Comments on: White Water Meeting House Bench

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:07:23 +0000

Thanks. After some searching I found a reference to an article on them on the Popular Woodworking site.

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:29:02 +0000

Eric,

It is a shopmade device for lubricating a plane’s sole. It can apply some oil or paraffin. It can be as simple a rag soaked in oil in a box.

Chris

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:40:51 +0000

For us beginners, what is a "Plane Wick"

Thanks

Eric

By: John Walkowiak

John Walkowiak — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:12:30 +0000

Chris, surfacing this plank with hand planes won’t be so bad. Just think of it as 4 – 4′ pieces. Using a wooden jack then fore plane will greatly reduce the effort over metal planes. And if you must use metal, don’t forget the Plane Wick.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:12:55 +0000

I am also looking forward to the 4′ as an I Can Do That project. Maybe we will see it as "I Can Do That With Unpowered Tools" project.

As for the 13′ version, how about an "I Can Do That When I Get Further Along In My Woodworking Journey" project?

Chris, after reading the Essential Handplanes book, I think you should surface the entire thing using hand planes, then write an article on "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of surfacing something this size with handplanes, including tips and tricks for those of us who are new to hand planes.

Eric

By: James Watriss

James Watriss — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:13:38 +0000

Sorry Chuck,

I was in a rolling cranky mood yesterday. I think a shorter version would be a great project. My apologies to Ray were due to the misreading on my part… I thought he said the 13′ version would be a great I can do that project.

Apologies to all, I’m going to go put the dunce cap back on now…

By: Chuck Curci

Chuck Curci — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:07:14 +0000

"I CAN DO THAT" is the reason I read your magazine. This project (esp. the 4 foot version) got me excited. Please don’t let (well intended) nay sayers discourage you from including this type of project. Let there be room for the beginner…

By: James Watriss

James Watriss — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:54:52 +0000

CRAP…

Sorry, Ray. I misread your post. Time to get glasses.

I’m gonna go grumble somewhere else now…

By: James Watriss

James Watriss — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:53:11 +0000

3 things:

-For the love of god, a 13′ plank is not an I can do it piece. Please don’t send beginners out to destroy hard to find lumber.

-"If everyone liked everything, then nothing would be special." This is going on my quote board immediately.

-Pull the guard from your jointer. Most modern jointers are designed to do this to enable rabbeting, using that little ledge that sticks out. In this case, you’d be running a 12" wide rabbet on a 13" wide board, but I think it’s easier to take that last 1" down with a hand plane, than it is to hand-flatten the whole #*^&% thing.

My .02

By: Ray Knight

Ray Knight — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:51:16 +0000

Chris – thanks for doing this project. In reality it is a public service project for the Whitewater Shaker museum. I thank you. While this is not a highend piece the long one presents real challenges. The short one is a nice project for I CAN DO THAT column. I love shaker benches (benchs?). I retrieved several poplar planks left over from a tree cut in our front yard 28 years ago, the bulk of which went to build a friend’s barn. I didn’t want to waste these planks, so set out to make 7 shaker benchs (?sp) with the dovetailed angle piece as used at Pleasant Hill. All different sizes, different heights, different uses. One I am using as a saw bench outside my shop. Every piece doesn’t have to be a highend piece, and a Federal, Chippendale, Maloof, or A&C bench just wouldn’t work in that meeting room. Ray Knight