Paul I don’t know if you still read these comments, but I just hand sawed, and planed my first board true, straight and square! It’s taken some time, but I did it. I’ve made many projects before, but this is by far and away my proudest achievement woodworking wise, all due to your teaching. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, phil. Ps, the fire is lit
Paul after seeing this you provided me with an "ahh haaa" moment. That certainly offers clarity and solution to the issue I was having squaring my stock.. Thank you!!
As usual, another common sense example of doing things properly! I have to say, I have been doing a LOT of woodworking lately and my skills have improved 1000 fold using your methods and all of your guidance - thank you, thank you! I swear you have more common sense than almost anybody I have met in the last 50 plus years - keep up the good work.
Thank you Paul. I have to say, that I tried the lateral adjustment trick, and found out quickly, that doesn't work very well. I discovered what you showed here a couple of years ago, and it works great. You explained it all very well. But the one thing for others to pay real attention to is the partial far end stroke, then the middle one, then the near end one, and then the full one. That really helps, and I'm glad you showed that.
I'm 16 I'v been woodworking for 2 years. iv always had trouble getting the edges of boards straight but this helped so much. I can make my boards very square with much less effort. thanks for the video Paul ur great at teaching woodworking
I just bought a Veritas Jack Rabbet plane, and I found that setting the fence to run against the reference face gave me a square edge easily and quickly. An unexpected bonus to this particular plane!
So I’ve got boards (on edge) that are a bit higher on each end. Somehow there is a dip in the center after coming off my tablesaw… do you have any suggestions on how to fix the ends of the board to make it flat? Thanks
This is an older video, but still very useful as I had this problem yesterday. Do you prefer this technic to do with a 4 plane instead of a 5 1/2? I have both.
Were you balancing the plane? I didnt get what you were doing with your left hand there. Were you just using it to maintain a level square from experience?
I've been using both methods Paul describes in the beginning... rather unsuccessfully. I usually give up and rip the board on my table saw. I'm going to try this way going forward
I actually have had success from adjusting the Lateral Adjustment Lever ever so slightly, I thought that was the propose of the adjuster. I've found myself planing a board out of square because the Iron wasn't properly adjusted to begin with. It's difficult to look down the sole and judge perfect placement of the iron. Adjusting from looking into the mouth has never produced good results for me. I will definitely try this method. great video.
Great skill training. I could never get it right all the time, so I eventually happened on a Stanley 386. They are like hen's teeth but Veritas are making one now. My late Dad did this by screwing a true square cross section of wood along the bottom of a wooden Jack Plane. You just had to put side pressure on it to make sure the extra wood stayed flush with the side surface of the plank.
I hold my square to the flat surface of the bench with the blade of the square flush against the board along with it flush with my plane, yes the plane is cantering but you can hold it against the square blade, takes a bit of practice but once you get a few strokes it works great, i just squared some 1/4" pine edges with a no5. I have no machinery limited handtools an a black an decker workmate bench, lol. Anything is possible, also ive noticed sometimes if i just go for it with a fast plane stroke it usually ends up square but the slower i go seems to more chance of being off square.
have you thought of clamping a fence onto the board (with a spacer a bit below the board edge to compensate for the iron not being the full plane body width) so you can butt the side of the plane up against the fence and continue planing until the bed of the plane is taking the full width shaving off
This is where that nice wooden jointer plane with sides at 90 degrees (or your pricey precision metal joiner plane) comes in handy. Just shoot the board elevated on a piece of plywood scrap with the plane on its side and the edge will be precisely square. Any precision joinery demands a shooting plane. You may get close planing by hand but you'll never be perfect.
No. You are using the side of the board as reference so that you can square the edge to that side. It is square that people are trying to achieve which means two sides at 90 degrees. Now you can square the board as you are describing but it requires lots of skill and with that same level of skill you can use the method paul described with far easier success.
That´s a good advice. I wish I was able to plane straight though. The best I could come up with, was to attach a board to the side of the plane, to keep it square.
Paul, I recently saw an explanation for why this works, that some of your viewers might appreciate. It's because of the chamber of your iron. If you don't have that it wouldn't work. I was hoping you would show that as well...as brand new woodworkers struggle with sharpening like that...
