Paul Hubbman
Member
- Messages
- 582
- Location
- St. Louis, MO
I'm preparing stock for some built in cabinetry i'm making for my dining room. Sunday i flattened and planed the boards to thickness, and last night i needed to get a straight edge to run against the table saw fence to cut the boards to width. It's a bit clumsey edge jointing long stock on my relatively short jointer beds, so instead, i reached for my jointer fence and my old Keen Kutter K5 jack plane. I'd never really used the planer fence before, so i was dipping my toe into new waters.
I've gotta say, i was really surprised at how well it worked. Using my 6' level as a straight edge, i got my stock S3S, ready for the next step, in short order.
The first board took a little fussing, but by the time i was on my 3rd or 4th, i had it down. Inside half an hour i had all my edges planed straight and square.
I'm no neanderphile - i like my machines as much as my hand tools. But, i do know that there are a lot of times when i make things needlessly complex by setting up and using a machine instead of reaching for the simple hand tool. I also like the relative quiet of using the hand tools - especially late at night when the rest of the house is asleep or i've got my music going.
I'll definitely use my jointer again, but for some things, the jointer fence is a good alternative. I'm an evening and "weekend warrior" in the woodshop, so i doubt i'll ever get proficient enough at hand planing to not need the fence when i need a square edge. You purists out there - go ahead and sneer at my reliance on the fence. I'm a city boy - a child of convenience.
But not entirely.
paulh
I've gotta say, i was really surprised at how well it worked. Using my 6' level as a straight edge, i got my stock S3S, ready for the next step, in short order.
The first board took a little fussing, but by the time i was on my 3rd or 4th, i had it down. Inside half an hour i had all my edges planed straight and square.
I'm no neanderphile - i like my machines as much as my hand tools. But, i do know that there are a lot of times when i make things needlessly complex by setting up and using a machine instead of reaching for the simple hand tool. I also like the relative quiet of using the hand tools - especially late at night when the rest of the house is asleep or i've got my music going.
I'll definitely use my jointer again, but for some things, the jointer fence is a good alternative. I'm an evening and "weekend warrior" in the woodshop, so i doubt i'll ever get proficient enough at hand planing to not need the fence when i need a square edge. You purists out there - go ahead and sneer at my reliance on the fence. I'm a city boy - a child of convenience.
But not entirely.
paulh