I'm also guilty of looking at the shavings, but it is good not to be hunched over all day. I would imagine that is the logic, but hopefully Warren will clarify.
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I'm also guilty of looking at the shavings, but it is good not to be hunched over all day. I would imagine that is the logic, but hopefully Warren will clarify.
I always strive to be comfortable in my work. Too many times I have suffered the aches and pains of doing something "the quick way."
Maybe when I was young I could have made 1/16" shavings without breaking a sweat. Now it seems if I want to do a lot I have to do it with less effort. Maybe I could still take some very thick shavings, but the jarring to the joints and stress on the muscles would have me worn out very quick. Taking a lot of thinner shavings over a longer time frame allows me to do more work in total.
jtk
It feels like my body leaning forward allows me to see the work without hunching over.
I do know the aches & pains of having my head tilted in any one position for too much of the day.
jtk
I looked at Tom's video and saw how comfortable he looked. The way he held his head struck me as a part of the equation and the old drawings confirmed what I was thinking.
Here is a picture Derek posted earlier. Note head down, shoulders scrunched up, a tiring posture. He just doesn't look comfortable like Tom.
Attachment 339098
Thanks again for this thread Kees. It's really illustrated the difference between taking a few thin and whispys from machined planed wood vs preparing rough stock.
Nice vid Tom :)
I find my shoulder/elbow ahces increase when - as Warren says - I hit sudden stops, or hollows that shoot my arms quickly forward. I found this was occuring most when I try to increase my speed of planing (attack the board, if you will) and using mostly my arms.
After watching a few of David's videos, my interpretation of his approach is just to be more methodical with elbows close to the body and "walk" it through the cut - whether rough stock or not. I have found this method to greatly reduce the over extension from a sudden shot forward or the jolt from a sudden stop.
I agree Warren. Jeff Miller looks clumsy. I extracted these shots from a video of his. In my article they were used to illustrate the lowering of the body and the positioning of the arms. Nevertheless, he just did not look "loose" and comfortable to me.
I must add that pictures of all the woodworkers I posted - these included Frank Klausz, Chris Schwarz, Paul Sellers, David Charlesworth, Garrett Hack, myself - everyone was looking down at the work. The link once again is http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...omPlanes3.html
Regards from Perth
Derek
I've learned from this thread too. Most of the hours I've spent planing is matching smoothing plane texture that I find in old houses I work on. It's always been strange to me seeing restoration work done by others where their smoothing plane tracks are in straight lines for the length of a board, even in side by side, parallel lines. I've never seen this in old, original boards. I see now that they didn't have the motion down with their arms, and walked the plane down the board. I had never been able to figure this out before.
In the Cupola House, an otherwise(maybe) fine, complete restoration, every smoothing plane track in the house is in straight, parallel lines. If anyone is close to the original, if you go, look at the planed surfaces for me. I'd love to know.
The only time I walk the plane is running a joint, or flattening an edge of a face for the fence of another plane to ride on. There may be others, but they're not coming to mind right off.
Warren and Kee's are quite correct in pointing out that both arms do extend away from the body; but its important to note that the arms and shoulders do not bear the full load during the planning stroke; it is in effect a whole body movement; it is the combined effort of the hips and upper thigh muscles that redirect a lot of the pressure away from the shoulders and arms, whilst the lower body remains pressed against the side of the workbench and remain so until the completion of the stroke.
Stewie;
Well put, Stewie.
Regards from Perth
Derek
This is very interesting for me. I want to see the discussion continue. So far I have seen strategy for planing fairly close to the bench edge. What about the center of a 30"x 6' long table top. You can't keep your elbow close to your body in that case. My take is you have to adapt. You can only have that perfect form when working close to the edge. The other strategies would be helpful to me and others I would think.
Jim
Yes, almost every finished surface-casing, paneling, baseboards, doors, and any boards used as a wall surface in the less than formal rooms. Anything that wasn't scraped, and came out of a Joiners shop or "dressed" on site. This is in 18th, and 19th Century houses, and one 1920s house that I know of. I'm sure the average person never even notices. Even the people living in that 1920s house, for the second generation, had never noticed it until I pointed it out on door casing while we were sitting at the dining room table at a meal. It's not That obvious, and you have to have a low angle crossing light for it to really stand out.
Here's a link about the Cupola house: http://cupolahouse.org/association.php
Thanks Tom!
Not everyone has gorilla arms so I have seen examples of this where the person will literally climb onto the top (on a bench or other supports, even on the floor maybe) and do the necessary work from a kneeling position. Say for example you lay the top down on a clean piece of cardboard on the floor and kneel on the top and have at it. My knees would scream without some decent pads but it wouldn't be the worst position to do the work.