Popular Woodworking 2008-08 № 170, страница 7

Letters

FROM OUR READERS

Router Plane is the Best Hand Tool For Sizing Tenons to Thickness

I'm a recent newcomer to the craft of woodworking, and due to my limited budget, my accumulation of tools has been slow and methodical. My next major purchase is a rabbeting plane to be used primarily for planing tenons to proper thickness after sawing or splitting them out.

I know you usually give a roundabout answer when asked to recommend specific brands, but 1 am more interested in what style of plane I should go for. A shoulder plane seems handy, but would the blade be too narrow? Would 1 be better off with a rabbeting block plane? Or maybe an old wooden rabbet plane of some sort? I'm primarily looking at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks and Lee Valley Tools, but I do love rehabbing old tools if there are vintage Stanleys or woodies that would serve my purpose.

—Justin Tyson, Clayton, Georgia

I would actually recommend a router plane, such as a Stanley No. 71, or plane can gel a set of lenons all to the same thickness - and centered on

a new router plane from Lie-Nielsen or Lee Valley. A router plane is a your stock. You can read about the tool and the technique here: fantastic tool for sizing tenons to thickness-far more accurate than a rab- wkfinetools.com/contrib/cSchwarz/z_art/routPlanes/rPlanel.asp bet plane (or even a shoulder plane, which is great for shoulders). A router —Christopher Schwarz, editor

Shaper-selling Dilemma

I'm wondering if you could help me out of a dilemma. 1 have a Bridgewood 3-hp shaper and a power feeder that I don't use. I've been offered $1,000 for it, but I'm not sure ifl should sell it. I also have a dedicated router and lift that 1 was going to build a router table for.

I don't do a lot of furniture making right now but I would like to. If I sell the shaper, will I be wishing I had it in the future?

— Mike Lopez, Saukville, Wisconsin

Shapers are the best tool if you are doing production work. If you plan to create thousands offeet of mouldings, build numerous kitchen cabinet doors or do other types of repetitive processes, a shaper works best.

If your primary interest is building individual pieces and you're not looking at large production runs, your best option is a router and router table.

From a cost basis, shaper cutters are more expensive than router bits. And there are many more profiles available in router bits.

In my experience building bookcases and built-in units for the trade, I found my use of a shaper extensive. However, when 1 adjusted my woodworking to reproduction furniture and one-off pieces, my router-table usage skyrocketed while my time spent at the shaper all but disappeared. Now, I find the only use 7 have for my shaper is to make raised panels - and that's simply due to the fact that I have yet to buy a router bit designed for the job.

— Glen D. Huey, senior editor

A Marker Can Get You in The Sharpening Ballpark

I have long been a fan of editor Christopher Schwarz, and his answer to David Dairy triple about sharpening is obviously correct

(Letters, June 2008, issue #169).

However for the new woodworker, a simple procedure of marking the tool with an ink marker before starting with the first coarse-grit stone then re-marking and changing to the next grit as soon as the ink mark disappears is an easy and effective procedure that eliminates a lot of guesswork. As with all woodworking procedures, repetitive practice makes each operation easier. After 58 years of woodworking I still learn new things from your fine magazine each month.

—Roger Tumbleson, Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Using a marker on your edges is a good way to tip you off that you are sharpening the steel in the right place - it's a great trick and I've used it myself for years.

However, the marker won't show you when you have all the scratches from one grit consis

12 ■ Popular Woodworking August 2008