Moulding Planes

D

dadunn

Member
I have a sent of hollows and rounds that I would like to tune up and start using. I have read a few articles online but would prefer hands on instruction. Does anyone know of any classes?  Is this something the chapter might be able to setup?
 
Drew,

Congrats on your set of H&Rs - they really do provide a means for creating fully customized mouldings and other elements that aren't practical with router bits and shaper blades.  In addition to making moulding for furniture, I've used mine to shape the shoe on a Chippendale chair, and match base moulding in my 100+ year old house (that I'm sure was commercially available in 1900 but isn't stocked anywhere these days).  I'm currently building a modified copy of a Thomas Elfe chest of drawers, and it's nice to be able to reproduce the moulding precisely.

I've learned to use mine through 2 primary sources: Don McConnell's "Molding Techniques" DVD and Matt Bickford's "Mouldings in Practice" book.  Matt also has a DVD that I haven't viewed but I'm sure demonstrates his techniques very clearly.  I'd recommend any/all of those over online articles because they're more thorough...though Bickford's blog is an excellent resource as well.  But to your point about online instruction, we have a couple of options:

1. The chapter could self-organize a class on the tune-up and use of hand planes.  We have worked with 2 schools in our geography (Olde Mill Cabinet Shoppe in York, PA and The Woodworkers' Club in Rockville, MD) and either will work with us to schedule a class that we define (there are other good local schools that we haven't partnered with...yet).  Generally we need 8 to 10 students to make a class work at those locations, though they could be smaller if the instructor was local and didn't require travel/hotel.  Smaller would be better in this case, since we'd all be showing up with H&Rs in different condition and readiness, and the instructor would have hands full managing different needs.

2. An informal gathering at one of our shops to share tips and learn from one another.  Obviously this approach requires less organization, though we might find we lack some key insights (i.e., I'm happy to show how I use my planes but can't explain how to tune-up old ones since I 'cheated' by buying new H&Rs from Bickford).

We could also go with a hybrid approach - a less-formal gathering at a school but something that falls short of a formal class.  We have at least one commercial maker of H&Rs in our chapter (Dan Schwank @ Red Rose Reproductions) with a good deal of experience using them in builds; perhaps we could rope him (or another chapter member with similar level of experience) into a day of instruction.  Or something similar where we draw on a member with strong experience.  Thoughts?  I'm interested in pursuing if you're willing to help organize!

Mark Maleski
President, Chesapeake Chapter
 
Mark,

Since I'm the one making the request I'm certainly willing to help. Does this forum have a private message feature where we can exchange contact info?

Drew
 
Drew, I see your gmail address in the SAPFM member directory, will shoot an email over to you so we can discuss further.

Mark
 
With the plan for a get together on tuning planes, I am willing to share my methods for tuning and sharpening planes.  (Assuming I will be able to attend, which I hope to.)  I make new planes, but the same requirements are there for a plane to work properly, whether new or used.
 
Elmer,  We had 3 very productive working group sessions this past summer focused on restoring, tuning, and using molding planes.  We documented those sessions in separate threads in this chapter forum.  We then decided to take a strategic pause to consider next steps, and focus on other fall activities (specifically, our chapter meeting in Sept and Lie-Nielsen demo in Oct).  With those now behind us, we'll see if we can reinvigorate the molding plane working group in the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Mark Maleski
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top