How many handplanes on the head of a pin?
On this, as so many other subjects, it might be a good idea to curb the obsessive need to tell others they are wrong.
Nov 08, 2022
Anytime I post a picture of my handplane on the bench, someone pipes up to tell me how and why I’m wrong.
It’s an old carpenter’s edict that states a handplane should be placed on its side when it’s not in use to help protect the blade from getting dinged; it’s a “rule” that applied when you couldn’t be sure where you might be setting that blade – atop a metal surface, on the ground, on a newly poured gravel bed (in other words, anywhere on a job site where a carpenter might be working).
So those naysayers who squawk, “If you place your plane on its sole, you obviously don’t know what you’re doing!” must have had that knowledge beaten into them (perhaps even literally) by an old carpenter or someone who learned woodworking from an old carpenter – because how long has it been since a handplane was common on a job site?!
I’m not a carpenter. I work inside at a wooden bench that does on rare occasion see a bit of metal and grit, but if so is thoroughly cleaned of any such contaminants immediately afterward. So by placing my handplane on its sole on my wooden bench, my reasoning goes, I’m protecting the business end of the blade from being struck by another tool or (worse) by my hand.
But if I do place a plane on its side on my bench (which is always by accident, by the way), a soles-down fanatic, who learned from a furniture maker who didn’t learn from a carpenter, leaves a comment/sends a message that “You clearly don’t know what you’re doing!”
I really don’t care one way or the other what you do with your planes. Heck – maybe you’re one of those crazies who rests them sole down, but with the front edge on a thin strip of wood to raise the blade off the bench? Or you place it across your tool well so both ends are supported while the blade is hanging in the air? (Side note: A tool well? Ugh? But that’s a different post.)
What I do care about – what gets my dander up – is the need of some people to tell other people they’re wrong. “Oh look! A non-substantive mistake on the internet. I must correct it!!” Oh do sod off.
Just because someone doesn’t do a thing the way you do it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. (And that’s a good lesson to remember in the classroom too.)
Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m off to knit some plane cozies – the only right way to store handplanes.
More from Megan Fitzpatrick
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Free your mind, and the rest will follow |
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Comments
For everyone wanting a shorter link for online discourse:
https://tinyurl.com/OhDoSodOff
Huh? This made my spam spidey sense go up... instead I'm just confused.
Megan's post seems useful, so I created a memorable tinyurl link. When someone does some nit-picky gatekeeping, just reply with "https://tinyurl.com/OhDoSodOff".
Crazies? Crazies? I do not put my planes on a thin strip of wood on my bench. When I put them on a shelf, that's where I have the thin strip of wood.
Megan - touché & well said
Well put. Paul Sellers agrees with you.
As always, I love Megan's Blog post. I couldn't agree more. I am really tired of people jumping online to tell everyone their way is the "best" way or the "right" way. Clearly, without knowing a thing about me you must be an expert on how I work and why I do things the way I do.... Well said Megan!
Crazy here. Planes go on two not-so-thin strips of wood because my workbench is a granite kitchen counter. Or a plywood planing stop (tipped up because why not).
Well at least you have a good reason!
Bwahhhaaaahaa!! It's an awful lot like that insurance ad campaign, "We can't stop you from becoming your parents" Yeah, those folks are drag online...and they're even more so at a ww'ing association meeting or (especially) at tool auctions/tailgate sales.
Perhaps one could have curbed that obsessive need and NOT posted this thread?
I am an old carpenter. I didn't know we were responsible for all the controversy but I got my fair share of lectures on how to set another carpenters plane down, for all the reasons Megan laid out. So I have put them on their sides all my life and never gave it any more thought.
I was at a Lie-Nielsen tool event several years ago trying out all the plains, doing what I always do. Some guy gave me a condescending look and ask if I was afraid of damaging the plain iron on the wooden bench top. Not wanting to take the bate and get into an argument with him, I said it was my habit and I was sticking to it. He harrumphed, it's a stupid habit and walked off. Someone else ask why I did put them on the side. I explained that it was what I was taught. And I may not keep my bench as clean as his and never know when there might be a screw or something no the bench where I put the plane down.
In the end it doesn't make any difference. Japanese woodworkers pull their planes, Europeans push them. They work both ways. What ever works for you, Do it!
Be safe and have fun.
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