Official Luthiers Forum!

Nice to see another shop made sander printer2! Well done.

Tai, it will only kick back if you are trying to take too hungry of a cut or, as I have discovered, you are doing something small like peghead veneer and you don't have a good push block setup to protect your fingers but all keep the thin material flat and supported. I usually stand next to mine, out of the line of fire. I can then push in with one hand and pull out with the other hand.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Wow, I would be ALL over that! It's $100/hr here (including guy). But, you can get quite a lot of work done with one of those in an hour.

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Pat

Cablepuller,

How's everything going? Have you abandoned the plane, making progress on rust removal, what's the status?

-j

Printer2. Going by the amount of dust that is sitting on that chair you are at the Casino every time you walk into that room.
Don't mess with this stuff. Accumulated dust is still a danger. It kicks up every time you walk into the room or when you move things.

Sheesh.... I wonder why they call it a "Time Saver...." Could it be that thickness sanders are a very useful tool for Lutherie?

Who knew!

That was when I was first starting out, you should have seen the floor when I was building a few guitar amp cabinets. I have made a dust collector that helps a lot but I want to make a bigger version.

On the sander kicking back, I adjust the sander to take off less than 0.003" at a time. I find that you just do more passes than if you try to take more off, the time is no different. When feeding you can get a feel for how much is too much feed rate and you just back off on the pressure. When you get close to the end you just pull the piece with your other hand at the outfeed. Other than trying to keep the feed rate constant to get an even thickness taken off it is pretty simple to use. I have a large range of adjustment on the table swing. I have done as thin as 0.065" to over 2" where I used the sander as a substitution for a planer. Just the other day I cut some binding strips and surfaced them with the sander. Also made up a couple of overlays for the headstock. I could have used other methods for both, the sander was easiest to set up and get a consistent thickness.

Hey Jimmy

Had another go last night with the planer.. set it to take minimal cuts but still not that clever... think its because its not good qaulity plane and not sharp enough.. am going to a carboot sale on sunday and they usually have old planes and tools there... will look for another plane .. failing that im gonna have to call in a favour and get a friend to thickness it for me (furniture repair guy with thicknesser)... would be a shame to use him and not do the first part of the build myself .. plan on making many more in the future so need to get overcome this hurdle . the input on here is great .. will let you know if i pick anything up sunday.. cheers

Such the provocateur...

Look for an old Stanley/Record. Older the better generally speaking. Don't necessarily go by the amount of rust, even fairly new planes can look ancient if they have been kept in terrible conditions. One way to tell is to look at the very top of the blade. The older blades had square or sharp corners, the newer blades had those corners slightly rounded. Of course the blades may have been swapped at some point but I wouldn't worry about that too much. Check for any fine cracks on the casting, around the mouth area. Avoid Planes with plastic handles. Make sure the chipbreaker is present. If the blade has the rounded corners it doesn't automatically mean it is rubbish. I would probably still buy it but pay less. Don't pay very much anyway.
The most useful size (if limited to one single Plane) is a No. 5 or 5 1/2. You can virtually do it all with that one Plane + a block Plane. Don't pass on No.4's either. They are useful too but not so good for jointing, they will certainly thickness plates though.
Grab any and all old sharpening stones that you see. Buy 5 and you are almost certain to get one good one! They should be cheap enough. Excess can all be put on that auction site to recoup costs. Get lucky and you might turn a profit.

Such the provocateur...[/quote]

Well, THAT's planely obvious!

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Pat

Well played!

At the risk of continuing to belabor the thread, procuring the plane is probably the only place where Michael and I would diverge. I wouldn't restore a plane as a beginner. Reason being that if I were a beginner, I'd probably also need to get a reference plate or float glass to true the sole, and learn all about what makes planes work well before really being able to base it on practical experience. I enjoy restoring planes, but a beginner would be better off picking up a Woodriver or Lie-Nielsen that's ready to go. In the end, you'll break even financially and have something ready to go out of the box.


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Thanks for the tips Micheal

Apologies Michael but I disagree on the shape of the blade to determine whether it's a good buy.

I agree that buying an old plane is going to take you much, much more work. A new, proper plane will require much less work. To paraphrase James Orr's comments: you can spend money for a new plane or spend time rehabbing your old one. Even with a brand new plane you will eventually realize the need to tune it to perform better. No plane out of the box works that well, not compared to what is possible.

-j

[/quote][/quote]

Such the provocateur...[/quote]

Well, THAT's planely obvious! [/quote]

He can be a bit abrasive. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

What an EPIC post! Great info all...

So, at keeping things vague
Because I need some of that thicknessing now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved my plane dearly
And if you're offering me shavings or dust
I've already paid

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Pat

[/quote]

Such the provocateur...[/quote]

Well, THAT's planely obvious! [/quote]

He can be a bit abrasive. . . [/quote]

What no razor edged......... wit? Personally I would be more inclined to call me a stinkin troll....

Forget assault weapons.. seems like thickness sanders can be used as a weapon as well...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I don't understand what you are saying. We aren't referring to new Planes. If it's a choice between Stanley/Record circa 1970's or Stanley/Record 1950's or earlier I'll take the 50's and earlier thank you. Not that ALL 60's and 70's Stanley's were bad, just that it could be a matter of luck. One way to determine if it's an earlier Plane is the shape of the blade. It's not the only way, it's not fool proof but it can be a pretty good indication. The Plane in my photo on page 3 of this thread is a Record (I think repainted) No.6. It has the stayset 2 piece iron, sharp corners to the top of the blade. I've dated it from 1945 to 1952.

I don't know about you but I've certainly had Planes work straight out of the box (apart from blade sharpening). I thought that was what you were paying with LN, Veritas, Clifton. I can't remember having to fettle my Veritas or even having to fettle my Woodriver.

Hesh, I didn't mean to go against the grain. Please forgive me, I don't want you to have a chip on your shoulder you have to tote around. That would really wear on my sole. I probably should have kept a tighter mouth. I hope my poorly honed wit hasn't left you on edge. I don't want there to be any coldness between us. . . burr!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Even the goats are arguing hand plane vs. drum sander.
How'd that old song go? " If I were a carpenter, and you were my thickness'ing Lady....." Don't ya love those (this) old chestnuts?



Alex


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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Michael, I totally misread your post now that I look at it again. I thought you said "rounded TIP of the blade" but you said "rounded TOP of the blade". Apologies. I was thinking why would the curve of the cutting edge matter since that can be altered so easily.

The boutique planes do work out of the box but they work far better if tuned up, just my opinion.

By the way, I took a gander at your guitars on your website Michael, quite impressive.

-j

See for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgHnBzBzwwg

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I am curious as to exactly what "tuning" you have ever had to carry out on a Lie Nielsen or a Veritas plane, which I assume are the models you have worked with ). Be specific, give full details.

I refine every mating part to as close contact and even pressure as possible. I polish every part that incurs friction: sole, leading edges of cap iron, chipbreaker, et cetera. Pretty simple but every bit helps.

-j