If I had one word of advice to all the beginners(myself being only a plane shaving past beginner) who frequent this site. Buy and learn to use a cabinet scraper. They are so cheap, so fun to use, and extremely easy to sharpen. I don’t even use a burnisher, I use a piece of ceramic from an old spyderco sharpening system and it works unbelievable. When I’m honing the edge on sandpaper I take the main piece off of a combination square place it on the sandpaper and use it as a guide to keep the card square to the sandpaper. It polishes up really quick this way. A couple of light burnishes with my ceramic and curls are flying off the thing. I just completed a Mantle which included some cove moulding and panels and I’m telling you I didn’t use more than 1 sheet of 220 grit sandpaper. No 120. No 150 and the finish probably looks better than anything I’ve ever done. The only downside that I experienced was very few wood boogies to torture my wife with. Lack of dust. Seriously I really got into these scrapers about a year ago and they are a treat.
Replies
Glad to hear you've found scrapers!!! You're starting down the slippery slope to being a full fledged Galoot!! Soon you'll look down on people who use tailed apprentices (power tools). I started with power tools and quickly started looking for a less dusty way to work. My how life has changed for the better since those wonderful days when I discovered hand tools. There's something great about taking a 3 foot long shaving that you can read through that just can't be matched by wood boogies. Soon you'll want some molding planes, then 10 or so handsaws, carving chisels....the list of hand tools is endless. Eventually you'll want a tool that you can't find so you'll take up blacksmithing and make it.
This ceramic from an old sharpening system you talk of, was it the sharpening wheel or what was it? I use a burnisher and am always willing to hear of new ways to do something. Glad to see you've found the scary sharp system of sharpening.
Good luck on your future endeavours.
I just read your and Matt Muluka's post's and thought you guys might be able to offer me some advice. I'm a reletively new convert from the tailed tool realm and am really having a blast collecting and using all the old planes I can find. I've just been bitten by the scraper bug myself and I could'nt help but notice the nice curves on a 112 scraper plane. :) Do you guys find a 112 or any of the other scraper planes to be worth the sizable chunk of change they demand?
Thankyou,
Steve
The #112 is okay but uncomfortable to use. I prefer a #81 for finish scraping and they're less expensive. Some people like the #80 which is probably Stanley's most popular scraper. I've got all three and rarely use the #80 or the #112. The #81 sees use occasionally but a well tuned plane will leave a better surface.
http://www.spyderco.com under sharpeners. I bought 1 about 10 years ago at a woodworking show. still use it for kitchen knives. One of those triangular pieces of ceramic used like a burnisher just seems to work better for me. I can hear the burr coming off the edge. Another point I'd like to stress to beginner scrapes. Hone the edge to a polish. You get a better burr and a finer shave.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled