The Sounds That Planes Make
Derek Cohen (in Perth Australia)
>I have slowly, but increasingly, become aware of an interesting phenomenon about the sounds that planes make. Now I am speaking about the difference in sound made by Bevel Down and Bevel Up planes.
This appears to occur among all the equivelant versions I have, such as LV LA Smoother vs #604, LV BU Smoother vs #4 1/2, LV LA Jack vs #5 1/2 and, this past weekend (which finally inspired me to write this), the differences in sound between a LV BU Jointer and a #7.
I do not think it has to do with the type of wood used (hard vs soft), nor with sharpeness (both planes had freshly honed blades) or the thickness of the blade (although the BUJ used the standard 3/16" blade while the #7 used a Smoothcut blade - 4mm? - and a thick Clifton two-piece chipbreaker). The two planes did have different cutting angles, 62 degrees verses 45 degrees, and this may have influenced the outcome, but I recall that it is present on various BU angles anyway.
OK, so what was the sound?
The #7 (along with other Bevel Down planes) goes "Schhhiiiiik", a high pitched, clean sound (that we are all familiar with).
The BUJ (along with all other Bevel Up planes) goes "Schhhok", a lower pitched, slightly muffled sound.
Does this reflect a more solid, energy-absorbing bed in the BU design? Mmm, I should try this out with an Infill design, shouldn't I?
This is "Work in Progress". Your thoughts?
Regards from Perth
Derek
