Lift up plane on return stroke?

[Prashun Patel]

Depends. I try to lift the heel and drag back, but on heavy flattening/scrubbing, I don't think about it.

[Daniel Rode]

I drag the plane back almost all the time. No downward pressure. Sometimes I remove the shaving at the end of the stroke, some times not.

[Brian Henderson]

I drag the plane back almost all the time. No downward pressure. Sometimes I remove the shaving at the end of the stroke, some times not.

I do only when they either start to clog the plane or get in the way, otherwise I never clear the shavings.

[Michael Ray Smith]

If you look at a lot of old planes you will notice worn toes. My guess is workers would lift the back of the plane on the back stroke but drag the toe.

jtk

That's an interesting thought, Jim. In flattening the soles of old planes, I've often noticed that the toe was higher than the rest of the sole. I assumed they made that way intentionally, but maybe they were just worn. Or both.

[Warren Mickley]

I made a jack plane in 1978, the only jack plane I have used since that time. I use the Jack plane on rough lumber. The front part of the plane naturally gets more wear because the wood is rougher before it hits the iron than after. The front of the plane is now 1/8 less in height than the back. In these 38 years it has always been completely lifted between strokes, never dragged. I have always lifted planes since 1962

I did an experiment last week with a smoothing plane. I set the plane to take about a .001 shaving and dragged it backwards on a 18" piece of hard maple 130 times. I used minimal pressure. Afterward the plane was so dull that it had trouble getting a bite, just would skid across the wood. Once the iron was sharpened again I took 130 shavings in the normal way and it was still sharp after the 130 passes on the same wood. I have long thought that dragging the iron was more dulling than planing. It is very painful to watch someone abusing the iron in this way.

[Curt Putnam]

That dragging the iron dulls seems logical, I think. Brings up the question of why, more or less precisely?

[Judson Green]

I made a jack plane in 1978, the only jack plane I have used since that time. I use the Jack plane on rough lumber. The front part of the plane naturally gets more wear because the wood is rougher before it hits the iron than after. The front of the plane is now 1/8 less in height than the back. In these 38 years it has always been completely lifted between strokes, never dragged. I have always lifted planes since 1962

I did an experiment last week with a smoothing plane. I set the plane to take about a .001 shaving and dragged it backwards on a 18" piece of hard maple 130 times. I used minimal pressure. Afterward the plane was so dull that it had trouble getting a bite, just would skid across the wood. Once the iron was sharpened again I took 130 shavings in the normal way and it was still sharp after the 130 passes on the same wood. I have long thought that dragging the iron was more dulling than planing. It is very painful to watch someone abusing the iron in this way.

Warren, thanks for doing and sharing this experiment with us. I for one will try and correct my technique.

[Matt Knights]

Only time I ever lift off is when taking really fine shavings, I have found that if I don't lift off then the shavings get pulled back through the mouth of the plane and then jam under the plane. I really don't see how pulling the plane back across the wood will blunt the blade as claimed by some, if it does it cant be that noticeable.

Matt

[Jim Koepke]

Warren, thanks for doing and sharing this experiment with us. I for one will try and correct my technique.

+1 on this Warren.

That dragging the iron dulls seems logical, I think. Brings up the question of why, more or less precisely?

It is likely somewhat like over stropping having the effect of dubbing a blade. With stropping one is trying to keep the flat of the back or bevel on the surface. With dragging a plane backwards it is mostly the edge of the blade in friction with the surface.

jtk

[Daniel Rode]

I have heard the claim that dragging the plane backward did not dull the iron and may, in fact, sharpen the iron slightly. The person who said it, was a respected woodworking teacher. It sounded off to me at the time, but I didn't give it much thought. Other information I've picked up from this person has been great.

Warren's experiment is, IMO, pretty clear and it matches what I thought intuitively. I usually find decades of practical experience particularly convincing.

As a result, I'm also going to try to improve my technique and lift the plane on the return stroke.

Thanks again, Warren!

[Pat Barry]

I did an experiment last week with a smoothing plane. I set the plane to take about a .001 shaving and dragged it backwards on a 18" piece of hard maple 130 times. I used minimal pressure. Afterward the plane was so dull that it had trouble getting a bite, just would skid across the wood. Once the iron was sharpened again I took 130 shavings in the normal way and it was still sharp after the 130 passes on the same wood. I have long thought that dragging the iron was more dulling than planing. It is very painful to watch someone abusing the iron in this way.

Warren, please clarify the first statement regarding your 130 pass experiment for the record. Was that 130 return passes only, or 130 bi-directional passes? I could see that the return passes ended up causing the plane edge to roll over and dull after that much abuse. I wonder if the back and forth would realize the same result?

[Mel Fulks]

My thanks to Warren,too .Knowing the expiriment was done by someone highly skilled is a real convincer. If I did the expiriment I would not trust result because of unintended variables.

[Warren Mickley]

About the experiment- I actually turned the plane around and pushed it backwards with less than normal pressure and lifted it on the return stroke; it did not cut normally at all during the experiment. So it showed that just dragging in the reverse direction dulled the iron. It is possible that the iron would have fared better if it was held constantly on the wood going back and forth. At the end it acted like plane where there was not enough clearance angle, so I presume there was a pretty good wear bevel parallel to the sole.

I would have experimented more with different numbers of strokes or different woods, but I found it very painful to carry out the experiment, against all instincts. It also seemed that the iron had to be sharpened several times before it was returned to its normal feel.

[Pat Barry]

About the experiment- I actually turned the plane around and pushed it backwards with less than normal pressure and lifted it on the return stroke; it did not cut normally at all during the experiment. So it showed that just dragging in the reverse direction dulled the iron. It is possible that the iron would have fared better if it was held constantly on the wood going back and forth. At the end it acted like plane where there was not enough clearance angle, so I presume there was a pretty good wear bevel parallel to the sole.

I would have experimented more with different numbers of strokes or different woods, but I found it very painful to carry out the experiment, against all instincts. It also seemed that the iron had to be sharpened several times before it was returned to its normal feel.

Thanks for clarifying Warren. Dragging the plane back certainly accelerates the blade wear and I bet that it wears at least twice as fast as compared to lifting on the return stroke as you and others have noted as a best practice.

[Patrick Chase]

I have heard the claim that dragging the plane backward did not dull the iron and in fact may, in fact, sharpen the iron slightly. The person who said it, was a respected woodworking teacher. It sounded off to me at the time, but I didn't give it much thought. Other information I've picked up from this person has been great.

Woodworking is full of creative, virtuoso-level practitioners who succeed despite the fact that they have some exceedingly strange ideas about how the world works.

I think Warren hit the nail on the head here. I'd never bothered to try the experiment he did, but that's exactly what I would expect to happen and why I've always lifted my blades between strokes (though being lazy I allow the nose of the plane to lightly drag). Thanks, Warren!