Richard W wrote:
> >.. checked it out on a #8.  Sure enough!  .. I got .004" with 10
> >lbs.)
Since that was either my sentence quoted, or matched my results, I wanta reply.
 
> Q1)        Can I take it that, when using a No 8, I can bend it by 3 - 4
>            thou?  What happens when, at the final stroke, I let the plane
>            caress the surface, doing my best to apply only forwards
>            pressure.?
A1) No. I'd be amazed if you have the weight to hold a #8 in the normal user
way and produce 10# direct downward force at the mouth, while managing to
move it in any other direction.  I can't.  Also, my number came from a setup
that would simulate a sole so concave that only the extreme toe and heel are
in contact with wood.  Not a real life situation.

A1.1) >What happens when, at the final stroke, I let the plane
> caress the surface, doing my best to apply only forwards pressure.?
Then the Max 10# becomes only the weight of the unsupported portion of the
plane body, whatever that might be on yours.  And for working wood,
deflection of flatness of the sole becomes a pointless discussion.

> Q2)        Can I scale the result down for shorter planes?  a No 4, for...
>
A2) Yes, very roughly maybe.  Doug built into his formula  the length of the
plane and (I think) it would only go totally wrong when the ratio of
distance from tote to mouth changes significantly.  But as the plane gets
shorter, the relative height of the sides  changes drastically too.  So
stiffness increases.
Stiffness is the only reason they bothered to put them there - right?

A3) Before worrying about this *at all*, be sure you have read Doug's post
on a correction of a numerator/denominator swap typo on the original
formula.  (I didn't see it until he told me).  AND his repeated comments
saying this was a ballpark look at *maximum* deflection normally possible
(not his words - sorry if I said that wrong, Doug)

A4) Something that hasn't come up:  When you look at the shape of the tote,
and the way your hand grips it, a huge %age of the force you can produce
there has to be directed forward.  Much less is directed straight down.
Unless you hold the tote a lot differently than I do.  If you *can* produce
that much YMBAG, and you should work on sharpening that iron.

> who is lost in admiration at the content of this thread.
>
A5) (Taking that as a question without the punctuation mark...)  No one but
me I suspect.
------
Gene