So I bought a nice solid steel Stanley no4 plane for planing boards about 2m or less. At first it kept grabbing, then I sharpenned it a lot, now it only grabs a little. I think the rest is just going to be learning muscle memory how to use it. I've bevelled the blade so it cuts about half the width of the blade with the corners ground back slightly.
I find I can get full length ribbons if I completely throw my body into the plane for the length of the cut. How do hipsters make it look so easy? In pictures it doesn't look like its very hard. Pictures make it look as easy as ironing pants.
Also I am 70kg and I get wafer thin cuts. The blade is adjusted properly. Takes about 10 passes to cut down through the ridges in seasoned pine.
>>899745
Ever shake a cabinetmakers hand? If you had, you would remember it. Its putting your hand in a vise made of dried out leather.
>Also I am 70kg and I get wafer thin cuts. The blade is adjusted properly
One of these statements is contradicting the other. If the blade is adjusted properly then you should every get a nice, thick shaving or you should get bogged down in the wood. If the shaving is thin your plane is either taking too small of a bite or its foot is warped.
>>899766
Well many places on the internet said that the very edges of the planes blade should be rounded off slightly to avoid sharp lines on the edge of each pass and to avoid digging in. They also said that full width shavings would be indicative of a blade adjusted too low. So I sharpenned it accordingly. If I adjust it way out I do get full width shavings. But I am just smoothing the boards and I do get nice shiny boards at the end of it. About 10 seconds worth of 1200grit sanding nets me a silky smooth shiny board.
>>899766
This. I recently started building cabinets and your hands need to tough as nails (pun somewhat intended).
It's not hard. You are taking too much material or your iron isn't sharp. Shavings should only be a few thou thick and translucent and of consistent thickness from left to right.
I also rub a candle on the bottom to reduce friction.
PS it's made of solid cast iron, not "solid steel".
>>899745
Wafer thin is good. It's a plane not a saw.
You'll only get full length ribbons if the surface is perfectly flat. Otherwise the plane is doing it's job by chopping off the high bits.
Planes do require force. That's why they always move in a single motion.
Finally, practice. It's a skilled tool. Enjoy the smell of pine.
>>899766
don't listen to this guy. you want to be getting translucent ribbons that almost float in air off of the wood.
>>899804
Watch this:
http://video.pbs.org/video/2172600556/
Try some paste wax on the sole of the plane. It does wonders. An old candle will work as stated before too. As far as the shaves go, if you want to smooth something light cuts should offer up almost translucent shaves. A #2,3 or 4 plane is good for that. If you want thicker cuts id use a #5 or #6. For flattening a #7 or #8. To dimension stock a #40 scrub plane or a heavily cambered #5.
You made the right move on easing the corners of the blade, called camber. A good idea for a smoothing plane.
>>899845
While i appreciate the sentiment, i feel like there are a lot of pallet nailers in this thread. For japanese planing competitions, sure, you can go that thin. But my plane is only a 100$ one, it doesnt have a fancy artisinal folded blade or anything and i dont want to be sharpenning it every three passes.
Really i dont give a fuck about that perfect 45o angle that tye manual told me to do. I cut it back to a 30o angle then tripple bevelled it up to 45oo. To sharpen it i just drag the whole plane backwards on a 1200grit sheet of sand paper and its good to go again.
>>899974
I dont want to wax it because wax contamination is bad for finishes. Or is this not an issue for how little wax will be transfered? I have a ridiculous supply of bees wax.
I would like a no 8 plane but the biggest i could find was a no 4. Im also having trouble in queensland finding a wire saw or spiral fret saw for fine joinery cuts. I can use a circular saw then sand but i want a fine hand saw. Any advice on good saws and blades i can import?
>>900114
If you take too much at a time you're going to get tear-out, or you're going to find your tool impossible to use once you move from pine to a harder wood.
>>899866
thumbs up to roy but fuck schwarz
op look up paul sellers on youtube
OK faggots, so my NEET box is well under way.
Apologies, there is rubbish everywhere.
So I sucked at cutting perfectly mitred joints for my braces so I decided, given my range of tools, to use kerf bends for the corner braces. I've used graded steel, the long bolts are 12.9 black steel. The shorter bolts are 304 stainless. M8 blts, going into threaded inserts. I don't really understand what this means as I can't translate sheer loads into how much weight can this support so I over engineered it. Not that I engineered it, I just used lots.
