The building the hand plane class by Matt Kiem was fantastic. Not difficult at all, but we did have two sessions as there was a glue portion.
My thanks to @coloneldan for the custom coco bolo dowels he made with the dowel cutter. Not only decorative, it holds the wedge for the iron.
Looks like I need to oil mine.
Block planes are my favorite place. Old Stanley’s with adjustable throats are less than $20 on eBay. So versatile and easy to use. I usually have one in the car for use at the space
Makes a great gift to introduce people to hand planes.
Having a sharpening system to quickly and consistently put an edge on the blade is key to enjoying a hand plane
New and used planes & blades require tuning, and perhaps a little shaping. That knowledge is now readily available on yt. Let me know if you need links.
Cutting long ribbons is a enjoy. And makes a very special packaging filler in gifts.
What I have not tried is Asian style pull planes. Amazon has well reviewed ones for very little $. The videos of hand planing competitions is crazy!
Have been reading reviews and their planes are very highly regarded - and I’m in the market for a low-angle block plane.
I just checked out the sale and the prices are decent but not jaw-dropping (e.g., $135 for a plane listed at $170 with a street price of $160). Going to pass until I have more research under my belt. I don’t want to regret a decision in order to save twenty-five bucks.
Thanks for the heads-up on the sale!
Went by the flea market yesterday and rescued 7 planes for $150. Most have a little surface rust and the #5 needs a new tote but otherwise they’re in pretty good condition. I’ll be swinging by Lynn’s at some point to see what he’s got. Thanks for all the recommendations!
I’ve used evaporust and a spooge tank to remove rust from tools, followed by scotchbright buffing wheel then black rouge buffing wheel. They both take a day or two.
You guys should do another hand made plane class! I’ve done them at DMS and in St Louis. Always great fun and nothing beats making your own plane that works so well.
Which flea market did you find these at?
Canton flea market first Monday’s.
Lol like I said earlier Canton is the truth when it comes to hand tools - you can get some quality older hand tools for like nothing there compared to buying them online.
On mine I soak them in evaporust and then go over them lightly with a really high grit sandpaper to make sure everything’s flat enough.
Would love some tips on sharpening chisels/plane blades and knives though, I have decent wet stones however I can never get them good enough for my liking. I’ve got the plane guides it just doesn’t get where I want it.
Sounds like a group discussion and demo of sharpening using waterstones and diamond stones could be another committee meeting topic.
Great idea. 15-20 mins of demo and discussion that also helps keep stuff in good working order that also helps generate interest and attendance.
I was thinking the other day it’d be nice if there was a case that you have to scan to open that had a few higher end planes(Veritas or lie nielsen) that you had to take a class to be able to access. There’s been a few times where I didn’t think to bring a plane and wish i could go grab one but the ones that are at the space are pretty bad
On the to do list!
@Evan_Lott has a prototype scan cabinet in 3D fab. I’d like to replicate that with a “nice hand-tool cabinet.” Something that you can watch a video and agree to standards of use then have access.
I think it would include Hand planes, dovetailing tools, Japanese pull saws, sharpening equipment, chisels, etc.
I don’t know about lie-Nielsen or veritas but certainly some planes.
They’re like the Porsche and Ferrari of the hand plane world - both make amazing hand tools that are expensive but are wonderful to use. Old dudes in wood forums love to debate which is the better brand but they’re both really nice, I like the Veritas brand myself but mostly because I’ve actually seen and messed with those, I’ve never seen the Neilsens in person
For sure! I just don’t think it would be a responsible spend of DMS money.
I can see buying a bunch of beat up Stanley’s on eBay and hosting a class or 5 on restoring them and then those become the DMS planes.
Maybe we run the class every year and auction off last years’ hand planes to raise money for the space or something.
For the $300 for a veritas I can get 10 rusty #4s. If those rusty 10 turn into 5 usable, that’s still 4 more than we would have had. Plus members get to learn how to restore them!
I think we can get another few RFID-enabled cabinets built in the next month or two (and they’ll hopefully have several improvements over the current prototype).
I’ll write up some documentation and PM you with what’s involved.
Speaking of secure cabinets, are we still interested in this one? https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/secure-parts-dispenser/75365/
Yes but I do not have the knowledge or time to take it on right now. There’s several other space projects in my queue before that one. If someone wanted to tackle it I wouldn’t mind starting that conversation with them.
That fancy secure parts dispenser fits pretty well with the theme of my RFID cabinet project, so I’d totally be willing to tackle it.
I suspect I could learn quite a bit from it that might help me evolve my own project, and in the meanwhile, it could provide immediate(ish) and nuanced access control for some of the nicer toys.
If you’re willing to take it on and have the time I’d be ok with it coming in house. Let’s sit down and define the project scope and expectations.
Sounds like a plan! I’ll PM you.
