I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms from
experienced people.

Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms from
experienced people. Maybe try a slight rounding off of the plane blades' edge? Just noticing some dig-in, but that could be from that "wild-grained stock". Pine? Is the Workmate holding up well to your plane stroke, or no? Tom

"tom" wrote in message
ups.com...

Maybe try a slight rounding off of the plane blades' edge?

Thanks for the idea.

Just noticing some dig-in, but that could be from that "wild-grained
stock". Pine?

Unfortunately I don't know what kind of wood it is. Someone gave it to me.

Is the Workmate holding up well to your plane stroke, or no? Tom

Um, it's not an ideal work surface but I stand on it so that the plane
doesn't judder.

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:34:13 +0900, "Ben Bullock"
wrote:

"tom" wrote in message
oups.com...

Maybe try a slight rounding off of the plane blades' edge?

Thanks for the idea.

Just noticing some dig-in, but that could be from that "wild-grained
stock". Pine?

Unfortunately I don't know what kind of wood it is. Someone gave it to me.

That looks like Douglas Fir to me.

Is the Workmate holding up well to your plane stroke, or no? Tom

Um, it's not an ideal work surface but I stand on it so that the plane
doesn't judder.

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:32:42 +0900, "Ben Bullock"
wrote:

I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms from
experienced people.

Can't comment specifically on Japanese style planes, but the plane
shaving you show at the end of your shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/322717184/in/set-72157594420844042/http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/322717184/in/set-72157594420844042/
looks mighty thick, like the blade is set too deep. Would expect to get
very thin, wispy shavings when set to a finishing cut.



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
...

Can't comment specifically on Japanese style planes, but the plane
shaving you show at the end of your shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/322717184/in/set-72157594420844042/http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/322717184/in/set-72157594420844042/
looks mighty thick, like the blade is set too deep. Would expect to get
very thin, wispy shavings when set to a finishing cut.

Is this better?

http://flickr.com/photos/bnz/322890210/

In article , Ben Bullock
wrote:

I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms from
experienced people.

You're taking too aggressive a cut. Retract the blade so you take
thinner shavings.

"Dave Balderstone" wrote in message
news:151220060127155720%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderst one.ca...

You're taking too aggressive a cut. Retract the blade so you take
thinner shavings.

Thanks for the idea. I tried it and things seem much better now.

Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms
from experienced people.

Interesting photos. I notice in several shots you set the plane blade
side down on the bench. I always lay a plane on it's side, so the blade
is not touching the bench which dulls it.

David Starr

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:12:08 -0500, David Starr
wrote:

Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms
from experienced people.

Interesting photos. I notice in several shots you set the plane blade
side down on the bench. I always lay a plane on it's side, so the blade
is not touching the bench which dulls it.

David Starr

I've read that Mike Dunbar disagrees with that.

Mr. Dunbar is the windsor chair maker at www.thewindsorinstitute.com

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:24:22 -0600, George Max
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:12:08 -0500, David Starr
wrote:

Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms
from experienced people.

Interesting photos. I notice in several shots you set the plane blade
side down on the bench. I always lay a plane on it's side, so the blade
is not touching the bench which dulls it.

David Starr

I've read that Mike Dunbar disagrees with that.

Mr. Dunbar is the windsor chair maker at www.thewindsorinstitute.com

Disagrees with what, that laying a plane on its side is a bad idea?
That would be simple foolishness. And, while I know the guy and he
does know a thing or two about building fine chairs, he is not the
end all to tool care.

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:20:53 -0500, Joe Bemier
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:24:22 -0600, George Max
wrote:



I've read that Mike Dunbar disagrees with that.

Mr. Dunbar is the windsor chair maker at www.thewindsorinstitute.com

Disagrees with what, that laying a plane on its side is a bad idea?
That would be simple foolishness. And, while I know the guy and he
does know a thing or two about building fine chairs, he is not the
end all to tool care.

I believe what I read is that laying the plane on it's sole on a wood
surface is not bad for it.

After that, I stopped being all mental about it. While I still lay my
planes on their side, if they get set down on their sole *on wood*, I
don't go crazy over it.

