I was skinning my second blank yesterday and my block plane always seems to tear the foam. I sharpened it right before i started, but it must not have been been sharp enough. Needless to say i tried to take off as little as possible and then surform it down. How do you guys get super sharp edges on your handplanes. I am thinking about biting the bullet and just getting an electric planer, but i really like using hand tools, it seems more intimate. ANy suggestions would help, and i will post pictures shortly, its a 6’6" minigun.
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Hey Psusurf,
A couple of variables to consider.
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Is the blade too deep
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Is the blade in the right way around
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Are you keeping it straight or angling it when you make a pass
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Did you sharpen it to 30deg
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Is the base clean and level
Having a woodworking class flashback…instead of attacking your nice new blank with a suss block plane, test it out on a offcut or the edge of a piece of thick cardboard…
Leave you block plane in your toolbox!
Only hand plane you need is the mini planer for stringers, about 3" long and 1" wide.
Go ACROSS the blank, rail to rail. It chunks and tears, but is controlled.
Big hand planes are two handers, your blank can get flexed or fall off the stands.
but i really like using hand tools, it seems more intimate.
man, i’ve commented similar things here for years and your the first guy that agrees…makes you feel crafty doesnt it? As opposed to a factory worker…no offense to factory workers…i did other factory work for years and can relate
sharp blades are critical but angling the tool 45 degrees or more works just as well…the trick is to know when to stop and bust out the 36-40 grit paper or sureplane to smooth it out
Hand wood planes were invented to shave wood, not foam. Yes, I know what you mean when you say a hand plane is more intimate, but why not use the tool that works best for the job.
In the days of Koa (I love that stuff), Redwood, and Balsa boards, the craftsmen used hand planes, spokeshaves, and an assortment of other bladed cutting tools to do the work. But foam came along and the working methods had to change. New material, new tools.
If you want to get closer to the work, you can use sanding blocks of different sizes with various grits, and surform tools. They all work well. But if you want to skin a board with a hand plane, prepare for more of what you just went through.
You’ll probably be saying, “Man! I hate it when that happens”, alot. Doug
All I use is a surform, spoke shave, and a 24" x 4" x 1" sanding block with 36 grit sanding belt firmly attached to skin blanks. Works great for me. The only power tool I use ever is a 6" power sander/polisher on the hot coat/gloss coat with the softest pad I could find and then only on the bottom and on the deck for a few minutes.
I’m finishing a ‘superlight’ blank right now and haven’t had any problems tearing the foam except for denting it with tape rolls and poorly placed fingers. Come to think of it, I didn’t even use a surform on this blank. It skinned so easily with the 36 grit block that it never occurred to me to even use the surform.
I really like keeping a lot of foam in my boards especially for this weak east coast surf and even more so for February surf in NJ. Not using a power planer allows me to keep almost the entire blank thickness in the board.
YMMV.
I want to help not insult.
Why are you using a block plane to “skin” a board ?
I’m not a shaping expert ,
This is what I did to master my tools. I told every one I know that I was looking for old boards that were ready to go in the trash. This gave me plenty of free stuff to mess with. I striped the fiberglass and went to town. Hand plane ,power plane , air brush all learned first on old junk. Oh yeah , maybe you will find a hidden gem out there…
I guy at work gave me a Quad fin from the 80’s. Not perfect but free. My brother came up with a 7’4" from the early 70’s that I’m restoring. No cost to me.
Keep working with that planer and soon it will all come together.
Don’t forget to have fun.
Ray
ugh
GUGH
Hand Plane Ok OK? OK!
get clark foam R2D2 plane
change blade when dull
45 the attack and get skin curls
remote foam killers back off
Intimate shaping is alive in the hands of those capable of percieving true finesse
… FINESSE…
intimate?
soul daddy grip soft
fine italian dance shoes
shaping in industrial weight speedos
gliding on zoris
through the snow drift foam
showering in the outside sprayer
surfing the micro particulates away in the inner bowl
… ambrose…
isolated material in a clean room roboticly
reduced to univac generated dimensions
cateye glasses girls doing key punch
before lunch down town at the Crown Zellerbach building
surfers fron Cleatousville Ohio
taking delivery
on the greatest board
in the history of mankind
preserved for centuries in garages filled with
howdy doodie marrionettes,
barbie dolls
hot wheels and
toasters
is that a
box of loco focos?