Re: Thanks Steve Knight - Mini Plane Review

I have quite a few of Steve's planes. They are a pleasure to use. The irons are just so great, big and heavy; they hold an edge for a long time, and easy to sharpen.

The bodies are great. I use a padauk razee jack plane he made, and I use it all the time. It is lighter than a comparable cast iron plane, which helps a lot when you are doign something, like leveling a 16" wide cherry plank, which I did last week.

Reply to
DarylRos
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Daryl,

I have Steve's coffin smoother and his scrub plane (but I can't use the scrub until Christmas -- agreement with SWMBO in order to purchase it :(

Anyway, I have both of them in the standard setup (non-razee style).

Have you used both styles, and if so, which do you prefer and why?

At first I was a little concerned that I might want the tote for the smoother, but it's so nice to use as is I'm not sure I'd want it or it would matter. Although I will admit that after using it for about

30-60min (OK, so I love using this thing and I'll just sit around making fluffy shavings with any scrap in my shop -- which is a lot since my buddy does hardwood floors and gives me his scraps)) ... oops, I digressed. Let me try again. After 30+ min of constant use my right hand does cramp a little bit, but that's from lifting the plane off the wood when I finish my pass. If I were using larger wood (i.e. non-scrap) I probably wouldn't have to lift as often, so I don't know if this is a moot point or not.

Just curious for when I order my Jack and Jointer in the future :) Thanks!

Mike

Reply to
Mike in Idaho

I would be interested if others had this problem. I always want to improve things if possible.

Reply to
Steve Knight

I know my finish is not perfect it is getting better. but so far I have not found a practical way to make the wedge and mouthblock look nice. the irons drive me nuts to make. I get pretty worn out after grinding a hundred or so. so I don't work hard enough grinding corners. I need to hire a monkey to do it I can afford the bananas (G)

Reply to
Steve Knight

I think the mouth blocks look fine Steve.... ;~)

Reply to
Leon

I agree with Leon, I'm happy with how the plane looks. In fact I love the way the plane looks (especially the inlay -- that's sweet!). I took it to work (with some fluffy shavings for proof of how awesome this thing is) and all the guys who are into woodworking were just ooing and ahing all over the place (hopefully there's a few new customers in there somewhere ;)

Anyway, in response to your question on whether or not more people have problems with their right hand getting cramped after using the smoother for awhile, I wouldn't doubt that it could be as simple as my technique. I'm a novice at this for sure and I remember watching a Frank Klausz video where he demonstrated planing and he didn't lift the plane off the wood, instead he tipped it at an angle and slid it backwards. Said it was faster that way. I don't doubt it since not only are you not lifting it, you're also staying more aligned for the next pass. The reason I don't do this is because I don't have my bench with bench dogs finished yet so I prop my wood against a thinner piece of stock (that's clamped to my temp bench) and plane that way -- if I were to slide the plane backwards it would just pull the wood with it. So, yeah, probably my technique. Give me 6mos (or more ;) and I'll let you know what it's like when I have a real workbench.

Thanks! Mike

Reply to
Mike in Idaho

also try relaxing your grip a little it does not take a death grip (G) but I always try to solve anyone problems. one of these days I need to build or get a shop for regular woodworking so I can use my tools I make in a real situation. then I could really refine idea's but then again I would need a lot more money (G)

Reply to
Steve Knight

Thanks Steve, I'll give it a try :)

Reply to
Mike in Idaho

I bet you could find a zillion willing beta testers in "real" woodshop situations.

A company I used to work for used to send out test units to trusted shops and then offer a reduced price at the end of the test period if the tester wanted to keep the item. Had to fill out a form once a month and send it in during the test. We could tell if we had a good design because we couldn't pry them out of the hands of the beta testers - the bad stuff always came back.

/// Smokey

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Reply to
Smokey

I used to do beta testing. got lots of people interested. but few actually gave me feedback. but anymore I don't get much response on beta testing anymore. I think people think i am a big guy and my stuff is ready to go the first time.

Reply to
Steve Knight

Steve,

I think the mouthblock looks fine. The only piece that could use a bit more refining would be the wedge. Maybe there are some historical models that you could look at and see if there is anything you could borrow.

-Jack

Reply to
JackD

I have played a lot with the wedge. the V works well but the rest is a bit dull. I can't really sand it more as it changes out it fits. Most old planes use a lot longer blades and wedges. but they just get in the way. I have tried the more traditional forked wedge with a flat sloped middle but that was a pain to make and never worked better.

Reply to
Steve Knight

Steve, I love to give feedback when it's useful. Let me do a few projects and then I'll let you know what I think (that will be more useful information anyway since right now I'm just planing scrap wood for fun). The only drawback is a "few projects" for me equates to about 6+ months ;) But since you're not going anywhere (hopefully :) then it won't matter too much.

Mike

Reply to
Mike in Idaho

(G)

Reply to
Steve Knight

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