I think it would still work with an iron which was honed perfectly square across the width, as long as you move the plane far enough over to the high side of the board that the blade doesn't cut anything off the low side because the sole of the plane and the blade aren't over hanging that edge. The first shaving you take off the high side will leave a little step on the low side at the point where the blade starts to cut, then you can take a second shaving again only cutting on the high side and taking nothing off the low side. You keep going until the high side is down to the same level as the step on the low side, then you can centre the plane on the board and take a full width shaving which should be square. A cambered iron certainly speeds up the process because the middle of the iron takes a slightly thicker shaving than the edges.
If you have a board with a slightly beveled edge, held in the vise with that beveled edge up, and then take a planing cut with the plane sole perfectly horizontal (i.e. at 90 degrees to the board face) , it WILL cut a narrow flat on the high edge of that bevel, ...regardless of how the plane iron is sharpened (camber vs flat grind). Remember, the bevel is down, so its shape doesn't enter the picture; it's only the keen edge that does the cutting. I suspect the value of shifting the plane over to just catch that high edge of the bevel is that it helps the user to maintain the proper relationship between plane sole and board edge. Part of the plane is hanging out in air, so there's a natural tendency to keep it horizontal.
Doesn't depend on the camber, but depends on the fact that the blade is narrower than the width of the sole. By pretty much flushing up the side of the plane with the lowest part of the board edge, the blade will cut almost entirely on the high part of the edge.
You have to get rid of that convexity first. Try to keep the plane level and plane until you get a full-width shaving. Then proceed as Paul does in this video.
Very sound advice thank you . I tried the lateral lever method and it didn’t.t work worth a darn.I think people fail to realize that practice really does make perfect , someone who has been planing for 50 years is bound to be better than an novice or even intermediate carpenter . People want results without putting their time in . Real life is not like that.
You can say that again! Sadly, I think we as a global society are always wanting quick results without putting in the time or bothering to learn even the basic skills ... seems to be a problem every where I look and not a recent one either. I have found ads from papers and magazines from the 1920's and they sound surprisingly modern, so we still struggle with a lot of the same.
Sometimes RUclips processing fails for whatever reason and higher resolutions are simply never made available. It's a problem I ran into in the past, might have been the reason for this re-upload too. The solution is to upload it as a private video then make it public later after you've checked it's alright.
What about extremely thin edges? (Like just a couple mm thick) I’ve got some ukulele sides that need to join together, and I’ve been struggling trying to straighten out the edges. Seems like all my hand sanding doesn’t amount to much, or I end up over compensating
With extremely thin pieces you still have to use the side of the board for reference to the edge. You really need to do it lots of times to build a feel for it. Now what on earth are you use it on extremely think pieces for to gain square?
I really could not care if the board is straight, square or whatever, the sound of a sharp blade going over the timber is like listening to soft music and eating a bar of chocolate.
I would have liked an explanation as to why using the lateral adjust doesn't work. I've seen that insisted, and I believe it, but I'm not sure I really grok why.
That single skill is one of my all time weaknesses. I think I'm going to have to just buy a bunch of cheap 1 x stock and just plane it into oblivion till I get this right.
José, I think that he is using a dead straight iron, and taking a stepped cut. Many books have shown using a cambered blade this way, I know. I do it myself, sometimes. But it is tricky taking that final long shot if the edge is curved. This way, one can avoid having to switch planes to a straight edged one. Just let the non cutting part of the sole rest on the side of the stock you want to preserve.
I've always felt like the lateral adjustment was more to compensate for mechanical drift in the machine anyways, as yours even in this video has a steep lateral adjustment for a flat cut
The blade is very sensitive and the only way to successful get it straight is by the woodworker adjusting it in usage. Hence why the adjustment was added in the first place. Old wooden planes the blade was adjust by tapping with a hammer.
I'm confused. So is he registering the sole of the plane on the full width of the board and simply using it off to one side or is he holding the plane on the high side at what he feels is level?
He dismisses canting the plane over at the start. My understanding is that he has the sole flat on the edge of the board but offset to the side so that the iron only cuts on the high side. Moving the plane across after each pass brings the edge square by degrees.
The plane's side is aligned almost flush with the low edge of the board. This method works because the plane blade doesn't span the full width of the sole. So the plane cuts mostly on the high part of the edge and very little on the low part.