BTW, I wish I could make a chair like his. And I'd like to take his
class, but NH is a little far for that.

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 21:21:55 -0600, George Max
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:20:53 -0500, Joe Bemier
wrote:

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:24:22 -0600, George Max
wrote:



I've read that Mike Dunbar disagrees with that.

Mr. Dunbar is the windsor chair maker at www.thewindsorinstitute.com

Disagrees with what, that laying a plane on its side is a bad idea?
That would be simple foolishness. And, while I know the guy and he
does know a thing or two about building fine chairs, he is not the
end all to tool care.

I believe what I read is that laying the plane on it's sole on a wood
surface is not bad for it.

After that, I stopped being all mental about it. While I still lay my
planes on their side, if they get set down on their sole *on wood*, I
don't go crazy over it.

BTW, I wish I could make a chair like his. And I'd like to take his
class, but NH is a little far for that.


I see what you mean now.
Well, he -and others- publish books on the art. I believe that if you
applied yourself you could be a master chair builder in a few years.

Good Luck

"David Starr" wrote in message
...
Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms
from experienced people.

Interesting photos. I notice in several shots you set the plane blade
side down on the bench. I always lay a plane on it's side, so the blade
is not touching the bench which dulls it.

I'm not sure what the recommended way of doing things is. The traditional
storage system for Japanese planes is to hold them upside down in a rack
with the weight of the plane resting on the back of the blade. This photo
shows a mock-up of an old-fashioned carpenter's workshop:

http://flickr.com/photos/bnz/192328466/

but the system shown there is still in use. I've seen photos of similar
things in modern workshops. You can see in the plane on the right of that
photo that all the weight of the plane is resting on the back of the blade.

On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 10:14:55 +0900, Ben Bullock wrote:

"David Starr" wrote in message
...
Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms
from experienced people.

Interesting photos. I notice in several shots you set the plane blade
side down on the bench. I always lay a plane on it's side, so the blade
is not touching the bench which dulls it.

I'm not sure what the recommended way of doing things is. The traditional
storage system for Japanese planes is to hold them upside down in a rack
with the weight of the plane resting on the back of the blade. This photo
shows a mock-up of an old-fashioned carpenter's workshop:

http://flickr.com/photos/bnz/192328466/

but the system shown there is still in use. I've seen photos of similar
things in modern workshops. You can see in the plane on the right of that
photo that all the weight of the plane is resting on the back of the
blade.

Looks like a very practical system of racking, but I find myself wondering
how much of it has to do with optimal storage of the plane and how much of
it has to do with making the best use of a small space--bear in mind that
in Japan due to the high population density space is at a premium.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms from
experienced people.

The later picture of the shaving looks pretty good. I guess you've
read up on Japanese planes a bit and know that you have to prepare them
for use. Did you do anything to the dai?

R

"RicodJour" wrote in message
ups.com...
Ben Bullock wrote:
I've just started retrying to master the Japanese plane, and I have some
photos of my misadventures he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnz/set...7594420844042/

I'd be interested to hear any comments, suggestions or even criticisms
from
experienced people.

The later picture of the shaving looks pretty good. I guess you've
read up on Japanese planes a bit and know that you have to prepare them
for use.

Yes, I have a book which is meant for middle school woodworking teachers (in
Japanese unfortunately) which is where I got the following picture from:
http://flickr.com/photos/bnz/322780451/. It explains very basic things very
clearly.

Did you do anything to the dai?

No, I haven't done anything to it. The plane is new so I guess it doesn't
need anything done yet. Anyway I don't have a plane-base-fixing plane (dai
naoshi kanna) so I can't do it. The blade had to be sharpened a bit after I
bought it, but that's all I have done.

Just because it is new, don't assume that it is flat. You can go
through the whole "traditional" routine of planing the bottom and
scraping hollows or just do what works. Put a piece of sandpaper on a
flat surface and sand it flat.

Ben Bullock wrote:
"RicodJour" wrote in message
No, I haven't done anything to it. The plane is new so I guess it doesn't
need anything done yet. Anyway I don't have a plane-base-fixing plane (dai
naoshi kanna) so I can't do it. The blade had to be sharpened a bit after I
bought it, but that's all I have done.