Edge planing technique issue

[Joe Doyle]

Hey there all.  I am building a side table that Richard at The English Woodworker does in a video series.  I am really enjoying the build with my daughter (it is her final project for a class that she has in called "Forgotten Crafts".  She had the choice of another accounting or statistics class, or a humanities class where she has learned to tap maple trees for sap to make syrup, baking, ax sharpening, knitting, and some basic woodworking.  Her professor said that for such an ambitious final project, she can accept help from anyone willing to give it to her.)  

Anyway, when I am planing the edge of a board (these boards for this table are all either 3/4" or 7/8" on edge), I seem to always plane a slope into the edge the slopes down towards me.  I am using either a No. 5 or 7 plane for this, with no camber on either of the blades.  I place the plane dead center on the edge, and plane away. I am getting full width shavings, but after a few passes I can see that I am higher on the back side of the edge than the front side.  I am able to correct this by offsetting the plane towards the high side, and bringing that side down to meet the front edge, but there has to be something that I am doing wrong that I would like to figure out and correct.  

So, any idea what I am doing wrong and how I can fix it?  I am 100% self taught on this stuff, with YouTube, forum posts, and a few books serving as my instructors.  

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.  

Thanks.
Joe

[Joe Bailey]

When starting out, this is one of the hardest things to master. There's not a lot of surface area upon which to rest the sole of the plane, and it takes quite a bit of practice to feel exactly where the plane is in relation to the edge.

A few possible techniques:

1. since you are edge jointing for the purpose of gluing up a table top, consider planing both edges-to-be-joined simultaneously.
Place the edges together then fold the boards together like a book. You'll have a wider (combined) surface upon which to rest your plane, and any offset will be cancelled out.

2. (the method I use) grind/hone a slight camber into your blade -- if the edge gets off square, you can bring it back by moving the plane so that the center of the (cambered) blade takes down only the high edge.

[TABlank]

The blade may not have a camber, but it still must be square to the sole of the plane, same thickness shaving on the left edge as on the right edge of the blade.

More likely you are unconsciously putting some torque on the plane as you push it along the edge.  In your case, if you are right handed, counter-clockwise.

I know I do that if I don't pay particular attention to NOT do it.  Some days are worse than others.

TAB

[bandit571]

Most times, I do not grab a hold of the front knob...I will hook the left thumb over the side of the plane, and curl the fingers under the sole of the plane..the fingers act as a fence...and will tell IF the plane is tilting in either direction.   Usually, when done this way, it helps center the plane on the edge of the board.

[barryvabeach]

Joe,  Joe Bailey has some good suggestions.  One thing I do on occasion is to take a very thin board ( 1/4 inch, + or - ) that is 8 to 12 inches long and clamp it in a vise .  Then take the plane in question, and run it along the board with just the right side of the iron taking a shaving, then repeat for the left side.  If you want, you can use a caliper to measure the thickness of the shaving, but norally, you can tell just by looking at the two shavings, or the resistance when planing, which side is cutting more.   Adjust the iron a touch, then repeat until the shaving is the same thickness on both sides.  Once you have that dialed in, you know the plane is set up right, so if you have the same problem going forward - it must be technique.  My guess it is the iron alignment, it is easy to hit the lever by mistake and throw the iron out of alignment.

[Joe Doyle]

Thanks guys for the insight and suggestions.  I was out in the garage last night, and did a few things to dial in my technique.  The first thing that I noticed is that my lateral adjustment lever was skewed ever so slightly to one side.  This helped, but then I took advice of bandit and let go of the front knob and held the plane in my hand with my thumb over the cheek and my index finger underneath the plane.  I slowed my stroke way down, and made sure to keep contact between my fingers, the sole of the plane, and the board.  I checked my progress after every third stroke, and i was square along the whole edge of the board.  Success!!

In a nutshell, the lateral adjustment lever was slightly out so I adjusted that, I was taking too many strokes too quickly before checking my progress, and I was holding the front knob so I did not have a guarantee that I was keeping the plane flat along the edge of the board.  I will go low and slow and check my progress frequently for a few years until this becomes second nature.

Thanks again.  
Joe

[Stwood_]

Sounds great. You've got a handle on it now.

[Steve Hamlin]

Good show. Using Bandit's sound advice, having your front hand in a loose fist, the front of the plane nipped between thumb on top and curled fingers below as the fence, there are two ways you can true the edge: 

1 By moving your thumb off center to weight that side of the plane you can correct a slight offset with a straight iron and the plane centered on the work.
2 By positioning the plane so the plane side is flush with the LOWER workpiece side and treating the plane track as a camber. Repeat until this nearly full width shallow rebate gives truth across the full width and finish with a single full width stroke.

It is easier with a cambered try plane.

Loose grip on the rear handle - front hand steers (by adjusting curl of finger fence), rear hand just provide forward impetus and neutral down weighting

[rwe2156]

Or, lay the board on a 1/4" spacer and shoot the edge.