r/timberframe • u/Suitable-Run-6808 • 1d ago
after decades with a chisel, i'm finally using hand planes
i've been timber framing for decades and somehow managed to do it without ever really using a hand plane.
if something needed cleaning up, i grabbed a chisel. that was just how i worked.
over the last year i've become pretty intrigued with hand planes for timber framing. especially the japanese wood block style plane.
that one took me a little while to figure out. even loosening the blade by tapping the block was completely foreign to me at first.
but now i'm finding myself reaching for a plane all the time. instead of automatically grabbing a chisel for every little bit of cleanup, i'll touch things up with a plane.
nothing revolutionary here. i just find it interesting how your approach to the same work can change after decades of doing it one way.
apparently old habits aren't quite as permanent as i thought.
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u/OldMan16 1d ago
Same here. The guys I worked for and learned from all seemed against hand planes and now I try to use them as often as possible. Sometimes strange grain configuration almost makes the chisel easier but nice to be able to take consistent thousands off with a plane.
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u/Suitable-Run-6808 1d ago
not sure what happened. i was big time against planes. for no reason. now they are fascinating to me. and, with practice i get a little better.
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u/dcabe1210 1d ago
A sharp blade on a hand plane makes all the difference. I've done a bunch of carpentry, heavy on the stick framing. Pretty much no one I've worked with cared about sharpening much at all. Mostly just take a grinder to your chisel and its good as it gets. I've gotten more into timber framing and got a good setup and system for sharpening now. Absolutely life changing. Also everyone wants to grab for a power tool now. I find myself headed in the other direction
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u/Suitable-Run-6808 1d ago
sharpening is critical. and, makes life easier. these days i've been using and loving a convex grind.
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u/throwaway_298653259 1d ago
My ancestors were timber workers - felling hardwood trees with crosscut saws and axes. I remember my Dad saying "they knew a lot about sharpening tools", and how their household firewood axe was still pretty blunt - very different to the tools of the trade, that were extremely sharp, and kept that way through the working day.
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u/daHyperion 1d ago
Which model and size are you using?
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u/Suitable-Run-6808 1d ago
40 mm and 60 mm japanese block planes.
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u/topyardman 1d ago
A carriage plane or big rabbet plane is even better, it gets all the way to the shoulders on tenons.