hand plane

[Dave Bagwill]

Hey that's a good site, thanks.
One quote from him: "You can buy less expensive planes but you will spend an awful lot of time faffing around with flatness and making the blade sit securely within the mechanism of the plane." - I quote this mainly because he uses a word - 'faffing' - that I have never heard before, but which I instantly love. :-)

[Tim Benware]

Faffing - 1. Time wasting/feckin' around; 2.to aimlessly waste time doing useless tasks; 3. the excessive use of time for nonsense activities

[Dave Bagwill]

Ergo, Tim - I'm a faffer from way back...


A friend of mine just emailed to say that he sometimes faffs after Mexican food...

[Kevin in California]

As soon as I can afford it, and I get a round tutit, I'm going to buy me a good hand plane or two.
I have older Stanley Baily planes, and they work pretty well, but I can only imagine how sweet a high dollar plane would be in my hands.... :>)

Kevin

[TonyinNYC]

I guess, to be more specific Tony, you - mi amigo, mon ami, - have forced me to say the following: a better plane does a better job, and does it more easily.
That's it, I'm done, what works for you works for you, I'm just sayin'.
I really don't want to upset a French Artiste! :-)

You are on my poopie list now!!



Nah. Just kidding. I dont actually have a poopie list.
I am sure a good, expensive plane does a great job. But I also know you can get a cheaper plane to do a very good job as well.
One big thing I read that causes problems with cheaper planes is that the chip break does not sit flat on the blade, thus defeating its purpose. I took a file and a little time and flattened my chip break and it made a world of difference in the kind of shavings I can take.
Also, having the frog set properly for the type of material you are working and the type of bite you want to take makes a big difference too. I am still learning how to adjust properly for the material I am working.
I am not against expensive planes, I am simply saying that if you are willing to invest some time, you can get an inexpensive plane, not a piece of $hit plane, an inexpensive plane, to do an excellent job.

[Paul C]

What and where is the chip break that is something new to me.

[Paul C]

Also faffing around is something you do when you dont have time to finish a certain task of building.