Chat with my dad last weekend made me rethink how I plane edges

He said he never used a power planer in 40 years and just relied on a sharp hand plane and a straightedge, which got me wondering if I lean too much on noisy tools when quieter methods work just as good.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_avery10d ago

You ever have that one buddy who's stubborn about everything until he's right? My friend Jake was the same way with his edge work. He spent years using a noisy power planer on every single board, cussing at it when it left chatter marks or ate too much material. Then one day his shop vac died and he couldn't stand the silence long enough to fix it, so he grabbed an old hand plane his grandpa left him. First time he tried it, he said it felt like learning to walk again, but after a week he was getting smoother edges with way less setup. Now he only fires up the power planer for rough lumber, and he laughs about how he used to think hand tools were for old dudes with nothing better to do.

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oliviapatel10d ago

Ha, yeah, that part about "learning to walk again" really got me. @the_avery I've got a similar story with my own stubborn self, except my grandpa's old plane is still gathering dust in my garage because I keep telling myself I'll "get to it next weekend." Meanwhile, I'm out there wrestling with a power sander that sounds like a dying lawn mower, and honestly I think I'd have better luck with the hand tool at this point.