@@bmedicky yes, that would be my understanding as well, but look at the video: he's not even close to flush with the edge. To me it looks like he is chanting and using his fingers to stabilize the can't. Maybe he meant to dismiss a freehand can't in the beginning. However I'm confused
Incrementally favoring the high side of the board looks like a good idea. However, I am perplexed as to why Paul appears to have favored the low side on the final set of passes.
At 3:01, “I like it tilted when I’m on my own”, referring to the board being clamped in the vise with the far end higher than the near. Why is this Paul?
Lay the board on its side on top of another board. Turn your plane on its side and plane away. Seems a lot easier than hoping that your hands are calibrated.
This reminds me of the first time I attempted to plane down the edge of a door....Held it between my legs on it's side....planed from the middle to the end.....turned the door around and did the same......what a mess......about 6mm off square one way and the same the other with a twist in it.
You can do it the way you described but it is a lot of hard work and you have to have a feeling for the adjustment and how to counter each side. And after all that using what paul described is the same level of skill only far far easier to do.
UKHeliBob, through canting the plane, or keeping it to one side, it becomes intuitively level. Through canting the plane over the plane is not at an angle so that is why it 'intuitively' becomes level
Level here means keeping it parallel with the edge even though it's not fully registered, with the help of your fingers. With the plane over to the side and taking a narrow shaving, you're planing shallow steps into the edge which is how you eventually level it out.
What Paul did isn't really a cant. The plane off to the side like that gives extra pressure (emphasis) to the high side. Holding your fingers under the front left of the plane ensures that the pressure stays even on the high side, until such time as that newly planed surface is able to support the plane on its own... first 1/8", then 1/4", then 2/3 across. By that time you have established the new supporting surface, and the old one is merely slurped up with each new full pass over the new surface. But it isn't magic. None of it is. You have to practice and persevere. Wood is life! And in that respect it is all magic.
Additional 2 cents: the blade doesn't go all the way across the entire sole of this kind of plane. It stops about 3/16" shy on either side. By registering the left side of the plane nearly flush with the left edge of the board with a finger as a guide, you can't remove wood from that left corner, even if you tried. This is why the plane must be square at this point of the process. When the sole of the plane starts to bottom out on the left side of the wood, your shavings will start to be wedge shaped, thicker on the right than on the left. When the shavings are close to full width, you can check to see how square you are, and stop when you're close. When it's close, then you can move the plane over center and get your full width finish passes. For the finish passes, Paul sets the front right edge of the plane near the right edge of the board, but you will notice he allowed the back of the plane to skew out to the right this time. When he started out, registering the plane against the left side, he kept the plane straight. This skew for the finish passes is essentially the "normal" way to drive a Bailey plane, for a right-hander, when jointing an edge, free-hand. Front right corner over the wood and back left corner over the wood, still keeping the entire sole on the wood and weight centered, but getting a better cutting angle. When face planing, you generally use a much bigger skew angle wherever you can. Edited, because where I said "cant" I meant the skew angle, not a tilt of the sole of the plane against the wood.
@@mildyproductive9726 Yeah, I wasn't going to mention that, because it didn't look like what he did. But it was hard to tell. Certainly this is a really good point, and something that I do all the time.
I just lay the board on top of the table with a little bit of "shim stock" under it. Then use the plane on its side - essentially using the entire workbench as a shooting board.
That scene of the plane coming towards the camera with the clean, neat ribbon should have a disclaimer for adult content! Seriously though, this should be really obvious. Everyone with a hands-on job uses our hands to level something here or there at some point.
I believe it was because he'd over shot the first time and was a wee bit out of square leaning the other way...hopefully Paul responds it that's not correct.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Paul I don’t know if you still read these comments, but I just hand sawed, and planed my first board true, straight and square! It’s taken some time, but I did it. I’ve made many projects before, but this is by far and away my proudest achievement woodworking wise, all due to your teaching. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, phil. Ps, the fire is lit
Now do it a hundred times and it will feel like breathing.
good job brother, keep up the good work ! im working on my plane skills too
Paul after seeing this you provided me with an "ahh haaa" moment. That certainly offers clarity and solution to the issue I was having squaring my stock.. Thank you!!
Simple, quick and effective. This is why I watch Paul Sellers. Tried and true.
