Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 03, 2007 04:17pm | #1

   Mahogany should be as mellow a choice as you will find. 

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 03, 2007 09:06pm | #2

   toponypy,And probably get your saw sharpened after that first wood!There are several threads going right now about hand sawing and specifically about resawing.I tore my right shoulder rotator cuff lapping a plane sole. I can't imagine what would happen if I tried to resaw lumber!Rich

1. 
   philip | Mar 04, 2007 05:01am | #3

   "I tore my right shoulder rotator cuff lapping a plane sole."
   Perhaps a comment from me may be seen to be biased, so I can only ask "What on earth were you doing , man?".
   Here's a really painful thought, in addition: you could probably have bought a decent plane for the cost of medical bills for that injury.
   I am very cruel.Philip Marcou

1. 
   Rich14 | Mar 04, 2007 05:56am | #4

   philip,Question 1. How does one get a torn medial meniscus?Answer. HAVE a medial meniscus.Question 2. How does one get a torn rotator cuff?Answer. HAVE a rotator cuff.Translation, live long enough and one will experience one or both of these maladies. These anatomical structures eventually fail. I've been fortunate enough to suffer both.I have no idea how I tore the medical meniscus in my right knee. I can remember no specific trauma. No sudden painful event. No twisting. I didn't jump down hard on it. I went to bed one Saturday night feeling fine. I woke up the next morning with slight discomfort in the knee. By evening I couldn't walk.On the other hand, I WAS able to tell my orthopedic surgeon that on the day that I started experiencing shoulder pain (late afternoon) I had been flattening the metal sole of a plane. Not a particularly stressfull activity, but for about 20 minutes I was working diligently on the job. Then for another 10 minutes, maybe more, I was using the plane, somewhat vigorously. Not something unusual for me to do. But I WAS doing it PRIOR to the onset of the pain and ensuing (significant) disability."Post hoc ergo propter hoc.""After this therefore because of this."(Yes, I DID tear it lapping the plane. But it was READY to tear.)The knee, after arthroscopic surgery, is good. It's back to 98%.The shoulder is good, too. Finally, after a year of physical therapy. No surgery. But if I use it reptetively for too long, such as in a sawing motion, or sanding, or lapping a plane, I start to get the tell-tale pain, and I know I MUST stop. Because if I injure it again, I WILL have to have surgery, and surgery is really iffy for rotator cuff repairs.Rich

1. 
   wyo | Mar 04, 2007 06:53am | #5

   "Post hoc ergo propter hoc.""After this therefore because of this."----[Mr. Spock mode: ON]It is illogical to assume that one event causes another simply because the proposed cause occurred before the proposed effect. [Mr Spock mode: OFF]

2. 
   Rich14 | Mar 04, 2007 07:02am | #6

   wyo,That's right. The "Post hoc fallacy" is one of the classic examples of illogical reasoning.Was lapping the plane the cause of my rotator cuff tear? Just because one proceded the other, no. But because the post hoc fallacy is a falacy does not mean that the relationship CAN'T exist.Sometimes post hoc ergo propter hoc IS true! And in my case I think it was. For no other reason than repeating the action ALWAYS gives me repeat pain.Rich

3. 
   philip | Mar 04, 2007 11:39am | #7

   Rich, condolences. I guess we never appreciate health until it goes off beam. Still, one of the many good things about the hobby of woodworking is that there are many aspects of it -some of which may not entail physical activity that does not suit you.Philip Marcou

4. 
   jeff100 | Mar 04, 2007 12:55pm | #8

   Rich, I hear ya.  'S.tuff happens.

   I had two neck surgeries for blown disc's, three level fusion, no good.  Pain for the rest of my life.  BUT, I did have a torn rotator cuff surgically repaired and it's 100%.  I always recommend surgery as a last desperate choice, but rotator cuffs can be repaired successfully...good luck with the PT.  You're probably looking at a couple years before it really mends well...take good care of it.

   Jeff

5. 
   Rich14 | Mar 04, 2007 05:05pm | #9

   Jeff and philip,Thanks. No big. Stuff does happen. Fortunately, this does not interfere at all with woodworking. Handsawing has never been my thing!Rich