GGs,


Thanks for all the advice on the optimal handplane for Galoots.  :)

What follows is a bit of "preaching to the choir".  Just trying to
shove someone down the slope...


To recap, the intent was to figure out, by process of elimination,
which handplane I could spare to give to a co-worker's wife.  As
things worked out, it ended up being a #4:  turned out I had three of
them -- two I'd received as a birthday or Christmas gift, and the
third was an eBay purchase.  Thus, the less sentimental one (the eBay
purchase) was the one I gave away.

She's a "backyard carpenter", building chicken coops, planter boxes,
simple storage shelves and the like.  But that's how I started as
well, so I can foresee her getting further into woodworking and doing
more "precise" projects (e.g. that involve dovetails or M&T joints).
I figured a #4 was a good "gateway drug" handplane.

They'd invited me over to their house for this afternoon.  I brought
two tool totes of misc. handtools (marking gauges, saddle squares,
marking knives, wooden mallets, etc.)  I didn't tell her immediately
that she was receiving the #4.

First I explained a little of "wood theory" -- the reasoning behind
rip versus crosscut teeth, and about handplaning **with** the grain.
Also explained some of the other tools (saddle square, marking
gauge...).  Noted that a lot of hand tool woodworking doesn't involve
measuring so much as "marking out" relative to the other workpieces.
Noted the importance of clearly marking the "waste" side of the line!

Had brought a scrap piece of wood that I'd rescued from the grass on
the side of the road -- a cruddy surface, but with no embedded rocks.
I had her use my scrub plane to remove the dull surface and expose the
"nice" wood beneath.  (Also showed her how to use handscrews and a
plank to improvise a workbench -- clamped the plank across their
wooden compost bin -- and how to use battens with clamps to hold the
workpiece in place while planing).  Then had her use the #4 to further
tidy another section of the "rescued" wood.

The #4 made a lovely "schick" sound with each pass.  She and her
husband marvelled at the thinness of the shavings. She also marvelled
at the resulting smoothness of the wood's surface.  I pointed out that
the surface also didn't need further sanding...

I pointed out that a person could get away with just a #4, for
scrubbing, jointing, and smoothing -- based on how far out the blade
was set.

Showed her a block plane, and explained to her various tricks for
planing endgrain without splitting (spraying with alcohol; bevelling
the edges; planing towards the middle; clamping a "sacrificial" piece
to the trailing side).  Discussed cutting angles of block planes vs.
the #4; explained pivoting the #4 to lower the cutting angle and using
it to plane endgain, in a pinch.

Mentioned handplanes are good for incrementally adjusting the width or
thickness of workpieces.  She mentioned a wooden window frame that had
been sticking:  she'd tried to sand it back to make it narrower, but
that she'd made little progress.

Then, had her disassemble the #4 (kept the frog in place -- but I
pointed out the adjustment screw, and mentioned the idea of adjusting
the mouth), and also remove the capiron.  Pointed out how mirror-like
the bevels of the cutting edge were.  Produced a "practice" plane
iron, and showed her how to load it into the honing jig, using the
wooden "depth block" jig like Chris Schwarz uses.  Showed her my
"scary sharp" tiles and had her sharpen on the coarsest grit, to get
the idea.  Showed her my "ex- laundry stain remover" squirt bottle of
water (for sharpening).

Pointed out that most of the "magic" resides in having a **sharp**
cutting edge:  when it gets dull, a lot of the magic is lost --
although you can still muddle through, especially with well-behaved
wood.

Finally, explained to her the importance of not dinging the cutting
edge of the iron with the chipbreaker when re-assembling, and also not
dinging the edges with the mouth of the plane when re-inserting the
#4.  Had her re-assemble the #4.

Finally, told her that the #4 was hers.  She seemed appreciative:  good.  :)


She said she plans to set up her "sharpening" infrastructure in the
next few weeks.  Also good.


She doesn't own any chisels.  That might be for the next visit.  I
have extras.  :)

(A good sign for latent galotoicity:  she mentioned that she prefers
wooden, patinated tool handles to plastic or metal handles.)


So, a useful (evangelical?) afternoon.  :)


--Travis (Brisbane, AU)