Indeed.
As usual, another common sense example of doing things properly! I have to say, I have been doing a LOT of woodworking lately and my skills have improved 1000 fold using your methods and all of your guidance - thank you, thank you! I swear you have more common sense than almost anybody I have met in the last 50 plus years - keep up the good work.
I've been wondering about this for ages, usually just tiling the plane until I HAPPENED on the right angle. Thanks paul. 👍
Thank you Paul. I have to say, that I tried the lateral adjustment trick, and found out quickly, that doesn't work very well. I discovered what you showed here a couple of years ago, and it works great. You explained it all very well. But the one thing for others to pay real attention to is the partial far end stroke, then the middle one, then the near end one, and then the full one. That really helps, and I'm glad you showed that.
When the blade is uneven it does not automatically make the wood square so the whole lateraly adjustment thing makes no sense to me.
thank you Paul, I really wish I could just listen to all your stories and advice !
I'm 16 I'v been woodworking for 2 years. iv always had trouble getting the edges of boards straight but this helped so much. I can make my boards very square with much less effort. thanks for the video Paul ur great at teaching woodworking
I love your hints at improving skills.
Never tire of your wonderful instruction Paul. Thank you.
I was having trouble with this too.... watched the video... tried Paul's method once and got good results. Great. Thanks Paul.
‘See how Paul did’ we know you did great👍🏻😊 I love these plant videos. I think it’s the sound of the plane working properly too.
Just what I was looking for. Thank you Paul!
still surprised by how genuinely useful these videos are.. shouldn't be by now!
I think Paul has saved me about 10 weeks of my life with a shirt 5 minute video. Thanks Paul
Absolutely a brilliant offering! I tried this and it worked wonders the first time!
I just bought a Veritas Jack Rabbet plane, and I found that setting the fence to run against the reference face gave me a square edge easily and quickly. An unexpected bonus to this particular plane!
Wow, excellent demonstration. Definitely an acquired finesse, like feathering plaster.
So I’ve got boards (on edge) that are a bit higher on each end. Somehow there is a dip in the center after coming off my tablesaw… do you have any suggestions on how to fix the ends of the board to make it flat? Thanks
Thank you .. your explanation is very good .. I tried it and found that it works. 👍
This was very helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for your videos Paul. You are a great teacher and a blessing to many.
Thanks again Paul, great advise, with a little practice it works wonderfully.
This is an older video, but still very useful as I had this problem yesterday. Do you prefer this technic to do with a 4 plane instead of a 5 1/2? I have both.
Paul your master at your craft this knowledge was invaluable , I built a new work bench cause if this problem thinking my table was throwing me off
Were you balancing the plane? I didnt get what you were doing with your left hand there. Were you just using it to maintain a level square from experience?
Can confirm, tried it, works great!
Looks like it works pretty good, now to make the time to practice this new skill. Thanks Paul.
I've been using both methods Paul describes in the beginning... rather unsuccessfully. I usually give up and rip the board on my table saw. I'm going to try this way going forward
I could watch Paul planning all day long
I actually have had success from adjusting the Lateral Adjustment Lever ever so slightly, I thought that was the propose of the adjuster. I've found myself planing a board out of square because the Iron wasn't properly adjusted to begin with. It's difficult to look down the sole and judge perfect placement of the iron. Adjusting from looking into the mouth has never produced good results for me. I will definitely try this method. great video.
Thank you this has been a struggle for me will try it next time out in the shop
Hi Paul, quick question about combination square. What size do you use the most? Thanks
Hello Paul,
Can all 4 sides be squared using a shooting board? Thanks.
Thank you Paul, I will try this out.
Great tip for the non carpenters like me. Thank you
exactly my problem 2 weeks ago, thanks so much Paul
Great skill training. I could never get it right all the time, so I eventually happened on a Stanley 386. They are like hen's teeth but Veritas are making one now.
My late Dad did this by screwing a true square cross section of wood along the bottom of a wooden Jack Plane. You just had to put side pressure on it to make sure the extra wood stayed flush with the side surface of the plank.
Great tip thanks Paul!
Nice job thank you
Was just dealing with this issue today 😂 Thank you Paul for the wonderful tip😉
Great tip!
Another great video. Thank you very much.
