Just scraping by

[David R. Pennington]

I planed down some 10" planks and dowelled and end joined them to get ten foot plus planks for shelves on one wall of the man cave. My daughter has had my electric sander on loan for a while so I went and shelled out 50 bucks for a new one. Tried to pick the USA made one from the 8 or 10 varieties offered and couldn't find it. Finally opted to support the Japenese instead of the Chinese or Mexicans. Sanded one small section and wasn't satisfied with the results. Went and got my scrapers out of the drawer and forced myself through re-reading instructions and trial and error to learn how to sharpen them properly. After my self inflicted lessons I began to achieve very fine curly shavings and a beautiful surface on the cherry planks. To my surprise I achieved a much finer surface than sanding in less time without the noise, dust, and agravation of continually trying to progressively sand finer and finer grit to remove scratches. Only drawback was a little hard on the hands, cramped after awhile, (eight 10 inch x 10 foot surfaces).
Any one want to buy a very slightly used sander?

[Jerry V Lape]

Scrapers beat sanders for clean surfaces - that is certain.  But with planks that size you might have been better off starting with a plane before the scrapers.  There is a thread on here somewhere about modifying a regular plane to a scraping plane by squaring the front edge of the blade.  I haven't found a plane to do that with at the antique/junk stores yet but will be making one soon.   

[David R. Pennington]

Now that you mention it, I remember that. I have a spare plane I could set up that way.

[Kermit]

If you do the plane iron conversion thing, you just need a second iron. I wouldn't invest much. Try FleaBay. But a scary sharp iron in a well-fettled smoothing plane should be sufficient to provide the finish desired. I have a #4 Stanley/Bailey dedicated to this job. I rarely adjust it, ecxcept after rehoning.

[Nordnecker]

I hate sanding. I hate listening to an electric sander. I much prefer a planed or scraped surface. All the furniture I build is hand planed and scraped.

[WadePatton]

I hate sanding. I hate listening to an electric sander. I much prefer a planed or scraped surface. All the furniture I build is hand planed and scraped.

Planed and/or scraped a surface rarely needs anything more than a few swipes with fine grit. 

I too simply can't stand the racket or dust of powered tools much anymore. 

[WadePatton]

Now that you mention it, I remember that. I have a spare plane I could set up that way.

A fantastic source for getting the most out of your WW tools (wood working) is Paul Sellers.

Yes, I would have planed those boards, no scraping necessary. 

Paul on planes:

sharpening:
how sharp is good enough:
scrub plane:
restoration:


He has many other videos on you tube and a great huge repository in his pay site.

[Kermit]

Paul has a newly published book too. It's very well done, but really just covers basics, getting going with only the essential tools. Paul is great for showing you how to get the most with the smallest inventory of tools. His YouTube stuff is free for the watching. Paul has an influence on ebay prices. When he mentions a tool, interest and prices can rise significantly.

Another video source is Richard McGuire, known as The English Woodworker. http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com
Rochard has a lot on YouTube also. In some ways I prefer Richard, but both are informative and entertaining.

[David R. Pennington]

I have a duplicate of one of my smooth planes new in original box flea market find I can experiment with. I have 20 bucks in it.
Next project, daughter, (designer) wants 2 x 12 shelves for kitchen with barely planed surfaces so saw marks still show?

[Kermit]

I think I'd go with a #6, or 7 set fine and sharp and go slow. Not my aesthetic, but the customer is always right, especially when it's family.

[Dave Patterson]

Now that you mention it, I remember that. I have a spare plane I could set up that way.

A fantastic source for getting the most out of your WW tools (wood working) is Paul Sellers.

Yes, I would have planed those boards, no scraping necessary. 

Paul on planes:

sharpening:
how sharp is good enough:
scrub plane:
restoration:


He has many other videos on you tube and a great huge repository in his pay site.

Thanks for that tip/source, Mr P.  I've got a lifelong collection of old planes, and recently inherited my Pop's personal accumulation as well, some of which require some degree of restoration. 

[WadePatton]

Paul has a newly published book too. It's very well done...

Another video source is Richard McGuire, known as The English Woodworker. http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com
Rochard has a lot on YouTube also. In some ways I prefer Richard...

Tuned in to Richard today after I saw your reply here.  You "prefer him" is what I recalled you saying.  I come back and agree in part--In SOME ways, just WAY not as professionally done as Mr. Sellers. 

No doubt he knows his stuff, but his ramble is worse than mine and the video production just isn't up to par with Paul's.  No way I'd pay for his premium blend.  I've been on Paul's pay group, but calling my bank every month to get the international charge approved got a bit tiresome.

The cap-iron setting and no tear-out on that bit of Ash is simply amazing. I've been working razors all day but now I want to work on cap irons and plane some knottyness.

Thanks for the connection.  So far I rate Richard's videos as good because he knows his stuff and isn't hawking gear, but somewhat lacking on the production quality.   This makes it STELLAR in the world of YouTube instructionals.  I'll subscribe.