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271538 "yorkshireman@y..." <yorkshireman@y...> 2020‑07‑21 Fwd: [New post] The Importance of “n+1” and why you need a Stealth Router
I wouldn’t normally circulate such stuff, but I’ve worked in this chaps
workshop, and he’s a canny lad, and I just came across this whilst sifting
email, and it seems so very galootish I thought it might make a good read..

Richard Wilson
Yorkshireman Galoot, Writing about galootish boatbuilding and smuggling in
Northumbria..



Begin forwarded message:

From: John Lloyd Fine Furniture 
Subject: [New post] The Importance of “n+1” and why you need a Stealth Router
Date: 1 April 2020 at 17:44:06 BST
To: furniture@y...

New post on John Lloyd Fine Furniture



The Importance of “n+1” and why you need a Stealth Router
by John Lloyd
It might not seem like it when it’s happening, but it’s good to be challenged
occasionally (or perhaps, not quite so occasionally!) It doesn’t really matter
what form this challenge takes, it could be a physical challenge, a challenge of
your skills or perhaps a challenge of your long held views or opinions on how
things should be done. The latter is something that happened quite regularly
when I was writing my articles for British Woodworking magazine. You know that
endearing thing that children do when you tell them something and their standard
response is “Whyyyyyy?” usually with a delightful whiny tone? Well, this was one
of Nick Gibbs’ standard responses (although not always with the whine) when I
explained how I cut a joint or used a tool, or did anything else wood related,
for that matter. When I first started writing for Nick, this behaviour of
constantly questioning things could be pretty irritating, but I quickly realised
the value of this approach to all sorts of woodworking habits, having someone
question why something is done in a particular way could, and often did, help to
improve the way I worked. Just because people have been doing something a
particular way for many years doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re right, but
you have to remember that they’re not necessarily wrong either, and it should
all be balanced with the thought that there can be many ways of skinning cats!

I say all this, not because I want you to start doubting the validity of
everything that you do, this might result in a visit from the men in white
coats, but I do encourage you to have an open mind and the confidence to try new
ideas and new methods of working.

Which leads me to the, ‘Jack of all Trades?’ question. The plane that I have
always reached for first, my main weapon whenever indulging in the gentle art of
making components for all things woody, has always been my trusty 5 ½ “Jack
Plane”. Why? Well it’s what I’ve always done! It’s what I was told to use when I
was training, I didn’t ever question it. It’s a ‘Jack’ plane after all, the
‘Jack of all Trades’ of the bench plane world, which makes it the obvious choice
for doing just about everything, doesn’t it? At which point I sense the
unmistakable tones of Mr Gibbs saying ‘Whyyyyyy?’ in my ear, and I feel I have
to try to justify this behaviour, bearing in mind that the ‘it’s what I’ve
always done’ answer, very definitely isn’t going to hold much water. Being a
‘Jack (of all trades) Plane’ definitely seems to infer that it’s going to be
able to do many things, but is it actually just a one trick pony that is of a
manageable size and weight, making it the plane that is (was) habitually used
for most general planing duties but is actually ‘master of none’, or precious
few, of them? And if it’s not much good at doing many different things, is there
a plane available that is?

OK – so what are the strengths of a No. 5 ½ (or a No. 5) bench plane? If we’re
considering a Stanley or a Record ‘Bailey’ pattern plane, apart from the fact
that it ‘looks the part’ and the ‘bevel-down’ orientation means that the blade,
perched on the rather oddly named ‘frog’, sticking up at a jaunty 45 degrees,
gives a convenient place to nestle your fore-finger, whilst the rest of your
fingers wrap themselves around the rear handle, strengths seem to be rather thin
on the ground.

·         Adjusting the mouth opening is a right old palaver, although rather
better on a ‘Bedrock’ bench plane.

·         Generally you’re stuck with a cutting angle of 45 degrees, (Common
Pitch), unless, for instance, you have a Lie-Nielsen with an optional high-angle
frog.

·         Common Pitch is not great for dealing with end-grain.

·         Common Pitch is not great for dealing with difficult timber that’s
tearing out.

·         Every time you sharpen you have to remove and then re-adjust the chip-
breaker.

