usacomp2k3 Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 I've read that for shelf thickness, 1/16" of a an is hard for the eye to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 James, I have been thinking about this a lot since our Skype session. I also saw your post on the WTO forum. That was a great idea because as you saw there is a lot of information to be gleaned from that. I may post some of this there too. I wouldn't want the public to think I'm not helping a student eh? The forum is such a valuable source of information and I felt bad sending you another email asking for more help even though I knew you would not even think twice. I also kind of figured you would post on the forum and others could also benefit from your answer and get and idea of the extensive level of assistance that you offer to your Hand Tool School members. PS: has anyone ever told you that your avatar makes you look really mad? You are too nice a guy to look that mad Thanks Shannon! This is actually a picture I took of myself from the skybox at a Cubs game, not mad just not very photogenic. Thanks again for everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joestyles Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Would anyone care to venture any rules of thumb for how constant the thickness should be and how flat the board for normal purposes? Obviously at the highest levels practitioners strive for perfection, but for the rest of us what is a number that on the one hand is good enough that we won't just be transferring our problems to assembly, and on the other hand is not so exact that we haven't wasted a lot of time truing stock beyond a practical need. Cheers, Brian I guess it depends on your thumb. I typed out a nice short book on this but decided to change my reply LOL here it is in short. The eye has a hard time picking up on differences in size and orientation of a piece due to a few different factors. When you place four boards directly next to each other then it gets easier to see small difference because there is a reference to see clearly. IE: sighting down a board to see if it is straight is easy when you know how and pretty accurate but not as accurate as a straight edge. Your finger on the other hand can feel a difference in dimension of two adjacent surfaces down somewhere into the thousandths of an inch. So if it is gonna be looked at and not handled much or not at all the tolerances can be broader. If you are making something that will be handled lots it has to be dead on. Say a small jewelry keepsake box that will be handled lots any gaps or uneven edges will stand out like a sore thumb Where as a 1/32 inch on a picture frame from a few feet away may never be noticed. The scale of the piece will effect what you can see too big piece will hide some things and make others more apparent. IE a large table no one will notice that the legs very in size by say a 1/16th but if you had the same difference in two of the boards in the top everyone who sat there would Hope that helps you out Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cormier33 Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 James, Rob Cosman makes a video called "Rough to Ready." I haven't seen these other videos but he explains and demonstrates it so well that I think just about anyone could pick up the idea with a bit of practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Zehner Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 James, I'm having the same struggle right now.... So since you've had a year of planing boards flat now, would you care to share some wisdom? I'm just getting started into woodworking, and I'm milling some mahogany pieces for a cabinet I've been slowly working on for months (slowly because every time I try to plane a board flat, I get frustrated with the results...). My current struggle is after honing my plane (using a Stanley 9" bench plane from Lowe's... this may be problem #1) iron, I consistantly get chatter and very small chips. I haven't been able to get a consistant chip in months... Is there anyone in Southern CT that would be willing to lend some expertise for a few hours to show me the ropes of planing? I'm on the verge of giving up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaichel Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 James, I'm having the same struggle right now.... So since you've had a year of planing boards flat now, would you care to share some wisdom? I'm just getting started into woodworking, and I'm milling some mahogany pieces for a cabinet I've been slowly working on for months (slowly because every time I try to plane a board flat, I get frustrated with the results...). My current struggle is after honing my plane (using a Stanley 9" bench plane from Lowe's... this may be problem #1) iron, I consistantly get chatter and very small chips. I haven't been able to get a consistant chip in months... Is there anyone in Southern CT that would be willing to lend some expertise for a few hours to show me the ropes of planing? I'm on the verge of giving up... Hi Dan, Wish I could say that it got better, mostly because I gave up. I ended up getting rid of most of my hand tools and getting a few power tools and I thought that would make a difference. I got a TS-55, MFT and a ETS Sander. While I did enjoy the luxury of having Festool tools I did not like making furniture out of plywood. I used the TS-55 on some hardwoods and it bogged down a bit. I went a couple months with out doing any woodworking, then I decided I need the space in the garage that the MFT was taking up and also wanted to get a road bike. I ended up sellng all my Festool's which I don't regret because i get a ton of use out my road bike. I do miss woodworking but don't have the space or extra cash for a full shop. My wife and I came to an agreement that she would let me continue woodworking but I was not allowed to buy any tools until I took some classes. So next year I am going to take some classes and we will see what happens from there. The chatter I assume is beacue your blade is not nearly sharp enough and second the Stanley Plane from Lowe's is practically worthless. What are you using to sharpen your plane blade? You might be better off just buying an older Stanley Jack Plane on ebay or a local flea market. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Zehner Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Yeah, I'm coming to the same conclusion about the usefulness of that tool... Sorry to hear about the progress, but stay with it! I'm using progressive grits of sandpaper (starting at 60, working up to 2000) glued to a piece of plate glass (the "scary sharp" method) to sharpen the plane iron. It gives a good mirror finish, but as I've been reading, that doesn't necessarily mean the iron is sharp. I was feeling for a good burr last night, and I thought I had one going but apparently it wasn't quite there. I'm going to get a honing guide and see if that helps... and also visit some tag sales this weekend for a better plane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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