Hey Derek Is This Your Plane ?

[Derek Cohen]

Derek,I never did find out . . . is that plane Konrad is talking about in the vid your plane?

I wish.

My only truly premium plane is a Marcou S15 smoother. Whatever else I have is either restored (such as a Spier smoother) or built by my own (not so) little hands. LV ad LN planes are exceptional performers, and I have several of each, but price-wise they are far from the Sauers of this world.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[david charlesworth]

I am 6'1" tall and my favorite bench is 40" tall.

One thing I notice, is a lot is people planing, principally with arms, often leaning over a tail vice.

Personally I prefer to plane against a stop or dog and use my legs as much as possible. More power and more control.

When the work is long, I tuck my right elbow into my ribs and walk slowly along.

best wishes,
David

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi David. Did you enjoy listening to Konrad's view about the benefits of a cap iron.

Stewie;

[david charlesworth]

Stewie,

Yes, enjoyed that. The Kato & Kawai research and video suggest otherwise !!

I think that was not his own bench. There is a lot of arm in that planing.

A board that long can easily be planed by rocking back and forward with the legs, keeping elbows tucked in against ribs.

best,
David

[Winton Applegate]

Derek,
I misunderstood. I thought you owned the plane you spoke of in this post.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Derek

I've taken a look at a few now based on that. None as extreme as my butchery but I was wanting to remove stock and work briskly. Just a quick looks seems to show Garret Hack when working briskly the elbow comes up and then lowers.

Garret Hack https://youtu.be/f_jVcgnGPxM?t=1m48s

Also Frank Strazza seems to be comfortable having the elbow higher https://youtu.be/3LBbxC9KQBY?t=17m27s

Paul Sellers with a higher elbow at the start and then lower at the end https://youtu.be/I2lvF8-nc_Q?t=38m52s & https://youtu.be/10RPOPBTwZA?t=5m39s and that even using a taller workbench!

Someone who really fit's the bill a wonderful craftsperson https://youtu.be/x4N0KHV0n1g?t=5m6s Alan Peters.

Similar raising of the elbow by Rob Cosman https://youtu.be/MYM08CSopNA?t=10m48s

Quite a diverse bunch there who have a higher elbow at the start and a lower elbow at the end.

Revisiting your article again David seems to have the "Perfect" stance and grip, but that was to be expected!

Hi Graham

I'll begin by noting that Garrett, in the video (which is one I used), comments "keep your body low" (or something like that).

The context of the elbow, which you refer to, is actually about the force vector on the plane handle - where one grips and pushes for maximum force. What I pointed out in my article is that the force shown by all I looked at (and it is replicated above as well) is horizontal-forward, rather than diagnonal-down. The height if the elbow can be misleading; one must look at the forearm and, especially, the wrist - if you examine this carefully, you will see that they all are square to the plane, and pushing forward from the lower, vertical section of the handle. This is brought across even more in the Alan Peters video, since he was weakened by his illness and having to find the most efficient power position he could.

As David noted, he walks along. As I mentioned in the article, ideally we keep our body low and push from the waist and buttocks, not the arms and shoulders. David made similar references.

What all this had to do with is handle design, and why a more vertical handle seems to be beneficial, especially so in the heavier planes.

Regards from Perth

Derek