planes. I have no desire for anymore machinery. I currently have a
Dunno about the bench one, but the Rali is probably a waste of time. Have had one of them for years and I've wasted more time trying to make it work than actually doing anything with it. It's OK for pine, I suppose...
Given that you work the Japanese way, then more of their planes would be the best idea. Western style planes require a standing position to work properly. With the possible exception of block planes and the HNT Gordon ones which work best the Japanese way, IMHO.
I particularly like the LN low angle block or the HNT Gordon block, but there are a lot of people saying good things about the Lee Valey. Give it a go?
I read at Steve Knight's site that a plane for figured and highly figured woods has a blade set at 50º - 55º, far different than a low angle, higher angle the standard 45º. I think I have seen japanese planes with blades set at 60º somewhere online. And with that, the laminated blade is the way to go for strength and cutting out chatter, me -inexperienced so far.
Thank you both for your replies. I have the same feelings about the rali. It seems to need adustment after every stroke.
So LV low angle block what to use for squaring up a board? LV low angle jack? what to use for edge gluing.
I am not apposed to Knight's wooden planes, or buying used, but I can only afford a couple of any style (baby steps). I have built a ton of stuff without planing a thing, but want to move my projects up a notch.
First order of business is getting a 32" X 13" X 4" of fir good and square as is is my primary work surface.
Next being able to edge glue boards without gaps or machines. I would idealy like to hand rip the boards and plane down to width and thickness by hand.
Last, a good general small plane to clean up and do end grain.
I have been a Popular guy for several years and just moved on to red and white oak for a few small projects - this is where I noticed the real need to plane the boards. I stopped sanding about 3 months ago when I dicovered scrappers - if I never hear that evil random orbital again it will be too soon. The hand tools make the experience zen like - much like doing kata in martial arts.
My wife looked at my newly designed asian workbench and just left the room. She doesn't get the meditative felling I get creating these small projects.
Oh, I exaggerated. We have a good relationship and doing our finances is not a big problem -- neither of us is carelss with the dollars. There's rarely any negotiation or embarrassment. Thanks for your concern!
Well, what do you expect? Steve doesn't make low-angle planes. ;-)
Seriously, I know that is the common wisdom, but I have planed everything from curly koa, to cocobolo, purpleheart, quilted maple and mesquite with my low-angle smoothers. The real keys, IMHO, are (besides having an extremely sharp blade) taking a very fine cut, having solid bedding and a thick iron and the ability to close up the mouth to eliminate tearout. My low-angle smoothers shine in all those areas.
They also (being bevel-up planes) allow you to change the effective cutting angle by simply changing the bevel angle. If your blade is bedded at 12 degrees, sharpen your blade at 35 and you have a 47 degree effective cutting angle. Sharpen it at 40 degrees, and you now have a 52 degree angle.
Don't get me wrong, I have a C&W wooden smoother with a 55 degree bedding angle, and I have one of Steve's coffin smoothers that's at
55, and they are excellent for tackling figured woods. In fact, my C&W is my "last resort" plane. However, I have noticed that I rarely have to go for it as I keep a low-angle plane set up just for handling tricky woods. (Yes, I have more than one low-angle smoother.) And I've found that in most cases, if the low-angle plane won't cut it (so to speak), then it's going to need to be scraped.
Anyhow, my overall point is that even more important than bevel-angle is the combination of several factors, plus your experience/comfort-level with the plane.
I have used a low-angle jack for surfacing and even jointing for very short boards, but IMHO you'd be better off with a longer plane, a foreplane at least. Lee Valley also makes one of those, and while I haven't tried that particular plane, I am a big fan of their whole line of planes. Top quality at a very reasonable price, and they have made some real improvements to the standard Stanley/Bailey designs.
That's the way I do it. And that's where you really need the longer plane.
Lee Valley low-angle block or old Stanley #60-1/2.
snipped-for-privacy@neb.rr.com (Rodney) wrote in news:5fbfad60.0409161937.65076510 @posting.google.com:
I am not familiar with how a Japanese woodworker would approach that task, but in western style woodworking one would typically use a jack plane (#5 size) to remove the major irregularities, followed by a jointer (#7 or #8) to produce a true, straight edge.
If you have the funds, an L-N #7 or #8 would be ideal for preparing a board to edge glue - but those cost the better part of $500. For a more modestly priced alternative, I'd look to an older Stanley.
(as an aside, I have a low angle jack, the L-N version, but I'm not particularly fond of it. When I use it it's used as a big smoother. Other folk, obviously, love their low-angle jacks, so the point I'm making is that it's a plane that suits different people differently...much like wooden planes suit some folk more than others).
One is the father. One is the son. One is president of LV One is the founder of LV One has the Order of Canada. The other has Orders from across the globe...
The son is the father of the man, no? (apologies to Billy Wordsworth)
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