Jumping right in. · Thu Aug 21, 08:43 AM

 
So there I was, sharpening my new smoothing plane (Buck Bros., Home Depot, around $30). Well, not quite sharpening yet, I was lapping the sole (which means “making it flat” — it turns out that, no matter how much the package claims the sole is flat, it’s not really flat). Going by the detailed instructions in the outstanding Complete Guide to Sharpening, I was starting with a low-grit sandpaper. Only not exactly what the book recommended; I didn’t have any 60-grit sandpaper handy, so I figured 100-grit was close enough, and I’d deal with a bit of extra elbow grease.
After five days of off-and-on lapping, during which I spent a few minutes at the sandpaper-on-granite each time I wandered out to the woodshop, the sole of the plane still had two spots — one in front of the mouth, one at the rear of the sole — that were clearly not being abraded yet. There was also a large hollow between the mouth and rear, but as it turns out, that’s not really important to fix (and a good thing, too). I decided I’d had quite enough of lapping with that grit, thank you, and I was out of 100-grit sandpaper anyway. So I moved up to 150, then 220, gratified to see the sole getting shinier. Except, of course, for the indents.
When I was satisfied with the smoothness of the flat areas, I took the plane apart and started working on flattening out the bed for a bit. Then I stopped working on the plane for a couple days, setting it aside for some other projects I was working on. When I wandered into Harbor Freight Tools the other day, I happened onto the sandpaper rack, and decided I’d better go ahead and pick up some more sandpaper, what with being out of 100-grit, and lacking entirely some of the super-fine-grit sandpapers. I also figured I’d pick up some 60-grit sandpaper. Seemed useful, and I have a plane en route from eBay, where I got an old Stanley #5 jack plane for less than I’d paid for the Buck Bros. The jack plane is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 years old, but it turns out that in hand planes, “old” typically means “better than any of the new crap being turned out these days” (unless you have the money and inclination to buy a nice plane, like a Lee-Nielsen or Veritas).
Once I got home with my bag of purchases, I went out to the woodshop, sighed, and stopped pretending that I didn’t care about those two Bad Seeds on the block plane’s sole. I sprayed the granite block with spray adhesive, attached 60-grit sandpaper, and starting scratching up the shiny sole of the plane. The happy bit, though, is that 60-grit sandpaper turns out to be much faster at removing errant metal than 100-grit. Next time, I’ll know better.

If you feel like you just stumbled into the middle of a story (or arc), that’s because you did. Or, if you prefer, because I tripped you into it. My latest off-time passions are art and working with wood, and I’ve been mentally editing blog posts on the topic for a few months now. The idea of actually going back and posting everything from the beginnning strikes me as tedious and a bit contrived, not to mention being unlikely to happen. So I’m just jumping right in where I’m at, and will backfill as I feel the desire or need to do so, or where it fits in as part of something else. Feel free to ask questions!

I will undoubtedly be making cabinets and chairs, along with carving wood, creating mixed-media sculptures incorporating wood, repairing the myriad falling-apart-bits around the house, and propping things up precariously with scraps of wood. I’m largely taking my own approach toward these things, though, and while I’m not at all averse to using the wisdom, advice, and sense of others, I’m not likely to hew closely to plans nor conventional methods, where I can find a workable way to do otherwise.

 
If you’re bored by art or working with wood — viewing it, discussing method and technique, commenting snarkily about related topics — you may have a boring stretch ahead on my blog. That doesn’t mean you should unsubscribe from it! But you can if you like, of course, and I wanted to warn anyone who might want to do so based on the above.

The good news is, those of you with a passion for or interest in art, working with wood, setting up a woodshop from scratch, and learning how to do things related to those will finally start seeing some real meat here (or real rice, if you’re metaphorically vegan). I think it’ll be a lot of fun, both for me to write and — I hope — for you to read. I’d love to hear any thoughts you have either way, either as a comment or via e-mail (see About for address).

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Why don't I blog much about software development? Woodworking Community. Good news for those who don't care!