Thoughts while planing

Yesterday, I was preparing some nice pieces of figured walnut.  I flattened one side with a #5, then put them through the planer resulting, as expected, in tearout.  This was the next step:

Several observations:

1. I am continually amazed by the capabilities of this low angle bevel up smoother.  With a 50 degree blade, for a cutting angle of 62 degrees, I was able to get shavings as thin as .001".  In short order, the tearout was gone.  With intermediate sharpening skills, anyone can do this quite readily.  Yes, I know, I've watched Graham Blackburn do the same thing with a well-tuned Sears plane from the fifties.  Consider this though.  Less than a minute later, I can be shooting the end grain with a 25 degree blade and 37 degree cutting angle.  A toothed blade is also available.  The rest of my bench planes are Baileys and are perfectly fine.  This smoother is not essential, but is nice to have.  I have no desire to own any other premium bench planes, however.  
2. My year of living without a vise on my bench, other than the Moxon portable one, is going very well.  In this picture, you see a vertical planing stop, a horizontal planing stop, and a side planing stop.  It is so quick, convenient and effective to work this way.  I don't know whether I will end up with a bench vise or not but I understand now why the standard Nicholson front vise is more than adequate. 
3. I have had substantial reservations about making my bench only 34" high.  When I stand normally, it is midway between the pinky test and flat palm heights, but it feels too low, especially for planing.  Today, I noticed myself adopting a wide stance with bent knees (not that one!) to be comfortable for planing and it occurred to me that maybe that's the answer.  It lowers your upper body several inches.  A wide stance is stable and powerful, and it also allows you to plane a greater distance without taking a step.  You put your whole body into it.  Because I have sufficient upper body strength, I have never felt the need for using my legs and it will take some getting used to.  It's either that or raise the bench.    I think the current height would be fine if I used wooden planes though.
4. Compare the totes on the modern smoother and vintage Bailey #4 in the picture below.  The angles are quite different.  The Bailey is more comfortable to use on a lower bench.  

Roubo bookstand--21st century edition

Some projects are just plain fun, and the Roubo bookstand is definitely one of them.  Published in his book of 1769, it is ingenious, attractive and practical.  It can be built in an afternoon or evening and you'll find it hard to suppress a smile when the board magically opens up with a small splitting sound to reveal the bookstand.  I will be making several from walnut to give to family members, but I wanted to refine my technique and design first by making one more in alder:

These pictures are "off the saw" prior to refinement of the hinge. which turns out to be quite easy.  Perhaps this is a rationalization, but I found that some looseness in the hinge is preferable.  As you can see from the picture, the hinge rests on the perpendicular faces of the board when open, so it doesn't affect the stability of the stand.  I find the lines of this hinge when open very attractive.

What makes it a 21st century edition?  First, rather than the traditional edge treatment, as in this plan by Roy Underhill, I wanted to come up with an alternative that wouldn't draw the eye away from what I want to be the focal point:  the hinge.  I experimented with an alternative, which seems to me a little less prominent.  Second, it is sized for an e-reader or tablet computer, an idea I got by seeing popular accessories available for them.  Finally, I wanted to see how it would look with seven hinge sections rather than five.

There are quite a number of good videos available online showing how the bookstand is created, several of which I post links to below.  I offer just a few observations.

You should definitely not be bound by any predetermined plan or dimensions.  Any board you have  that suits you is fine.  Dividers, a square and a marking gauge are all you need to lay it out.  Locate the hinge at about one-third of the length of the board.  Subdivide its width into an odd number of hinge sections, probably at least five.  Seven is more work and doesn't seem to add much.  The stand works fine even if it is substantially narrower than the open book you put on it.

It is important when chiseling out the hinge to get the bevel very accurate.  You want the hinge leaves to be identical when the stand is open and you want to avoid unsightly splitting when you open the hinge.  Either use a thin ruler or a chisel with blue tape on it at the right depth like Chris Schwarz does.  If you start on the same line and bevel to a uniform depth that will meet the resaw cut, you're good.  Some people use a chisel guide, but I don't think it is necessary.

The most difficult part of this project for me is getting a nice straight, cut along the vertical edges of the hinge sections.  I tried it both ways and think it is better to make these cuts before creating the bevels because it defines the hinge sections.  Roy Underhill has a traditional method that I tried on my last prototype.  I made a little pointed saw from a hacksaw blade like he suggests but I found that opening up the cut from a small hole is very tedious.  This was confirmed by someone who took the course at his school.  For this one, I tried Chris Schwarz's approach of cutting off the pins from a coping saw blade and using it with your fingers.  It works, but I had difficulty sawing straight with such a flexible blade.  I did improve as I went along, mainly by first making angled cuts from the starting hole down each side to serve as a guide for the blade.  One online video shows it being done with the Knew Concepts fretsaw, which uses pinless blades that will fit through a very small hole.  I suspect this is the best way to do it.  If you have ideas, please share them in a comment.

