Push and drag back or pick up your plane?

[Mark Dorman]

I've always thought plane stops were a good idea; but if you drag your plane back they don't work very well. Light bulb comes on and plane stops work because you don't drag your plane back.

Question is; is the effort to (I'm currently planing 39" long red oak about 6" wide) pick up my #8 to preserve the blade less than the effort spent to keep it sharp if I drag it back?

[David Weaver]

Probably not. Do whatever keeps you working. If it's tiring to consciously lift the plane, then don't bother with it, just sharpen the plane when it needs to be sharpened.

Instead of lifting a plane, I usually let the toe drag. That's a reduction of effort without letting the iron wear when making a back stroke, and it doesn't require the rhythm killing that lifting the entire plane does.

One aside, if you're doing gobs and gobs of swipes with a big #8 on the face of a board, you might want to do some preliminary with lighter plane where there are problems...or a fore plane if the wood calls for it. The jointer and smoother should do little more than enough to remove the marks from a coarser plane.

[Dave Beauchesne]

Mark:

Your question was never a thing I thought about in the past - I was at the LN Hand Tool Event in Vancouver on the weekend, and Deneb
from LN was instructing another chap about not dragging the plane backwards, but tilt it slightly to the side on the back stroke so as to support the weight and not tire yourself out prematurely by having to lift several pounds up in the air every stroke.

I thought about it and that was what I was doing sub-consciously - just a fluke as no one ever schooled me that way.

FWIW - - - - - good luck !!

Dave B

[Tom Blank]

Christopher Schwarz has an article about dragging/lifting planes on the return stroke on the Popular Woodworking Magazine website today.

[Chris Griggs]

If my boards are clamped in vise I often drag my planes back. For plane stops I am more likely to lift it a bit so I don't pull the board off the bench when I pull the plane back..however, if you keep your soles waxed or are using wooden planes this isn't an issue nearly as much. Its one of the reasons I've come to favor my transitional jack as my main roughing plane.

RE: Dave Bs point. Deneb showed my that at a show once too. I've taken to using it some. He advocated this (turning the plane up on edge) not so much for edge retention or fatigue, but because lessen the potential for shaving stay under the sole and get backed up in the mouth...I have found that he is right.

[Don Dorn]

With all respect to Mr. Pulchaski, Frank Klausz advises to do that in his "Hand Tool" video of long ago. I make some effort, but don't worry about it a great deal as sharpening takes a minute or so and I haven't personally notiiced any appreciable degradation of the edge.

[Bobby O'Neal]

I think David Weaver is right on. Do what works for you. I also definitely agree with the idea that one plane sets up another. One of the things I really enjoy about planing is the relationship between the planes themselves. It's enjoyable to feel them working in conjunction with each other under your hands.

I tend to drag everything back except a smoother. I consider all my bench planes but the smoother to be varying levels of "roughing" tools so its not a big deal to me if they are dulled a little quicker or if they just aren't quite as sharp. I do give a bit more attention to the jointer so I don't make life harder on the smoother but not so much that I won't drag back on each stroke. I put a high premium on momentum and rhythm up until its time to finish with a smoother and at that point the premium shifts to patience and finish results and certainly edge retention comes into play here.

Again, it's whatever works for you. Try one way or the other and compare results. You may be sharpening more often or you may be planing slower. Something always gives but one will fit your taste better than the other.

[Mark Dorman]

I think David Weaver is right on. Do what works for you. I also definitely agree with the idea that one plane sets up another. One of the things I really enjoy about planing is the relationship between the planes themselves.

I put a high premium on momentum and rhythm up until its time to finish with a smoother and at that point the premium shifts to patience and finish results and certainly edge retention comes into play here.

Good stuff there and thanks for the input. I probably do over use my #8. Sharpening more is actually why I made a sharpening station about a step and half behind me when I'm at the bench. Convenience promotes use.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Convenience promotes use.

Well said.

[Jim Neeley]

One consideration, should you decided to drag the plane backwards (which I sometimes do):

Consider pulling the fresh shaving out from the plane before dragging backward. This prevents it from being drawn back down through the throat during the backslide.

Otherwise this shaving can behave as a wedge under the front (or one side) of your plane and may goober up consistent cuts on your next stroke.

Jim

[Mark Dorman]

A shaving getting pulled back in defiantly breaks your rhythm.

[Marco Cecala]

I cannot understand how all that force pushing has anything to do with the slight drag on the return. The blade undergoes much more stress during cutting that dragging the plane on the return is as easy as stroking a cat the way the fur grows.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I don't understand, either, Marco - but after surfacing a lot of rough lumber by hand during my bench build, and trying both ways a few times, I'm convinced dragging the plane back dulls the blade faster. Faster enough to really matter? No, I can just re-sharpen my tools. But I do try and not drag with my smoother if I'm trying to maintain the keenest edge I can there.

It's particularly easy to notice when you're scrubbing lumber across the grain with a cambered iron, because you're often making a lot of choppy strokes very quickly, so I get the feeling the plane travels more linear feet in a shorter amount of time than planing with the grain, making the effect noticeable quicker.

[Chris Griggs]

I don't think that it somehow wears the blade more than the pushstroke. Its just that it is additonal wear on the blade as the blade is rubbing on the wood when you pull it back and any additional wear will potentially dull something faster. Honestly, I've never paid attention to if or how much it effects edge longevity. I often drag my planes back, but the concept that it would wear the blade faster makes perfect sense.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Chirs is right on. If planing forward wears the blade 2x, and dragging back wears the blade only .25x (just making up numbers here), dragging back after a forward stroke means you've worn the blade 2.25x. The additional .25x might not seem like much more wear, but you've still only accomplished the same amount of work with that greater wear.

Depending on how you work, you may not even notice it. When I was making drawers for my tool cabinet, I planed down a bunch of stock in a brief amount of time and then got to work with the saws and chisels. I sharpened my plane blades next time I started something. If you sharpen regularly like that, and don't do an extended session of planing, it's apt to not make much difference at all. When I was working on my bench, I spent enough time planing stock down that I needed to sharpen my planes in the middle of working. That's when you start to see the effects. Planing rough lumber, or something like cocobolo or something that is gritty also makes the effect more pronounced.

The rub, of course, is that those long planing sessions where you're more apt to notice the effects are also the ones where you're tired enough as you work that lifting the plane on the return stroke starts to seem like work!