Videos for improving planing technique?


TheFatBaron

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I still struggle pretty regularly to plane even small-ish boards square. I frequently feel like it's more luck that skill.

 

Clearly I need to practice, but I've also found videos in the past (I believe on both The Renaissance Woodworker and Logan Cabinet Shop) that focused on body mechanics to improve, say, sawing in a straight line. Has anyone seen any similar videos for planing?

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Jeff Miller has one that I saw on the Popular Woodworking shop class on demand that was really good.  It's probably available on DVD.  Schwarz has a couple of different ones - Handplane Essentials  and Handplane Basics.  The best I've found though is David Charlesworth's video in his four part series.  It's a great resource.

 

You asked about videos but I'll also suggest a book: Wearings' The Essential Woodworker

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I think Shannon has a couple of blog posts and/or ideos about that. Try here:

http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/viewer-question-on-squaring-an-edge-with-a-plane/

just watched a couple of his vids for the first time the other day. Very helpful indeed. ONe was about shifting pressure from knob to both to tote so that you didn't round down the trailing edge of the board. Anyhow, I've only hacked around with my no 4 a bit, but my new to me no 5 just showed up today, so I'll be planing (*cough* if you can call it that *cough*) away this weekend. 

 

now, I think I need to watch a few more vids before then... 

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I think Shannon has a couple of blog posts and/or ideos about that. Try here:

http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/viewer-question-on-squaring-an-edge-with-a-plane/

 

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.

 

No, seriously, that's my exact problem. It's too late tonight to try it out but I have plenty of scrap to try that on.

 

I've looked through Paul Sellers' youtube videos. I like them, but they (and most of what I found elsewhere) were "here's how to setup and use a handplane" videos, where they check with a square a couple times and things are flat and level. No "if you constantly run into this issue, try standing differently, or applying pressure differently.

 

I'll check into the David Charlesworth videos, and see if PW has anything online. I don't really want to pay for a full video set when, at the moment, the solution to my problem will be 30 seconds of reading/watching, and an hour or so of doing.

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What problem exactly are you having?  Is it just getting the edge square?  Sure this is a technique thing but there are a few "tricks" you can employ as well.  Try this one: http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/the-square-edge-trick/

 

I'm farther than Wilbur, but opening weekend is coming at the Steppingstone Museum and you can feel free to make a day of it and come down and visit the woodshop and I'll happily walk you through the milling process.  We open for the season 5/3 and every Saturday til October I'll be in the shop for at least 4 hours so come on down.

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You'd be far better off with a book by someone who understands trade practice and has actually done this stuff. The best I know of is Charles Hayward and his Cabinet Making for Beginners would be a good place to start. Get an early edition, one before it was "updated"  somewhere after 1955. If you read and understand what's in this little 200 page book you'll know more about hand tool techniques than any of the "gurus" I saw mentioned in this thread. Here's a first edition on eBay for about $15 plus postage from the UK:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cabinet-Making-for-Beginners-Charles-H-Hayward-1947-1st-Ed-HB-Book-/221400063754

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