So, grab a scrap and have some fun.

Chris Schwarz video

Roy Underhill program

Youtube video

Are you flat on your back?

I think of bench chisels as the fundamental woodworking tool, so I have been fascinated by the debate  over flattening their backs.  The consensus of expert opinion is that you should expend a great deal of time and effort flattening the backs of your chisels a considerable distance back from the edge.  Frankly, doing so is extremely tedious and it is even possible to destroy a narrow chisel if you don't pay attention.  Trust me, I know.  Alternatively, you can buy premium chisels with backs that are already flat, like I did after this embarrassing incident.

Then, lightning struck.  Bob Rozaieski and Adam Cherubini suggested that chisels didn't usually have flat backs in the eighteenth century and argued against arduous efforts to flatten the backs of chisels.  I am not an expert, but I do know that the back doesn't have to be flat to create a perfectly sharp cutting edge.  The accepted wisdom is particularly curious because of the widespread adoption of the "ruler trick" for plane blades:  you use a thin metal ruler on your honing surface to create a shallow, narrow bevel on the back of your plane blade to save time and effort.  We are admonished never to do this to a chisel.

The argument I've read for not using the ruler trick on chisels is that it would impede paring because you want the chisel back to ride on a reference surface and trim in the same plane.  Let's think about that.  The ruler I use for the ruler trick is .02" thick and I generally rub the cutting edge on the stone about 2" from it, so, if I remember my trig right, the back bevel angle is about .57 degrees.  If you assume I hone a back bevel of 1/16", the cutting edge is raised .0006" above the reference surface when I pare.  Yes, it's an issue, but a mighty small one and it can be counteracted by raising the handle slightly.  Maybe there's an argument for tedious flattening of backs, but I haven't read a convincing one.

In all other chisel operations I can think of, the back bevel is actually a slight advantage.  We all know that, when we chop, the chisel will move away from the bevel because it makes the chisel want to dive and there is no reference surface to prevent it.  The back bevel tends to counteract this slightly.

Draw your own conclusion.  Mine is to not worry about being flat on my (chisel) back.  My premium chisels came flat, so I leave them that way.  I use the ruler trick on my second set.

For me, this debate raises a more basic question.  Maybe some of the other consensus rules we accept should be reexamined.  At the least, it is useful to ask ourselves why from time to time.

Essential power tools

There is an interesting thread on one of the forums I read about what power tools are essential in a hand tool shop.  Of course history proves none are really essential and I can definitely imagine not having any.  The lists vary but many of them include a bandsaw, a thickness planer and a drill press.  I'd add a cordless drill and call it good.

It's not that you have to have any of these tools.  If I someday have space limitations I will do without them, but they are nice to have.

I have begun reducing my power tools.  Last year I sold my tablesaw, a major step symbolically and substantively.  I won't say that I never miss it, but I am getting along just fine without it.  The chopsaw is next.  I have a miter box.  The tailed jointer gets used very little, isn't necessary and, at 6" wide, is very limiting anyway.  However, I use my bandsaw all the time and would really hate to be without it. It would be the last power tool I parted with.  I would really like to keep the thickness planer.  The drill press is convenient.

I keep looking at the router table.  I'd like to get rid of the screaming beast but the step to the hand tool equivalent is a really big one if you are going to replicate its functionality.  I purchased a plow plane, a router plane and a shoulder plane and use them regularly, so my use of the router table has declined a lot. The three of them together cost a whole lot more than the router and table.  The thing to do next is purchase one hollow and one round.

I don't look forward to sharpening them.  Truth be told, the major impediment to adopting hand tools for me is sharpening.  Sharpening really is a gateway skill.  Chisels, planes, scrapers, spokeshaves, handsaws . . . all demand that the woodworker be able to sharpen.  This is very unlike power tools where you use a blade and throw it away or can send it out periodically to be sharpened.  I've gotten reasonably good at sharpening straight blades in their many forms, have a good beginning on sharpening handsaws and am turning to curved blades.

