"For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert
Thanks for the follow-up post Steve. I'd seen your comment on the other thread and was curious. This post scratched my itch!
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Details are everything of course. The fillets and gouge cuts must be a signature of sorts yet very stressful to the maker. I mean, you've done all that work to get the plane cut and fitted and finished just right, and working to make the kind of shavings you aspire to, and then you have to cut that final little detail to get it just right. Yikes, there must be a lot of stress involved in these final little details. For the particular detail being illustrated her, what is the backup plan?
Steve I like yours the best. Do you have a layaway plan or factory seconds. I would really like one of your planes but they are out of my budget. I would really like to experience the beauty of the burnish a woody does to wood. I will have to wait until I have the skills to try and make on myself
Last edited by Chuck Hart; 05-19-2016 at 1:28 AM.
Hi Steve
I also prefer the style you are doing. I've tended to do a smooth transition mostly, which are the least interesting now I compare them all, and ironically they are the more difficult to do. Rather than gouges, I've used round files to shape the hollow.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek,using a file would be the safest approach. But,there is a nice little moment of satisfaction when you take a gouge and cut that detail with a single snick! And do it consistently. When you make a lot of planes,you get to that point. And,a very sharp,polished edged gouge leaves a polish on the wood. Especially nice when looking at the large ones seen on the ends of molding planes such as Steve illustrated.
Last edited by george wilson; 05-19-2016 at 8:45 AM.
Chuck, my "factory" is smaller than my bedroom, so no factory seconds! I assure you I am not getting rich off these, but I can totally understand the sticker shock…I recommend trying to acquire a vintage woodie in decent shape. You might want to keep an eye on Josh clark's site, hyperkitten. He often sells woodies in good, usable condition for $50-$100. They tend to go fast though.
"For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert
Hi George
No doubt they do create a sharp, polished edge. But first one has to have a gouge. I had to find an alternative method. The gouges I now have are a fairly recent acquisition.
Regards from Perth
Derek
I imagine for someone who's done hundreds it's not stressful, but I still find it so. The backup plan is, first, don't screw up! But second, if you do screw up, remove material from the side and/or ends. For a very minor glitch, card scraping the side in the area of the gouge cut can buy you enough room to have another go. For a bigger screw up, you'd have to plane the side and/or end, and then recut the long and/or stopped chamfer. Best not to have that happen.
"For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert
Thanks for sharing. I was actually studying this same topic. Here is a well done termination on a sliding deadman that is NOT MY WORK, or my image, but I saved it as a reference because I liked it so much. The photo really does it proper justice as well.
image.jpeg
Derek and George, I did my first half dozen planes with a rat tail file, then acquired some gouges. The gouges are much faster, and leave a crisper, cleaner edge. I never do anything to clean up the gouge cuts; they are ready to finish, as-is. I tend to nibble away George; I have not gotten a nice finish with heavy cuts. I'll ideally take a thin full-width shaving at the end, though it doesn't always work out that way.
"For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert
Thanks for the review Steve. It's very relevant to some work I'm doing: yet another iteration of my kerfing plane. Seeing the wide range of these details is inspirational; I'm especially taken by the undercut style; for some reason, the sharp edge aesthetic doesn't appeal to me. I was always wondering if these edge details have some functional value on top of making a plane look awesome.
Knocking a corner off with a gouge isn't a real heavy cut. Try doing it in 2 cuts. The first to get oriented.
Steve thanks for the response. I was trying to be humorous with my post. You deserve every dollar you make from your work it is beautiful and well respected. I am just too cheap to spend that kind of money on myself. I know Josh but he has not had much in inventory lately. The avatar I use is a plane I bought from Josh. I wish you much luck in your endeavor.