You may remember a post where I mentioned that I'd received a call from a gentleman regarding some tools he wanted to give me. Just to recap, he's retired and did an apprenticeship in Sweden in the 60's and had been moving these tools around with him ever since. When he saw the chair publicity in the newspaper he and his wife decided that his tools would serve me well and they were right! I've given some away to other, like minded woodworkers, and kept the others. One of the ones I've kept is this wooden smoother plane.
I've always wanted to try one out and the feel is quite different from the bronze, #4 I have from Lie-Nielson. Currently I'm working on some picture frames for Diane and this Walnut panel is for one of them. After sharpening the blade I was eager to try it out. Your hand position is different from a metal bodied plane. The left hand wraps around the horn while your right hand wraps around the back section just below the blade. The most obvious difference is how this plane is adjusted. The mallet in the background is used to tap either the blade or a designated spot at the rear of the body -- a metal button to set the blades depth and level it. Just like everything else, there's a learning curve and I doubt I've mastered it at this point!
Using the plane was nice, totally different feel to it but as you can see by the thin shavings it worked out well for me. Nothing like using a sharp blade to get rid of the chatter marks a planer will always put on the surface. Another plane I'm holding on to is a bullnose that's over 1 1/2" wide and will be a good choice for trimming tenons. I'm currently sharpening that one (needs a lot of work) and will try it out on the tenons for the bar stool. Had a minor setback on that project, the Bloodwood they sent doesn't have the brilliant red color like the Chakta Kok I showed for the barstools. Currently Woodworkers Source is out of stock but thankfully, the client for those is not in a hurry.
No comments:
Post a Comment