On Fri, 24 Nov 2017 10:42:03 -0600, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:

On 11/23/2017 8:18 PM, OFWW wrote:
On Thu, 23 Nov 2017 19:43:08 -0500, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:

"OFWW" wrote in message ...

My question is, when using my router to do the same thing I don't ever
remember the shapes being that smooth, so do the hand planes cut the
shapes as smooth as a flat plane does?

If equally sharp, generally yes they would leave a comparably smooth
surface. The biggest problem with molding planes is that you typically
cannot change direction to deal with the grain so tear out and grain related
chatter can become an issue. With rounds and hollows you might be able
change direction... but not always as the relationship between the iron and
body of the plane can affect things, i.e., the iron would have to be
perfectly centered if you are using an edge or straight edge to guide the
plane, and the iron would have to be perfectly symmetrical so the cuts would
match up perfectly. Then again, just how perfect does it really have to be?
If you don't notice the variance from 5-10 feet away it probably doesn't.


That makes sense. There are always trade offs. I was watching one
older guy teaching on planes and he wryly mentioned that using a
molding plane he could have a door done, or whatever, in less time
that it takes to setup a router with bits, test, and run. It sure make
you think.


Absolutely but you must be proficient with sharpening the planes and a
bit of practice.

No doubt. I've been making probably every mistake in the book, ruined
a few water stones and stuff in the process. Plus other stones, and
such. I have learned far more what not to do, than to do. This
includes sharpening chisels, and scrapers.

I even bought a calibrated granite stone for sharpening with paper but
somehow have lost the stone.

Recently I bought a Wen water stone sharpener, and bought some
accessories for chisels, knifes, Kitchen knives, etc. I can do more
faster and with better results than ever before. It is basically a
clone of the good one but was 100 bucks instead of 700.

WOW flattening the backside of a chisel or planing knife is done in
mere minutes, for the first time, and just seconds on touch ups.

With it I can now actually get an even wire edge on the scraper like
everyone speaks about. It also makes it possible to get a nice edge on
the ones that came in the kit with curved scrapers, except for the
inside radius'.

The sharpening wheel default is 225 or 250 grit and with the filler
stone it runs it up to 1,000 grit plus the stropping wheel. The price
of a Japanese very high grit is about 300 dollars.

So now I sharpen with the Wen, and touch up with a water stone to 6000
grit when needed. but if I can find my granite stone I'll be using
that, plus wet dry paper. to go higher when needed.