Hand Planing Help Request

[Greg Patterson]

Hi, all. I need some help with my hand planing technique. I am still relatively new to planing boards and I am jointing edges for multiple glue-ups (panels for cabinet doors.) I am placing the boards in a vise for planing the edge. Invariably the boards are not square with the side of the edge closer to the bench always being "higher" than the side of the edge facing me.

I am using a LN No. 7 and I have put a slight camber on the blade. I am careful to keep the plane lined up in the center of the edge so I am not worried about that - and the problem has persisted through multiple sharpenings so I am not worried about consistently setting the blade off center. The problem is worse if I have to take coarser shavings (jack or scrub plane). Any thoughts? I seem to be somehow putting more pressure on the side nearest me and I can't figure out how. I would appreciate any advice that you can offer.

Thanks!

[Anthony Moumar]

Seems like most people tend to take a heavier cut on one side of the board when jointing the edge. Seeing as you have a camber on your iron you could try moving the plane off centre so that the middle of the blade is over your high side. By doing that you will take a deeper cut on that side countering the problem. Might not be best practice but it works for me.

[Roy Lindberry]

Hi, all. I need some help with my hand planing technique. I am still relatively new to planing boards and I am jointing edges for multiple glue-ups (panels for cabinet doors.) I am placing the boards in a vise for planing the edge. Invariably the boards are not square with the side of the edge closer to the bench always being "higher" than the side of the edge facing me.

I am using a LN No. 7 and I have put a slight camber on the blade. I am careful to keep the plane lined up in the center of the edge so I am not worried about that - and the problem has persisted through multiple sharpenings so I am not worried about consistently setting the blade off center. The problem is worse if I have to take coarser shavings (jack or scrub plane). Any thoughts? I seem to be somehow putting more pressure on the side nearest me and I can't figure out how. I would appreciate any advice that you can offer.

Thanks!

Hi Greg. Welcome.

In terms of helping your technique I can only offer the solutions that helped me, as I had the exact same problem. My first problem was that I was using a machinists vise that was mounted on a bench and put the work higher than desirable. By having the work too high, it threw my body mechanics off and caused me to consistently work heavy on my right side (I am right handed). I made a makeshift bench at about waist height, and things improved dramatically right off.

The second thing that helped was taking my front hand off of the knob, and simply putting my thumb on the toe of the plane behind the knob, curling my fingers around the sole of the plane to touch the workpiece. With a little practice, this will give you a tremendous feel for how the plane is riding on the piece, as well as to place a slight amount of torque on the side of the plane toward your body.

With all that said, even with a much improved technique, I still don't always have perfect edges. Since you plane with a camber, fixing the issue once it has happened is relatively easy. Simply put the center of the iron over the high edge of the board for a couple of passes and work back to the center. If that isn't getting the job done, I will sometimes adjust the iron laterally to take a heavier cut on the high side and continue planing down the center. I prefer the camber method, because I don't like to continually be messing with the lateral adjustment.

And though it sounds cliche, practice, practice, practice.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

If the width of the plane blade is enough in regards to the stock you're jointing, the obvious solution is to joint both boards at the same time, so any out-of-square cancels itself with glue-up.

A little mis-alignment in the plane blade laterally can get things started on the wrong foot, and continue to make things worse as you go along. If you watch some of the Lie Nielsen set-up videos, (or others) you'll see they often set the blade with a bit of wood, making sure it's taking an even shaving along it's width, or with a slightly cambered blade, a slightly thicker shaving in the center. I don't prefer to do it the way I've seen some folks show it, running a small scrap across the sole, holding the plane upside down - rather, I like to chuck a 1/4" board in the end vise. You might get by fine with the lateral adjustment lever on the Lie Nielsen, being a nice plane - but I prefer to make these small adjustments with light hammer taps on the back end of the iron.

The other thing to look at, at least I find it effects me quite a bit, is your stance. What "feels" straight may not actually be straight depending on how you stand. A thumb under the sole of the plane in front can help keep you square, as well.

[Sean Hughto]

Are you ripping to width with a well adjusted table saw? If so, you may not need to do much plane jointing before gluing up door panels - if the saw has a decent blade, they may come off the saw ready to glue. If the saw leaves swirls a blade marks or burn spots, a couple gentle passes with a smoother that does little to change the angle, but instead just removes the marks, may be enough.

if you want to get better at jointing by hand, get out a try square to check as you go. You can also attach a fence to you jointer. You can plane both boards at the same time if they thin enough and your plane is wide enough. You can set up a shooting board kind of arrangement on you bench top where the plane lays on its side. You also might consider an edge plane (Veritas and LN have great ones).

[Jim Koepke]

Greg,

Welcome to the Creek.

Hi, all. I need some help with my hand planing technique. I am still relatively new to planing boards and I am jointing edges for multiple glue-ups (panels for cabinet doors.) I am placing the boards in a vise for planing the edge. Invariably the boards are not square with the side of the edge closer to the bench always being "higher" than the side of the edge facing me.

This is a common occurrence even for people who have been using planes for years.

Here is something I wrote a few years ago on getting started with using hand planes:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?148076

It is somewhat hidden to those who do not know the path.

Forum > Woodworking by Hand and Specialties > Neanderthal Haven > Neanderthal Haven Announcements > Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs

There is a lot of useful information archived in the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs section.

The post on how I work with my out of square planing is at the end.

The fundamental idea behind it is knowing how thick ones shavings are and knowing how much (in shaving thickness) one's work is out of square.

This is not done with on the spot measurements. It comes with experience. The more one learns about woodworking the more one learns to put the measuring devices away and to use comparison measurements.

When a square shows an out of square edge the plane is set on the high side and takes a very narrow shaving off of the edge. On the next pass the plane is set on the flat and will take a slightly wider shaving. This is repeated until there is a full width shaving.

The beauty of this method is one eventually gets the feel of square and finds more often than not they do not have to adjust their work.

At least it has worked for me.

I do not camber most of my plane's blades.

Once my lateral adjustment is set I do not like to use it to make uneven shavings. My preference is to adjust my hold on the plane.

As always people may find other methods that work better for them. So... YMMV!!!.jpg

jtk

[Greg Patterson]

Hi, all. Thanks for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it! I also appreciate all of your advice. Since I am a weekend warrior I will have to wait until Saturday to try everything out. I will keep you posted.

Thanks,

Greg