·          The Stanleys and Records have frogs that are rather precariously
perched on the main casting with 4 small areas of (potential) contact, not a
particularly solid platform for the blade to sit on (although much better on a
‘Bedrock’ plane)

So their main strengths seem to be that they look like a proper plane and if
they’re tuned up, with a decent, sharp blade fitted, they’re pretty efficient at
planing wood that’s not too challenging.

Any good at dealing with end grain? No!

Any good at dealing with difficult, highly figured, timber that has a tendency
to tear when a plane gets anywhere near it? No!

Easy to set up? No, not really!

So not a very versatile plane at all really!

Is there a plane that is? How about a Low Angle Jack? A plane that’s really just
a Low Angle Block Plane on steroids, the sort of thing that Lie-Nielsen and
Veritas produce.

Now, with a ‘Bevel Up’ blade configuration the cutting angle or ‘angle of
attack’ can be changed simply by changing the bevel angle of the blade – or, a
more practical solution – have several blades with different bevel angles.

Assuming a 12 degree bed angle:

·         25 degree blade gives a cutting angle of 37 degrees – great for end
grain

·         33 degree blade gives a cutting angle of 45 degrees – ‘Common Pitch’
great for general planing duties

·         38 degree blade gives a cutting angle of 50 degrees – ‘York Pitch’
reduces tear-out on more difficult timber

·         43 degree blade gives a cutting angle of 55 degrees – for controlling
tear-out on really wild grained timber

It’s easy to set up, the mouth can be adjusted in seconds, the hugely thick
blades are well supported and it works really well on a shooting board,
especially if fitted with a ‘hot-dog’ handle.

Sadly there’s nowhere to put your fore-finger though, no frog! So you have to do
something with this stray finger, in time, maybe you could learn to wrap it
around the handle – hopefully not too challenging with a bit of practice.

So, the Low Angle Jack might actually be the ‘Jack of All Trades’ and might even
be the master of more than one of them!

And while we’re on the subject of planes, is a No.4 ‘Smoothing Plane’ actually
any good at ‘Smoothing’…………………………..?
271539 "kevin.m.foley" <kevin.m.foley@c...> 2020‑07‑21 Re: Fwd: [New post] The Importance of “n+1” and why you need a Stealth Router
Richard,

Thanks! That’s a great piece.  I’ve had similar thought myself but not so
clearly stated.  I received a gift years back of an LN 164 — essentially a
bevel-up No. 4.  I didn’t ask for it.  Would never have thought to.  It was an
award for 50 years of continuously sucking air. While quite chuffed that someone
was so generous, I wondered how they could so misunderstand me with my
predilection old rusty things. I have to admit it works well where other, more
traditional things don’t.  At first I’d turn to it when other thing failed but I
have to admit now I (gasp!) sometimes reach for it first. Fine cuts with the
mouth closed, hogging out wood with the mouth open and a toothed iron installed.
A “jack” of all trades except it’s No. 4 size but "smoother of all trades"
doesn’t roll off the tongue.  If I were not a pathological accumulator of things
I could keep this and throw a lot of other thing out.

Questioning further — chute board planes — a 45 degree bevel-down frog?  I know
it’s skewed for more of a slicing cut but still was it the best choice? Worth
reproducing by other companies?

Kevin,  waiting for the HVAC wizard in steamy Virginia
271540 Tim <tpendleton@g...> 2020‑07‑21 Re: Fwd: [New post] The Importance of “n+1” and why you need a Stealth Router
On Tuesday, July 21, 2020, yorkshireman@y... <
yorkshireman@y...> wrote:

> I wouldn’t normally circulate such stuff, but I’ve worked in this chaps
> workshop, and he’s a canny lad, and I just came across this whilst sifting
> email, and it seems so very galootish I thought it might make a good read..
>
> Richard Wilson
> Yorkshireman Galoot, Writing about galootish boatbuilding and smuggling in
> Northumbria..
>
> Richard,

When distilled to its essence (I could almost detect a hint of WD-40 in the
air), the article says, "Galoots, you need another tool!".  Galootish
indeed.

Tim
Wondering why the silly spell checker did not gleefully embrace
"Galootish"?  (It does now...)

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