Replies

1. 
   Alan | Aug 06, 2003 01:21am | #1

   Phil,

   That's the way to do it with hand tools.  The only way to make it go faster is to use a scrub plane--if you're not using one already.  A scrub plane removes stock amazingly fast.  Then again, with "miniature" dimensions a scrub plane might be way too coarse; it leaves great round-bottom trenches that have to be flattened and smoothed with other planes.

   Alan

1. 
   philpolish | Aug 06, 2003 01:28am | #2

   Hi Alan

   I have used a scrub plane before and they are good for bulk removal but as you said not good for this application.Keep sweating I guess hottest day of the year over here today. Thanks for your time

   Kind regards Phil.

2. 
   BG | Aug 06, 2003 02:21am | #3

   datapip,

   Using a router with a jig may work for you...just a thought

3. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Aug 06, 2003 02:28pm | #4

   Phil,

   I've seen routers suspended on sleds and the board passed under the router, but I wouldn't recommend it.

   Likewise a router suspended on a 'bridge' may work, where the two ends of the bridge are waxed and slide around the bench while the work is stationary.  A bit safer than plan A

   What you've said is the way I do short jobs (planing) - use coarse cuts until you're within 1/2mm of the line and it shouldn't take long.

   Cheers,

   eddie

4. 
   BenM | Aug 06, 2003 02:31pm | #5

   How thick are the boards before you start planing?  You can set the scrub plane to take fine shavings (fine for a scrub plane, they will still be a lot thicker than anything you get from a smoothing plane).

   When I hand thickness a board I place the board against an L-shaped fence which is thinner than the board I am planing.  I plane towards the fence and it holds the board without any movement.  For thinner boards I lay the board on top of a router mat; the mat will hold the board by friction alone if the plane only has to take a very fine cut.

5. 
   Midnight | Aug 07, 2003 02:43am | #6

   Phil

   I was reading Robert Wearing's Making Woodwork Aids & Devices the other day and came across a jig that may help you with this.... only restriction would be that the overall width of the pieces you're thickness would need to be narrower than the width of your hand plane.

   He describes a sort of shooting board idea.... you need a baseplate that's known to be truly flat and true, attach vertical side guides that your plane runs between. in both corners where side guide meets the baseplate, you fix thin strips, carefully calibrated to the desired thickness you want the rough boards thicknessed down to. The idea is that you drop the stock into the jig, plane till the outer edges of the sole of the plane finally rest on the calibrated stock, preventing the plane cutting any deeper....

   I'd scan the pics included but I can't persuade this new puter to talk to my scanner.... yet..

   hope this helps some....

   Mike

   Scotland

1. 
   philpolish | Aug 08, 2003 01:19am | #7

   Mike

   Thanks for your idea it sounds very good but the pieces were wider than my plane.

   In the end I ripped them down to a few mill thicker on my table saw luckily they were only 3 inches wide. Will have to save some pennies for a thickenesser for wider stock.

   Thanks for your time

   Kind regards

   Phil.