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Corky Long
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 12:04 pm 
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Koa
Koa

Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:23 am
Posts: 1372
First name: Corky
Last Name: Long
City: Mount Kisco
State: NY
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
truckjohn wrote:
One thing you will learn is that (Unfortunately...) there's a whole lot more to getting a good joint than just flattening the sole and sharpening the iron....

I found that how I hold the plane in my hands and how I clamp the wood can determine whether I end up with a joint that is true, concave, or convex.... Setup of the plane is critical as well.... Those final cuts must be done with a crazy razor sharp edge and must take off just the merest whisp of wood...

Personally, I would start out with whatever plane you currently own... Practice practice practice practice practice practice... and practice some more.... At first, you will be chasing the joint and it won't make any sense.... Then, as you practice more - you will notice... Gosh, if I hold here and plane like this - it takes off more wood in the Center.... and if I hold like this and plane like this... it takes off more wood on the ends.... and if I carefully shift my grip just so - it comes out more even all the way across....

Resaw some 2x4's into 3 1/2" wide x 1/4" thick x 22" long slices and joint up and glue all the slices into "Tops".... A $3.00 2x4 will give you hours of cheap practice before you put the blade to a $40.00 top set....

Thanks



GREAT ADVICE!!

In terms of "holding the plane differently" I had a breakthrough when I thought about the nose and tail of the plane like an airplane. If you put a bit more pressure on the tail at the end of the pass you can correct for a convex (high in the middle) joint, and the opposite - gently rotate the pressure towards the nose of the plane to correct for a concave (gap in the middle) joint.

Oh, and +2 on the sharpness of the blade. If you're taking curls off, no matter how fine, it's too coarse of a cut (and the plane's probably not sharp enough). At the final stages you really need to take the finest wisp of a cut - translucent, and it ripples, it's so fine. I find that when it's that sharp and fine, I can literally "spot - level" - if there's a high spot, I can plane it on that spot alone, to make the joint tighter.
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Howard Klepper
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:21 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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Posts: 2692
In olden times, such as the 1960's (from what I hear) the first exercise in a beginner's metal shop class was often to take a chunk of steel and a file and a vise and turn the chunk into a cube. Well-squared metal objects existed before machine shop surface grinders.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.
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ernie
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:42 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:08 pm
Posts: 2712
First name: ernest
Last Name: kleinman
City: lee's summit
State: mo
Zip/Postal Code: 64081
Country: usa
Focus: Build
Status: Professional
I have successfully used a homemade 18 in or try plane made of walnut with a rosewood sole and a very tight mouth 1/32, in for 32 years , it has a german ECE blade , or you can substitute hock, LN or LV or even a good 2 in yard sale blade. Bodies can be made from various local woods. Even though I own 2 metal #7 planes a,#6 an 2 24 in german ece primus planes I find the 18 in light plane very sensitive and extremely effective in getting a nice tight joint. If the boards are not straight I will true them up on the belt sander first or a 14 in stanley jack plane with a hock blade. Making your own planes , (if you have the time) is a great way to increase your skill, and learn what it takes to make a good tight joint . Good luck
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MacD
PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 4:02 pm 
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Mahogany
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Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:12 pm
Posts: 45
Location: Yorkshire, UK
First name: Brian
Last Name: MacDougall
I used a Record 5 1/2 for pretty much everything (other than small stuff) for years, but wondered if I was missing something so bought 4 1/2 and a 6. Now I use the Record 5 1/2 for pretty much everything (other than small stuff), and occasionally use the blades from the 4 1/2 and the 6 in the 5 1/2. The 4 1/2 has a Veritas scraping plane insert in it now...

Bri
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