Microplanes?

11/10/05, 3:00 AM #1

Joe Pack
Member
Offline
858 posts

Registered: 1/13/04

Microplanes?

Joe Pack

>I am trying to complete a harp kit for a Christmas present. I need to fit a 3/4" thick piece of walnut to join the curved arm to the top of the base. The plan calls for doweling/gluing the pieces together, then trimming the excess flush. I know the final "fitting" will be with sandpaper, but I am not sure about getting rid of the bulk of the excess first.

Looking through my Hartville Tool catalog, I came across a set of microplanes (coarse and fine). They look like they would be the thing to help pare the excess before sanding, but, never having used these, I am looking for your suggestions. I want to minimize damage to the arm and base, as they are all but ready to finish. Are microplanes a reasonable tool to use for this? Do you have a better suggestion to pare edge grain without messing up the finished surface surrounding it?

- - -

Officially retired on March 1, 2007 after 35 years as a teacher, class advisor, coach, athletic director and high school principal. I miss working with my students, but fishing and my feeble attempts at woodworking keep me busy. Plus, my sweetheart (still working full time...a "stay at home mom for a bunch of years, so a few more years before she earns any sort of retirement) "lets" me do laundry, cook most of the meals and do dishes anytime I get the urge. I am very good at buying tools and materials, but not quite so good at getting around to using them. Still, I have done a little bit of flat work, and am learning how to make toothpicks on my lathes. I have pretended to make a little bit of money by doing a few craft shows for the past 4 years, selling pens and other small turnings. I'm not getting rich, but, after several hundred kits, I'm getting the hang of long and round. Bowls are next, but I'm still learning. I don't pretend to do much of anything well enough to brag, but do most things well enough to not have to pay someone else too much to make it right. After working my way through school a good number of years ago as grunt labor on a summer carpentry crew, factory service guy, hardware store clerk, etc., I learned enough to pound every nail, run every wire and connect every pipe in the house I built. Heck, I even designed it myself...took my "blueprint" (a pencil sketch on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper) in to show the lumber yard folks when I ordered materials! Jack of all trades, master of none is not just a saying, it is the truth in my case. I visit WC regularly, usually only reading, sometimes posting. I toss in my 2 cents worth when I know what I'm talking about. I toss in my 5 cents worth when I only think I know what I'm talking about. When I really try to impress people with what I think I know, I can start some really good arguments or completely make a fool of myself, or both. Visiting WC has usually been one of the higlights of my day for the last couple of years. I appreciate the folks here, and consider them my friends, even if I have only ever met two of them in person. I look forward to meeting many more down the road.

Re: Microplanes?

11/10/05, 4:20 AM #2

Bill Houghton
Member
Offline
8,480 posts

Registered: 1/1/70

Re: Microplanes? *LINK*

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I've never used microplanes, but I have used the several iterations of the Stanley Surform, a similar tool, and I think you're better off with a classic rasp.

Many rasps come with teeth all the way to the edge, which could be a problem if you're trying to preserve a finished surface next to your point of work. Four-in-hand files (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20137&cat=1,42524) and at least some patternmaker's rasps (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=30288&cat=1,42524) come with "safe" edges, without teeth on the edges.

Sandpaper, at a certain level of coarseness, becomes a shaping tool, too, and you can control where it goes by how you shape the backing you put behind it.

There are also rifflers (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=42525&cat=1,42524), which again give you great control.

If the links above won't get you to the sites I was looking at, try the link below and go to "shaping," in the third column. There are other online dealers that offer these tools, and a decent local tool store will have them too; this just happened to be most convenient, and the Lee Valley prices are pretty decent.

Lee Valley's site

Re: Microplanes?

11/10/05, 10:51 AM #3

Skip in Falls Church
Guest

Re: Microplanes? *LINK*

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Jack,

I've used the microplanes shown in the link below. They come really sharp and are really aggressive - even end grain is no problem. In my expernce, they generally produce very little blow out on the far side. However, when I say they are really aggressive - I mean that, they'll take a lot of wood off quickly. They also leave a rippled surface. I use them in the rough shaping stage then follow up with a good rasp. Then, if it will fit in the space, follow up with a scraper, if not, then sandpaper.

Skip

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=2009

Re: Microplanes?

11/10/05, 11:31 AM #4

Skip in Falls Church
Guest

Ooopps! I meant Joe - sorry!

Skip in Falls Church

>

Re: Microplanes?

11/10/05, 4:17 PM #5

Clay C in Miami
Guest

Re: Microplanes?

Clay C in Miami

>I really like Microplanes - I have accumulated all the shapes and sizes I could find. With pressure, the coarse ones will hog off wood quickly, and the finer ones leave quite a good surface (especially if you watch the grain direction and constantly change the angle of use, to avoid ripples). If you use the 'singles,' they all seem to have a 'safe edge' equivalent - a part with no teeth, so you can work close/adjacent to a finished area. But with the singles, be careful - they will buckle if you press too hard. The handle with interchangeable rasping parts is sturdier, but offers fewer profiles. The narrower profiles that I seem to use the most are available in 'singles' only.

I'm so happy with their rasps that I even bought a couple of the Microplane 'steel sandpaper' disks to test, but have misplaced them ... will post a report after I've found them and tried them out.

BTW, you may find it politic to add to your Microplane order (if you buy direct from them) another item - a callus rasp that they make for abrading off the hard bits of your LOML's feet. I got one of these for an erstwhile sweetie, and she raved about it - Not cheap, but she said it was much, much better than the pumice stone they usually use. She even tackled my feet - I go barefoot a lot, and my soles get thick. Aside from all the whining and gagging noises with which she accompanied the task, it was not an unpleasant experience at all!

Clay

Re: Microplanes?

11/12/05, 2:53 AM #6

Joe Pack
Member
Offline
858 posts

Registered: 1/13/04

Thanks, folks. I appreciate it.

Joe Pack

>

- - -

Officially retired on March 1, 2007 after 35 years as a teacher, class advisor, coach, athletic director and high school principal. I miss working with my students, but fishing and my feeble attempts at woodworking keep me busy. Plus, my sweetheart (still working full time...a "stay at home mom for a bunch of years, so a few more years before she earns any sort of retirement) "lets" me do laundry, cook most of the meals and do dishes anytime I get the urge. I am very good at buying tools and materials, but not quite so good at getting around to using them. Still, I have done a little bit of flat work, and am learning how to make toothpicks on my lathes. I have pretended to make a little bit of money by doing a few craft shows for the past 4 years, selling pens and other small turnings. I'm not getting rich, but, after several hundred kits, I'm getting the hang of long and round. Bowls are next, but I'm still learning. I don't pretend to do much of anything well enough to brag, but do most things well enough to not have to pay someone else too much to make it right. After working my way through school a good number of years ago as grunt labor on a summer carpentry crew, factory service guy, hardware store clerk, etc., I learned enough to pound every nail, run every wire and connect every pipe in the house I built. Heck, I even designed it myself...took my "blueprint" (a pencil sketch on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper) in to show the lumber yard folks when I ordered materials! Jack of all trades, master of none is not just a saying, it is the truth in my case. I visit WC regularly, usually only reading, sometimes posting. I toss in my 2 cents worth when I know what I'm talking about. I toss in my 5 cents worth when I only think I know what I'm talking about. When I really try to impress people with what I think I know, I can start some really good arguments or completely make a fool of myself, or both. Visiting WC has usually been one of the higlights of my day for the last couple of years. I appreciate the folks here, and consider them my friends, even if I have only ever met two of them in person. I look forward to meeting many more down the road.

Microplanes?

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