Since I got a Hand Plane

Last year, I decided to purchase a couple of hand planes to help me understand how they worked and to allow me a little more flexibility.  I purchased Lie-Nielson low angle jack plane.  I honestly did not think I would use it as much as I do.  I built a storage cabinet and put it, with my sharpening tools, in the back.  It is a rolling cart, so it is not a big deal to get back there, but it is an extra step.

I am amazed how much I use it and how much easier it has made certain tasks.  Just recently, with making a smaller version of a train, I needed to add a flat to the boiler.  Last time I did this I mounted the dowel to a board and cut it on the table saw.  This time I mounted to the table saw and used the fence as a guide.  With a few passes I had a nice flat on the dowel to glue to.

I was making several cars to donate and I had some re-sawn board that had a warp and twist to it.  I did not think much of it because I was cutting them down to about 2” wide by 8” long.  After roughing out the parts I realized I did not run the board through the planer to clean up the band saw marks.  It probably would not have done well because of the warp and twist in the board.  The parts were now too small to run through the planer.  With a couple of passes on the plane and the boards were flat and ready to be cut out on the scroll saw. 

One of the best things that I did was go to a show and get hands on experience with the planes.  I was shown how to set them up and how to take care of them.  I was shown how to sharpen and what the edge of the blade should look like.  I learned some tricks and what to look for.  Best of all, I felt what a tuned plane should feel like and what to expect when using the tools.