I hold my square to the flat surface of the bench with the blade of the square flush against the board along with it flush with my plane, yes the plane is cantering but you can hold it against the square blade, takes a bit of practice but once you get a few strokes it works great, i just squared some 1/4" pine edges with a no5. I have no machinery limited handtools an a black an decker workmate bench, lol. Anything is possible, also ive noticed sometimes if i just go for it with a fast plane stroke it usually ends up square but the slower i go seems to more chance of being off square.
Awesome. Much appreciated Paul 👍
have you thought of clamping a fence onto the board (with a spacer a bit below the board edge to compensate for the iron not being the full plane body width) so you can butt the side of the plane up against the fence and continue planing until the bed of the plane is taking the full width shaving off
Awesome information. Ty
WOW! I didn't know that. Thanks, Paul
This is where that nice wooden jointer plane with sides at 90 degrees (or your pricey precision metal joiner plane) comes in handy. Just shoot the board elevated on a piece of plywood scrap with the plane on its side and the edge will be precisely square. Any precision joinery demands a shooting plane. You may get close planing by hand but you'll never be perfect.
Opinions on using an edge plane Veritas ?
is the idea to rely on the camber of the blade to help?
No. You are using the side of the board as reference so that you can square the edge to that side.
It is square that people are trying to achieve which means two sides at 90 degrees. Now you can square the board as you are describing but it requires lots of skill and with that same level of skill you can use the method paul described with far easier success.
That´s a good advice. I wish I was able to plane straight though. The best I could come up with, was to attach a board to the side of the plane, to keep it square.
Jose, just lay your stock down on the bench, pack it up a bit, and shoot with your plane resting on its side.
Whoops, I see that this has already been suggested a few comments further on!
Paul,
I recently saw an explanation for why this works, that some of your viewers might appreciate. It's because of the chamber of your iron. If you don't have that it wouldn't work. I was hoping you would show that as well...as brand new woodworkers struggle with sharpening like that...
Stepped cut with straight iron.
I think it would still work with an iron which was honed perfectly square across the width, as long as you move the plane far enough over to the high side of the board that the blade doesn't cut anything off the low side because the sole of the plane and the blade aren't over hanging that edge. The first shaving you take off the high side will leave a little step on the low side at the point where the blade starts to cut, then you can take a second shaving again only cutting on the high side and taking nothing off the low side. You keep going until the high side is down to the same level as the step on the low side, then you can centre the plane on the board and take a full width shaving which should be square. A cambered iron certainly speeds up the process because the middle of the iron takes a slightly thicker shaving than the edges.
If you have a board with a slightly beveled edge, held in the vise with that beveled edge up, and then take a planing cut with the plane sole perfectly horizontal (i.e. at 90 degrees to the board face) , it WILL cut a narrow flat on the high edge of that bevel, ...regardless of how the plane iron is sharpened (camber vs flat grind). Remember, the bevel is down, so its shape doesn't enter the picture; it's only the keen edge that does the cutting.
I suspect the value of shifting the plane over to just catch that high edge of the bevel is that it helps the user to maintain the proper relationship between plane sole and board edge. Part of the plane is hanging out in air, so there's a natural tendency to keep it horizontal.
Doesn't depend on the camber, but depends on the fact that the blade is narrower than the width of the sole. By pretty much flushing up the side of the plane with the lowest part of the board edge, the blade will cut almost entirely on the high part of the edge.
What's the problem with skewing the plane?
Paul, what if the high spot is in the middle? It’s Australian hardwood and I’m having a lot of trouble getting it square.
You have to get rid of that convexity first. Try to keep the plane level and plane until you get a full-width shaving. Then proceed as Paul does in this video.
Hi Paul what is the thinnest stock you could make a dovetail joint with?
I've seen miniature Mahogany drawers dovetailed in 5mm stock.
Very sound advice thank you . I tried the lateral lever method and it didn’t.t work worth a darn.I think people fail to realize that practice really does make perfect , someone who has been planing for 50 years is bound to be better than an novice or even intermediate carpenter . People want results without putting their time in . Real life is not like that.
You can say that again! Sadly, I think we as a global society are always wanting quick results without putting in the time or bothering to learn even the basic skills ... seems to be a problem every where I look and not a recent one either. I have found ads from papers and magazines from the 1920's and they sound surprisingly modern, so we still struggle with a lot of the same.