Ironically, many hand tool woodworkers rely on power tools for sharpening.  There's definitely an argument for them; I bought one and use it periodically, but it's not a silver bullet.  I tend to think you should sharpen your hand tools with hand tools, but that's just me.

Get woodworking #4

With the addition of a few measuring and marking tools and a cordless drill, the focus can turn to projects.  Tools and techniques would be acquired as needed to complete the projects.  I'd have them start by building a couple of saw benches like the one I built.  Very easy and functional.  Then, it's time for a Nicholson bench built from construction lumber, like the ones Bob Rozaieski and Mike Siemsen made.  Mike told me he will be publishing an article on building a highly simplified one in a day for $100.  After that, I'd have the beginner go through Bob Rozaieski's tools and techniques podcasts, starting here.  I also like the project series for beginners in Jim Tolpin's The New Traditional Woodworker.  You learn techniques while constructing useful tools.

I came to hand tool woodworking from power tool woodworking with a fully equipped workshop, so my introduction was different.  I can easily date the exact moment it began:  December 14, 2009.  That was the date Bob Rozaieski posted his first podcast on the Porringer tea table.  This beautiful little table is an ideal hand tool project and really opens your eyes to what is possible with hand tools.  Bob's step by step introduction to hand tool techniques is very accessible.  For me, making cabriole legs was a turning point.  I made a first version from alder I had, then a second and finally a third from claro walnut.  I benefited from this project immeasurably.

The main point I have tried to make in my contribution to this discussion is the importance of lowering barriers to entry in time, cost and skill.  We need to make it as easy as we possibly can to get started.

Get woodworking #3

Saws are next.  Bob Rozaieski has a good video on handsaws for beginners here which I agree with, but I have a couple of observations.

Bob is all hand tools, and I have learned a lot from him, but I choose to use some power tools and I think most beginners will want to as well.   What is the best power saw to recommend to a beginner?  I learned from my son, who is a first time homeowner.  He had no interest in woodworking growing up and is just now accumulating a few tools.   To my surprise, when  he needed a saw, he bought a jigsaw.  The more I thought about this, the more sense it made to me, particularly for a mostly hand tool woodworker.  Like many, I sold my table saw but kept a good bandsaw as I transitioned.  A jigsaw serves a similar purpose at much lower cost.   Thinking about it as the only power saw for a beginning woodworker, I went out in the shop and tried a few straight rip and crosscuts using my jigsaw and a speed square.  It worked pretty well and, with the plane, it could be cleaned up fine.  I know this may seem like an odd choice, but, again, I am trying to lower the barriers to entry in time and cost.

One of the advantages of having the jigsaw is that it gives a beginning woodworker an interim solution while they look for and refurbish the set of hand saws Bob is talking about.  That takes time.  Where I live, hand saws seem to be the one vintage hand tool you can reliably find at low cost.  The problem, of course, is sharpening them.  When I acquired my handsaws, I was lucky to find a local sharpening service that still had the equipment and knowledge to do a basic job of retoothing and sharpening.  It cost me less than $20 per saw.  If I hadn't found them, I likely would have sent the saws to Bob.  It's a lot easier to take up handsaw sharpening if you start from a good point.  Once again, lowering a barrier to entry.

While the beginner is looking for handsaws, the first projects I have in mind can be built with the jigsaw.  Or, they can just go to the hardware store and buy a $20 handsaw, which will be nice to have around for cutting plywood.

Get woodworking #2

After getting the chisel sharp, I would take the beginner through a series of lessons demonstrating various uses of chisels, but I'll skip those here as readers of this blog are familiar with what they would contain.

What's next?  So far, I've spent about $90 of the beginner's money and next comes the biggest expenditure I would recommend.  A plane is the next tool logically; after all they're just chisels in guides.  My opinion is that, if you can afford it, you should own one new premium plane and it should be your first (I'm ignoring wooden planes for the simple reason that I know little about them.).  It's what I did by accident and I consider myself lucky.  The new plane works right out of the box, important since the beginner doesn't know how a plane should work.  A second reason is that I think you need to own one low angle, bevel up plane, one with square sides that is suitable for shooting.  Equipped with three or more blades, it has unmatched versatility and simplicity.  You'll never outgrow it.

This is a big expenditure, about $300, a major hurdle for a beginner.  You can definitely do without it.  The other alternative is to have the beginner get an old #5 and refurbish it, which might well be preferable.  I'd have them follow Bob Rozaieski's video.

