Hand plane help...

[Silvan]

It's my first real plane, a Stanley #4 of current manufacture, made in England. I've read lotsa stuff about tuning planes, and have spent a lot of time futzing around with this thing. I've got it tuned to the best of my ability, and I think it has turned out pretty well.

So now I've got the thing ready to go, and fooled around to get a feel for how to set the iron just so. I'm making whispy thin shavings, and the plane is just singing along.

So far, so good, but here's where I need help. The surface I've planed is dead flat, but it isn't parallel to the opposing face. Not by a long damn shot. I've been practicing all day, and I've shaved this board down to about nothing without ever getting it flat. I keep ending up with something that looks like this:

==========__________________ ======================================== ======================================== ======================================== ========================================

Of course it's not actually stair steppy. Perfectly flat, just angled wrong. Not only across the width of the board, but along its length too, so I wind up with something that might want to be a structural member in a doll house built by M.C. Escher.

If I try to take off the high side, I eventually end up with a crown in the middle, or wind up making the high side the low side. I've been chasing my tail like that for hours.

The board started with a reasonably flat surface, and I was originally just trying to remove some tooth marks. I don't think the plane is riding on anything to cause this.

I have a really cheap face vise (one of those $12 Columbian deals from Lowe's) with the board clamped in that, if it matters.

Anyway, I could use some tips here. There's a lot more to this than just making whispies, obviously.

[JackD]

0) Practice more. 1) Mark the sides and plane to them. 2) Google for shooting board

-Jack

[Mark Jerde]

Fine WoodWorking, #142, May/June 2000, page 96, "Four-squaring with hand tools."

-- Mark

[Dave Balderstone]

Check out:

djb

[dave]

Silvan wondered:

Here're a couple of things to look at. You should read through Jeff's site, it's a goldmine.

in fairfax

[Eric Lund]

Just like with a jointer, when you do the first side and get it flat, it is not referenced to the other side. What you need to do next is use a marking guage set for the thickness you want and mark that distance from the flat side, all the way around the edges of the board. Now, place the board with the flat side down, and plane the other side to the line you just created. You then have two sides flat and parallel.

Cheers, Eric

[Silvan]

You know, Dave, that makes me feel like a real doofus. I've even SEEN that before.

Shouldda thought of that.

I'll get the hang of it some day... :)

[J.B. Bobbitt]

What Eric said.

-JBB

[Anonymous]

I'll add to Eric's advice:

Plane diagonally across the board first one way, planing down the high spots first, then turn it around or walk around to the other side and plane diagonally in the opposite direction. Then, when it's reasonably flat and even plane straight lengthwise down to your marked line.

A tip I learned is to take a mechanical pencil and run it through the groove left by your marking gauge. This allows you to easily see the line as you're planing down to thickness. Once you've split the line your at your desired thickness. This is called "splitting the line". :-)

Layne

[George]

I work by the "hog and smooth" method. Hogging is done almost to the scribe mark, obliquely. Smooth is the last 2-3 lengthwise shavings, each of which removes almost nothing anyway.

Remember, most boards don't need to be perfectly parallel (or even flat) except at the joints. Little bit lower on the standards might get you there earlier.

Put your board on the bench, against a stop, for thicknessing. That way you can eyeball three sides worth of marks without effort.

I'm making whispy thin shavings, and the