Thank you !
Thanks for sharing that
Is this a reupload? I swear this was posted last week, but I couldnt find the video!
Sometimes RUclips processing fails for whatever reason and higher resolutions are simply never made available. It's a problem I ran into in the past, might have been the reason for this re-upload too. The solution is to upload it as a private video then make it public later after you've checked it's alright.
What about extremely thin edges? (Like just a couple mm thick) I’ve got some ukulele sides that need to join together, and I’ve been struggling trying to straighten out the edges. Seems like all my hand sanding doesn’t amount to much, or I end up over compensating
Perhaps make a large shooting board then plane the edges with the plane on its 90 degree side.
With extremely thin pieces you still have to use the side of the board for reference to the edge.
You really need to do it lots of times to build a feel for it. Now what on earth are you use it on extremely think pieces for to gain square?
I really could not care if the board is straight, square or whatever, the sound of a sharp blade going over the timber is like listening to soft music and eating a bar of chocolate.
I would have liked an explanation as to why using the lateral adjust doesn't work. I've seen that insisted, and I believe it, but I'm not sure I really grok why.
That single skill is one of my all time weaknesses. I think I'm going to have to just buy a bunch of cheap 1 x stock and just plane it into oblivion till I get this right.
Setup a large tank of coffee and practise,
Use your square after every pass with the plane
Once you feel you have it right do it about 100 times and you will feel like an expert at it because you will be an expert at it.
How about using a jack plane or a jointer plane and clamp a square fence on the cheek of the plane or on the bottom of the plane?
Veritas makes a fence that sticks to the cheek of the plane with strong magnets
Hi. Is he using a cambered blade? Or a straight one?
José, I think that he is using a dead straight iron, and taking a stepped cut. Many books have shown using a cambered blade this way, I know. I do it myself, sometimes. But it is tricky taking that final long shot if the edge is curved. This way, one can avoid having to switch planes to a straight edged one. Just let the non cutting part of the sole rest on the side of the stock you want to preserve.
As I recall from past videos Paul uses a camber on scrub planes!
@@jrkorman ,but that is way heavier than you might have for shooting an edge.
@@jrkorman Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you!
@@josemanosalva3808 but this is a smoothing plane so no camber to speak of.
Great 👍👍👍
I've always felt like the lateral adjustment was more to compensate for mechanical drift in the machine anyways, as yours even in this video has a steep lateral adjustment for a flat cut
The blade is very sensitive and the only way to successful get it straight is by the woodworker adjusting it in usage. Hence why the adjustment was added in the first place. Old wooden planes the blade was adjust by tapping with a hammer.
I'm confused. So is he registering the sole of the plane on the full width of the board and simply using it off to one side or is he holding the plane on the high side at what he feels is level?
Plane is sitting on the stock full width, but takin a stepped cut.
He dismisses canting the plane over at the start. My understanding is that he has the sole flat on the edge of the board but offset to the side so that the iron only cuts on the high side. Moving the plane across after each pass brings the edge square by degrees.
The plane's side is aligned almost flush with the low edge of the board. This method works because the plane blade doesn't span the full width of the sole. So the plane cuts mostly on the high part of the edge and very little on the low part.
@@bmedicky yes, that would be my understanding as well, but look at the video: he's not even close to flush with the edge. To me it looks like he is chanting and using his fingers to stabilize the can't. Maybe he meant to dismiss a freehand can't in the beginning.
However I'm confused
Good practice. Make sure all the wood is square.
Incrementally favoring the high side of the board looks like a good idea. However, I am perplexed as to why Paul appears to have favored the low side on the final set of passes.
At 3:01, “I like it tilted when I’m on my own”, referring to the board being clamped in the vise with the far end higher than the near. Why is this Paul?
Probably the ergonomics of reaching further away while standing in the same spot. Means his back hasn't got to bend as much.
Scrimjaw
Ah, makes sense. Thanks for the insight.
Master.
haturnuhun guru
Thanks
How come there are some idiots who disliked the video. Thanks again Paul for this immense helpful tip👍👍
Lay the board on its side on top of another board. Turn your plane on its side and plane away. Seems a lot easier than hoping that your hands are calibrated.