This is a major departure from my friend Bob's recommendations in his podcast series and I definitely respect his opinion.  The smoother and extra blades I bought cost more than the seven old planes combined that I own.  I have never wanted another new premium bench plane, but I am really glad it was my first plane and I am glad that I have it.  If, as their skills increase, they decide they don't want it, it could easily be sold at a good price.

The bad news is, they've spent almost $400; the good news, it gets a lot cheaper the rest of the way.  As I look at my tool chest, I can honestly say that there isn't another new premium tool in it that I really need.  I have a number and I really like them, but I don't need them.  There are good vintage alternatives for all of them.  As I've gone along, I have enjoyed finding and refurbishing vintage tools more and more.

Get woodworking #1

As many of you know, this week we are all supposed to post ideas to help folks get into woodworking.  This is a subject I have been thinking about for some time and I have some unorthodox ideas.  Being closer to my own starting point than many experts, and having a background in education are advantages, at least in some ways.

As an economist, I am inclined to think that the major barrier to becoming a woodworking hobbyist is high barriers to entry in time, money and skill.  Stop and think how much it would cost you in time and/or money and/or skill to replicate your tool collection.  Think how much time you have invested in acquiring the many skills involved to use the tools effectively and, if you have taken classes, the cost involved.  These barriers to entry are a substantial deterrent, discouraging many who are interested.

So, my contribution to the discussion is thinking about how to lower these barriers to entry, in large part based on my own experience.  We need to radically simplify, get down to the minimum things for beginners to learn at first.  Remember the 80/20 rule?  My suggestion is that it is a mistake to start building things right away.  Think about learning golf.  Would you just go out and play?  I think it is better to get some lessons, in person if possible online if not, and spend a fair amount of time at the driving range and practice green first.  The goal should be to minimize the barriers to entry in time, money and skill.

Sharpening is a gateway skill without which you cannot enjoy woodworking and cannot do good work.  I personally wasted a great deal of time, money and effort trying to sharpen effectively when I began.  Expert discussion is often not helpful because techniques appropriate for experts can be extremely frustrating for beginners and opinion is sharply divided among many alternatives.   I think the place to begin is learning how to sharpen a chisel so that it is very sharp.  I'd argue that most other sharpening is an extension in some way.  The method needs to minimize the time, money and skill required.  We want early success.

For obvious reasons, sandpaper on plate glass is the least cost and simplest.  Yes, you will graduate but this is the method to begin with.  Sharpening a chisel on a piece of sandpaper mounted on plate glass is as inexpensive as it gets.  What about a honing guide?  Freehand sharpening of chisels is too difficult for beginners.  My opinion, and this is controversial, is that the best honing guide is the Kell.  It is extremely well made and easier to use than any alternative I am aware of.  Here's an expert opinion I respect: Why a Kell guide?  Ron Hock speaks highly of it as well.  My own experience confirms their opinions.  I think a beginner can have better success with this guide than any alternative.  Yes, it's expensive but the saving in time, the success you can have without a lot of skill and the money you can save by not pursuing multiple approaches makes it worth it.  Compared to powered methods, it's cheap.

Finally, and this will be very controversial, I would not have the beginner flatten the back of the chisel!  If it's already flat, great, leave it alone.  If not, use the ruler trick.  I know this goes against the majority opinion.  My reasons are explained very well here:  Don't flatten the backs of your chisels.  Flattening chisels is too time consuming, too frustrating and too difficult for beginners.  You don't need to do it.  If you want a flat back, do what I did and buy premium chisels that are already flat, but you don't need to.  Otherwise, forget it.  I realize many of you will violently object, so I'll save a detailed justification for replies to comments.

Ask yourself this question:  Do you know an easier way to get a beginner going with sharpening?

Saw bench

Here is my version of the saw bench made by Kari Hultman and Dan Klauder that I posted about previously:

I had a large alder sawed up several years ago and every board is streaked like this from minerals in the soil.

It takes almost no time to make this bench and, so far, seems to be a very good design.  Ripping down the slot in  the middle is very satisfactory.  I made this bench just a little bit taller than my old one and it is an improvement.  With my upper leg straight and my knee on the board, my other heel is just off the floor, so most of my weight is on the knee.  It lets me take a full stroke.  A matter of personal preference and  yours may differ.

Concerns were expressed about stability, but so far it doesn't seem to be an issue because your leg acts as an outrigger.  However, it occurred to me that it would be very easy to slant the bench legs outward without impairing the bench's functionality and you could also make the legs trapezoids if you wanted more lateral stability.  Neither of these enhancements would add much to construction complexity.

I have a more traditional saw bench, so I'm going back and forth to compare them.