To plane? or to buy?

[lurker]

Craig,

How far away is Bristol from your gaff?
There is a fabled SH shop there who would sell you what you need, a tad pricier than what we are suggesting but less hit and miss
might be worth a trundle down the M4

Hopefully someone can furnish you with the details

 

[craigs]

I think its about 1.5 - 2 hours, i do enjoy a trundle though. lets see if the details materialise and i might make the trip

Thanks for the info

 

[lurker]

Here yer go
Fill your boots

http://www.bristol-design.co.uk/

 

[craigs]

Thanks Lurker, ill check it out

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

to fully show my inner heathen, I was watching paul form a groove in some pine last night, took about 20 minutes with at least 2 sharpenings of the chisel which he then finished with a hand router.....my thoughts were, you could have done that in 3 minutes with a powered router :S

Yes and no. Cutting with a machine is definitely quick, but, setting up the cut can be a a slow process. Using the above example you would need to set up a fence which you would need somehow clamp on to the work, then you find the material is 18.2mm and you have a 19mm cutter and a 12.7mm cutter, so now you have to cut a strip of wood 5.5mm to lay on your fence that you've clamped to the work to widen the cut to 18.2mm, where are those damn ear defenders, first cut done, whoops the fence is on the wrong side so the second cut will be a climb cut, move the fence to the other side and try to line the cutter up in the housing making sure you spin the cutter by hand to check it really is where it should be, one mistake and the works ruined etc. What you need is a jig to make adjustable housings and grooves, start cutting up ply to make a jig like one you saw on you tube, won't take long, 4 hours later you use the jig but it's not quite right, need to remake it tomorrow. Meanwhile Paul Sellers is gluing up his finished work piece.

Don't get me wrong I am not a hand tools only woodworker and have a full compliment of machines, but the time spent learning to saw to a line and plane a square edge is well worth it. A few of the guys on this forum have the old guild craft price books which say how long it took craftsmen to make pieces with no machines, to be honest it is a bit scary, they were loads faster than I am with all my modern machines. I haven't seen Paul Sellers working at full speed but remember that he is going slow and steady for the benefit of the viewer.

 

[craigs]

i fully agree on learning hand skills, im just saying theres a place for both disciplines. there are some situations where a powered tool would be far quicker than the hand equivelent, of course it also depends on the tool and accessories you own, after all they can make things much easier to achieve.