Thickness planing by hand

[L2wis]

Hi all, I have a block of wood that i want to cut some small board from (I'm talking small) with the idea of making a small box. I don't have a thickness planer / jointer so going to be hand planing everything.

How do I go about making my cut boards/bits the same thickness? I don't have a jack plane at the moment but with carboot season round the corner I plan to change that. Is it a matter of using a marking gauge to mark the first depth and then once flat turn over and repeat?

Any secret planing techniques? Like work diagonally and stuff? Also whats the best plan for thicknessing? At the moment I only have a number 4 which I'm thinking is not long enough to be idea for the job?

 

[AndyT]

If your work is small, a no 4 will be fine; in fact I recommend that you stick with just that one until you really need something else. You'll find it easier (but slower) to have it set quite fine, unless your surface is really very rough. This will also help reduce the effect of planing against the grain.

Once you have got one side flat, use a marking gauge to go round the whole piece, marking the finished thickness from the flat side. (You would normally set the gauge to the minimum thickness of the wood at that time, unless you really need it any thinner.)

Then angle the plane to cut a small chamfer down to that gauged line. That lets you see where it is when looking down onto it. With the plane held horizontal, plane away all wood above the line. Keep looking at the chamfer so you can see how many more strokes you need to take. Think about each corner and reduce them to level.

 

[Richard T]

Hi Lewis,

The basics of fore planing here: http://video.pbs.org/video/2172600556

 

[Sheffield Tony]

in fact I recommend that you stick with just that one until you really need something else.

:shock: :shock: You recommend buying planes on the basis of need ? :lol:

 

[AndyT]

in fact I recommend that you stick with just that one until you really need something else.

:shock: :shock: You recommend buying planes on the basis of need ? :lol:

Well, I think Lewis is a beginner, so I wanted to keep it simple!

Also, I had only a no 4 smoother for 20 years or so; they are very versatile planes! ;-)

 

[L2wis]

Very much correct on my level of experience!! Thanks for the great info chaps!! I'll let you know how I get on. Feeling a bit rough today so probably won't do anything today.

 

[xy mosian]

I first came across the chamfered edge trick a couple of years ago, on this site. Brilliant, the way to go and all that. If I might add, on light coloured woods I scribble over the chamfer with soft pencil lead to help me see progress more easily, on darker woods I suppose a light coloured pencil would do the same thing.
xy

 

[GazPal]

I first came across the chamfered edge trick a couple of years ago, on this site. Brilliant, the way to go and all that. If I might add, on light coloured woods I scribble over the chamfer with soft pencil lead to help me see progress more easily, on darker woods I suppose a light coloured pencil would do the same thing.
xy

French chalk ;-)

 

[xy mosian]

French Chalk, Sacre Bleu Brilliant.
xy

 

[GazPal]

French Chalk, Sacre Bleu Brilliant.
xy

It's extremely handy when working fine detail in darker timbers, as French chalk sticks can be "sharpened". While this chalk type may seem hard and can be used like a pencil, it's actually among the softest of substances and damages neither cutting edge nor materials.

Chalk dust is extremely handy to have on hand if laying designs onto surfaces directly from perforated plans using a chalk ball.

 

[Racers]

French Chalk, Sacre Bleu Brilliant.
xy

Chalk dust is extremely handy to have on hand if laying designs onto surfaces directly from perforated plans using a chalk ball.

Pouncing, if I remember correctly.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

Hi all, I have a block of wood that i want to cut some small board from (I'm talking small) with the idea of making a small box. I don't have a thickness planer / jointer so going to be hand planing everything.

How do I go about making my cut boards/bits the same thickness? I don't have a jack plane at the moment but with carboot season round the corner I plan to change that. Is it a matter of using a marking gauge to mark the first depth and then once flat turn over and repeat?

Any secret planing techniques? Like work diagonally and stuff? Also whats the best plan for thicknessing? At the moment I only have a number 4 which I'm thinking is not long enough to be idea for the job?

Here's an OLDTOOLS classic:

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php? ... t_thread=1

Robert Wearing also covers this nicely in "The Essential Woodworker"

BugBear

 

[L2wis]

Great link thanks!!!

 

[GazPal]

French Chalk, Sacre Bleu Brilliant.
xy

Chalk dust is extremely handy to have on hand if laying designs onto surfaces directly from perforated plans using a chalk ball.

Pouncing, if I remember correctly.

Pete

That's the one I used to used the method fairly regularly, but for some reason the name for it evaded me the other day.

 

[L2wis]

Just encase anyone finds this thread in the future Paul sellers has posted a nice video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl5Srx- ... ata_player

 

[Jacob]

Just encase anyone finds this thread in the future Paul sellers has posted a nice video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl5Srx- ... ata_player

I started watching it (too long 30 minutes!). It's normal to cut to length first, or you are planing all your waste unnecessarily. But I presume he didn't as he wasn't sure exactly where he was going to take his 19".
I'll have to watch the rest of it some time.

He's at it again here being sacrilegious about bevels: http://paulsellers.com/2013/04/myth-and ... el-bevels/

 

[Corneel]

That was a good video. And I watched it all, even enjoyed it. No fuss, just workman like efficiency. Watch what you want to remove first, before diving into it. Like you I would have cut it to rough length first, but I suppose he used the extra length for ripping in the vise.

 

[GazPal]

I tend to vary between cutting to length or removing relevant stock in sections. A lot depends upon end use, but - in Paul's video - it did make sense to rip before cutting to length, as it allowed him some vise clearance.

 

[AndyT]

I've now got round to watching it too and I agree that it's a good clear lesson on how to work out what you need to do and watch what you are doing when you do it.

Keeping his wood full length made it easier to hold it in the vice to rip down most of the length - apart from the chunk in the vice, so I think that was a sensible approach too.

 

[James C]

I found the Paul Sellers video quite interesting as well. What do you guys think about the can of oil and rag compared with wax.