How do you hold yours?
Jim Cosgrove in N. Virginia
>A big box from Lee Valley arrived the other day and among the goodies was the LV medium shoulder plane. I bought it for the Goldilocks factor (because I thought it would be a useful size when the big Record or Stanley 93 were too large, but the Stanley 92 and Clifton were too small). As others have remarked, it is really nicely made.
However, as I went to wrap my mitt around it and put it to use, I felt something jabbing into my palm. Oh, yeah, the brass knob at the back. I normally wrap my hand around a shoulder plane centered above the mouth with an index finder on the top of the plane. Then I remembered that the brass knob is supposed to fit in the web of your hand. To do that, one has to hold the plane from the rear. My hands are not small, but it felt like my fingers were stretching to reach the round hole feature that Rob & crew designed into the side.
So, I know I can easily take the brass knob off. And that may be easier than teaching this old dog a new trick. But I'm left wondering, have I been holding a shoulder plane wrong all along. Do others hold it from the back? Seems unbalanced to me unless I use both hands. Is this grip an acquired taste?
What say you??
--Jim