Thanks again to Tom Fidgen for the great musical accompaniment
I also have a much earlier video where I specifically focus on thicknessing stock by hand that you may find useful.
That’s one of the things I really appreciate about wooden planes. I’m still new to hand tool work and sometimes have trouble reading grain. – especially on shaggy boards. A wood bodied plane lets me know the second I am planing in the wrong direction where one of my iron buddies would let me know halfway through the pass.
I can easily see myself using 4 of the 5 senses, listening for tear-out, feeling the boards, obviously looking at my project, and even smelling for a burning board but I can’t ever see myself licking a board just to use taste! Do I lack dedication?
When you’re working with organic material you simply have to feel your way through sometimes!
When I took a woodturning workshop with David Ellsworth the first thing he talked about in class was body movement and how important it was to obtaining a smooth and consistent surface. This was before he talked about wood, tools, safety and design. In fact, he said the best thing you could do to improve your turning skills was to take a Tai Chi class!!
Although this is a little tangent to what you are talking about with feeling the wood and understanding the surface you created I believe it is related. As you approach making a cut you need to understand where the energy is coming from to make a clean, smooth cut which leaves a smooth surface. For example, when using a bench chisel to clean a dovetail or some other cut, is the energy coming from your fingers, wrists, arms, shoulder or whole body? The same with planing a board….if you use your arms and shoulders all day you are going to be pretty tired and sore by the end of the day. But if you include your body, back and legs, as you plane I believe you will feel much better by the end of the day and produce a much better result.
So, to summarize I agree that you include your 5 senses along with an understanding of how to use your body to improve the accuracy and quality of your work.
Jeff
Hi Shannon,
And that’s one of the wonderful things about woodworking! Not only the sight, but the feel and sound of wood are more pleasant than most of our other daily experiences. When I work with certain species, the smell deeply reminds me of working with wood long ago as a child.
But five senses? I’m confused on taste. I leave that to other creatures.
Anyway, good thoughts. Thanks.
Rob
