be a bit worried if you're going to do two an hour from now on! .

Actually, I'm sliding the same way myself - haven't actually succumbed yet, but I have spent an inordinate amount of time on eBay this week looking at old hand tools.

Sounds (to a novice like me) like you got a couple of bargains there.

 

[mudman]

It only takes one plane to get you hooked.

I started with an old Record #4 of my father's. Very soon, I was scanning eBay for all the numbers and very soon placing bids on #5s,
51/2s, a number 78, a nice side rebate, any #50s that came up and thinking i'd got a bargain when I won that rusty old spokeshave. You sit at your PC hitting refresh as the seconds tick down. Cursing the dialup connection and then feeling devastated when that other chap gets in with a bid 30s before the end!

Quit now before it's too late! :wink:

(I even found myself in Tescos last night comparing scourers to decide which would be best for removing the rust from the old 51/2 I got the other week :shock: )

Cheers,
Barry