Hand plane true confession

[Halfathumb]

I've never quite been able to adjust and use a hand plane. I've watched some videos but never got the hang of it. 
Now I'm trying to use a #7 to strip the top of my work bench and refinish it. But I either get gouges or nothing when running my plane on it. I just can't get the fine tuning I need to accomplish to job.

Can someone help a hard headed guy?

Thanks 
Jim

[stav]

Wish I could. I watch videos from Rob Cosman and marvel at his ability to get those thin shavings and flat boards. I was finally able to get a blade sharp enough to shave hair somewhat.

Still working on it.

[Halfathumb]

I was finally able to get a blade sharp enough to shave hair somewhat.

Still working on it.

The problem for me with shaving hair is that I have very little body hair and where I have it I don't want to take a sharp object to it. 

[MarkSLSmith]

I've never quite been able to adjust and use a hand plane. I've watched some videos but never got the hang of it. 
Now I'm trying to use a #7 to strip the top of my work bench and refinish it. But I either get gouges or nothing when running my plane on it. I just can't get the fine tuning I need to accomplish to job.

Can someone help a hard headed guy?

Thanks 
Jim

Three questions to start with.

1. What kind of wood is the benchtop?
2. Have you checked the flatness of the #7's sole?  #7's are notorious for warping during production.  A concave sole will never work well.
3. Are you confident in your blade sharpening ability?  A very sharp blade is 75% of the equation with hand planes.

Mark

[hbmcc]

Always approach the wood while cranking the blade out of the sole. Blades slip on the back off and disappear into the throat. Make sure the blade is tight; not so tight it won't move but enough not to be pushed around under finger pressure. I tested a Wood River that was impossible to prevent the blade from sliding about.

Now, after only casually reading your post.....

It's easy to make a plane work ... on video. I can make one be dead, and remain so after a week of fiddling it--not fettling. And, watch that video multiple times. The solution is, those experts know what to do but have forgotten the first struggles of learning. Most of them also have an aptitude for metal working, and I don't. I start with new tools.

No matter what, I must start at the very beginning; of the project and, the tool preparation.  

Assess the issue. First, you want to flatten (?), clean a dirty bench (?), get rid of an objectionable finish (?), or, all of the above (?). None of these projects want a finish (#7 jointer) plane to start the work. You will ruin a finely tooled blade, and probably (hopefully) fettled body which does nothing but flatten surfaces after preparation.

So, wrong plane to start. The #7 is one you finish with. You start with a scrubber, scrub plane if you like to spend money. If you have anything shorter, a 4, or, 5, and a second blade to spare, shape the junky blade into a substantial camber (round, maybe 3" to 5" radius) and sharpen it. Set the blade to about 1/16" cut and plow cross grain to remove junk that ruins fine cutting planes. This also sets up the wood for the #7 use. The scrub plane is the easiest to sharpen and use. If it doesn't work, you need to learn a lot more than sharpening; forgive me. 

For the finish, a sharp blade is paramount. And, trust me, until you try to shave your beard with the blade and succeed, you will never be sure you have the sharpness necessary for the tool to work. A tip. Shave your arm instead. Sharpening is an entire subject on its own.

Camber that #7 blade with about a 1/64th center projection. Remember, the edges of the blade want to be just below the sole line when you work. No plow grooves. Unfortunately, there are many faults, flaws, that can foul you of your pleasurable transparent strip of cut. And, like the ones who commented before me, I won't get into any of them. Don't overwhelm you, or me. 

Get to this point in your process first. If everything works, you won the lottery.

[omark]

As indicated above, sharp blade and decent sole are very important.


To diagnose what the problem is, start with edge planing a board 12in long and around 1/2in thick.
With that  you can determine if blade is sharp - try to get fine shavings;
and if blade is left/right balanced - shavings planed with left side of blade should be the same as those from right side.

If board is bumpy then do not attempt to get full length shavings from the beginning [by setting blade too agressive] - allow plane to first shave only hills and gradually work more and more.

Then proceed to your workbench - if plane works significantly worse it may indicate an issue with sole flatness.
Good luck!

[AlistairD]

In flattening a top there's a lot to learn of the process/methodology as well as mastering the plane itself. High spots must be identified first and brought down, otherwise you'll be pushing the plane over top of valleys with the plane registering off those high spots and so the blade will not be taking a cut. This leads to the tendency to want to extend the blade out more and more until you start taking a cut, but the when you hit one of those high spots, BAM! The blade finds wood and tries to lift an inch thick shaving!

Be methodical in assessing the state of your top before taking the plane to it. Run a long straight edge over it, laterally, longitudinally, and diagonally, and mark in pencil or sharpy where your high spots are. That'll be where you'll start with the plane.

[barryvabeach]

Jim,  are you trying to strip a coating off the bench?  I have tried that with a plane, and it can get ugly with chattering, getting the plane stuck, so now I just use a cabinet scraper.  

For me, the first step is making sure the plane blade is sharp - the sharper the better.  Next, make sure the cap iron is slightly behind the edge of the blade.  If it is too close, you can get very low risk of tearout, but the effort in pushing the plane gets harder.

Third, take a board that is about a 1/2" thick, a couple of feet long, and a few inches wide and clamp it in a vise  so the board is oriented on edge. So at that point,  as you try to plane it, the widest shaving will be 1/2 inch.  Make a few passes,  first with most of the plane hanging off the right side of the board, and then the left side of the board.  If it is thicker on one pass than the other, the blade needs to be laterally adjusted.  Once you adjust it ,  try again, and keep adjusting so that both shavings are similar in thickness.  You could use a digital caliper, but you can also just tell by feel and the amount of resistance.  Once you have that done, adjust the depth of cut. You can do this with the blade centered on the board -  the benefit of the 1/2 wide edge is that even if the cut is way too aggressive, you can still push it,  if you were face planing with the entire blade engaged, it can easily get too hard to push.  Some suggest that if you retract the blade because the cut is too strong, you need to rotate the wheel a 1/4 forward to take up the backlash.   Keep playing with the adjustment until you get nice even shavings, and the plane is easy to push.    Now you are set, and if all the hardened finish is off your bench ,  it is time to go to work.    Then follow the advice above about how to get it the bench flattish.

[cputnam]

Find the high spots on your benchtop 1st - before randomly removing pieces of the top. Remove the high spots with a jack or scrub. Then finish flattening with the # 7.

Plane irons are a wide chisel and must be exceedingly sharp.

Assuming that the plane is properly assembled (bevel up/down), run the iron out until you can just see the edge peeking out, then back it up until it disappears and then advance it 1/4 turn (to take up any backlash). Put the toe of the plane on the stick and push forward - nothing should happen. Continue with advancing 1/4 turn and taking a stroke until you get a shaving. Then you can worry about making sure the iron is square across. As was said above, make sure that you always have the blade advancing ( no backlash).

Pressure on the toe
Thin shavings until you get the hang of it.
Sharp fixes most problems

Send me a PM with your phone if you want talking through it (and times to call, timezone)

[iclark]

I've never quite been able to adjust and use a hand plane. I've watched some videos but never got the hang of it. 
Now I'm trying to use a #7 to strip the top of my work bench and refinish it. But I either get gouges or nothing when running my plane on it. I just can't get the fine tuning I need to accomplish to job.

Can someone help a hard headed guy?

Thanks 
Jim

When you get the gouges, are they coming from the corners of the blade or are they the full width of the blade?

If you use the plane on a piece of scrap wood, what happens? Do you get a clean shaving?