I've Seen the Light!!
Alan Hamilton
>I've been following the discussions about bevel-up versus bevel-down planes. I've been fascinated by the bevel-up adherents and their notion that a bevel up plane is more versatile because different irons sharpened to different bevel angles will make a single plane with all different effective cutting angles.
I had my doubts. I've always been a "bevel down" kind of guy, and I've never had the need to look around for anything else; my poor old bevel-down planes always worked just right. How ignorant I was.
But all those threads made me pause and think, and now I've seen the light! I bask in the inspiring light of of versatility. The more I ponder, the more is revealed to me; the more I look the more I see. I now understand. But I think even the most strident bevel-up champions have not seen all. Planes are much more versatile than anyone has said. In addition to them coming with a "finger plane" ready to go:
Planes are heavy, and they have a handle already in the right place. They would make wonderful hammers! The angle of the handle is much more ergonomic; and it would be hard to miss a nail with that big flat sole.
Think of the iron. One end is already a chisel, which leaves most of it unused. The other end, with a little grinding and stoneing, would make another size chisel! The iron has two long edges too; grind the thickness down a bit, file teeth, and presto! A saw! You could even file one edge rip, the other cross-cut.
The back iron can be equally useful. The heavy duty ones can be used as pry bars. The flimsier ones can have the top end shaped into a wonderful screwdriver. The kind with the hump at the bottom can have that end sharpened, and with a handle attached you have an adze.
This is great! I was living in ignorance. There must be more, more ways to use a plane I haven't thought of. I'm sure I've just scratched the surface.
I gotta go. Not only do I have work to do on my planes, I need to put all my other tools up for sale.
Alan