This reminds me of the first time I attempted to plane down the edge of a door....Held it between my legs on it's side....planed from the middle to the end.....turned the door around and did the same......what a mess......about 6mm off square one way and the same the other with a twist in it.
You can do it the way you described but it is a lot of hard work and you have to have a feeling for the adjustment and how to counter each side. And after all that using what paul described is the same level of skill only far far easier to do.
Sorry, but I do not understand the difference between canting the plane over (2:25 ) and keeping the plane intuitively level (3:25)
UKHeliBob, through canting the plane, or keeping it to one side, it becomes intuitively level. Through canting the plane over the plane is not at an angle so that is why it 'intuitively' becomes level
Level here means keeping it parallel with the edge even though it's not fully registered, with the help of your fingers. With the plane over to the side and taking a narrow shaving, you're planing shallow steps into the edge which is how you eventually level it out.
What Paul did isn't really a cant. The plane off to the side like that gives extra pressure (emphasis) to the high side. Holding your fingers under the front left of the plane ensures that the pressure stays even on the high side, until such time as that newly planed surface is able to support the plane on its own... first 1/8", then 1/4", then 2/3 across. By that time you have established the new supporting surface, and the old one is merely slurped up with each new full pass over the new surface.
But it isn't magic. None of it is. You have to practice and persevere. Wood is life! And in that respect it is all magic.
Additional 2 cents: the blade doesn't go all the way across the entire sole of this kind of plane. It stops about 3/16" shy on either side.
By registering the left side of the plane nearly flush with the left edge of the board with a finger as a guide, you can't remove wood from that left corner, even if you tried. This is why the plane must be square at this point of the process. When the sole of the plane starts to bottom out on the left side of the wood, your shavings will start to be wedge shaped, thicker on the right than on the left. When the shavings are close to full width, you can check to see how square you are, and stop when you're close.
When it's close, then you can move the plane over center and get your full width finish passes. For the finish passes, Paul sets the front right edge of the plane near the right edge of the board, but you will notice he allowed the back of the plane to skew out to the right this time. When he started out, registering the plane against the left side, he kept the plane straight. This skew for the finish passes is essentially the "normal" way to drive a Bailey plane, for a right-hander, when jointing an edge, free-hand. Front right corner over the wood and back left corner over the wood, still keeping the entire sole on the wood and weight centered, but getting a better cutting angle. When face planing, you generally use a much bigger skew angle wherever you can.
Edited, because where I said "cant" I meant the skew angle, not a tilt of the sole of the plane against the wood.
@@mildyproductive9726 Yeah, I wasn't going to mention that, because it didn't look like what he did. But it was hard to tell. Certainly this is a really good point, and something that I do all the time.
Alternatively, how about using a fence and keeping pressure on that?
I just lay the board on top of the table with a little bit of "shim stock" under it. Then use the plane on its side - essentially using the entire workbench as a shooting board.
Jah, Jens!
Take care to check the sites of the plane are90 degrees to the sole. Not all of my Stanleys are. Something to check when you buy a plane.
@@jimbo2629 Yep. and also make sure the lateral adjust is square.
Actually I use the table saw to get the edge square and then plane a couple of shavings off.. I am a “hybrid” woodworker!
Why do you change sides of the plane??
resurrection！
You could probably make a really long shooting board to do the same thing (just an idea)
That scene of the plane coming towards the camera with the clean, neat ribbon should have a disclaimer for adult content!
Seriously though, this should be really obvious. Everyone with a hands-on job uses our hands to level something here or there at some point.
Im always facing this problem everyday and its made me mad
De ja vue
use an edge trimming plane.
He could sell vacuums where there is no electricity
Square edges are so overrated! ;-)
i thought the answer was to ponch that board between two you know are square
You said my name incorrectly
You never explained why you switched sides.
I believe it was because he'd over shot the first time and was a wee bit out of square leaning the other way...hopefully Paul responds it that's not correct.
@@StanCrafted Sure, I got it, but why not make it clear that he had overshot. It is not made obvious. It would be very confusing to a novice.
@@MadMulberry a little thought makes it obviouss though.
@@MadMulberry Pretty obvious if you bother to look when he puts the square to the board.
@@MadMulberry Good point!