Hand Plane Contest

Re: Hand Plane Contest

Dan Donaldson


>Take a look at the rules for the 5 barns planing contest. I think that most felt it was a good one.

How about...

jimreed@tallahassee


>prettiest curls. Since this is a general public thing, only so many people will be impressed with length and thickness. Prettiest curls would be a nice category also. (Hint: use a #48 for long curls and a skew dado like #46 or #39 for some seashell looking curls.) Good luck with your contest. Sounds much more interesting than that old worn out belt sander race.

add a touch of realism

Larry Williams


>See who can actually use their planes. Accurately four square a piece of rough sawn stock. Look what these plane-offs have done to hand planes--now everyone thinks all planes are smooth planes. Like Don McConnell suggested to me once, it's like playing 18 holes using all your clubs as putters.

Re: Hand Plane Contest

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI


>While I agree that a hand plane contest does not necessarily add to a person's woodworking skills, it can be very educational and entertaining. I suppose if there was a hand planing circuit and people followed it around it would become ridiculous. But for a woodworking club to get together for an intersting and possibly educational time a hand planing contest such as we had at the 5 Barns picnic is ideal I think. The results are easily quantified and pretty much indisputable. I don't recall hearing anyone saying the judges weren't fair, or any of the other myriad things that could go wrong. We used an excel spreadsheet set up by Lee Schierer to give a score for the shavings made with the board on edge. We had a limited time to make a shaving, which was done with hard maple. I think the contest was entirely fair in this way, and the results were mostly dependent on personal ability. I ahd a jointer plane set up and ready to go if I needed it, to flatten and prep the edge for attack with a smoother. I ended up feeling that I didn't need the jointer plane after making several passes with my smoother and feeling that I had gotten the best shaving I wa capable of. To take the board off the supports and run it over a jointer for every contestant would add a lot of time to the contest I think, but people might view it as being a more equal contest. The most important thing is to have fun and learn something.

Re: add a touch of realism

dave j


>I like that idea. Or, if you needed to speed things up a bit you could just take a face from rough sawn to smooth and time it. Measurements/observations could be made for time, overall flatness and surface finish.

How about a "Le Mons" type start ...

Ian (in Sydney Australia)


>I'm thinking fun for the whole family.

How about several contests or events:

1) I like the idea of the prettiest or curliest shaving using something like a #95 edge plane. You could involve everyone by saying the winner is the person who gets the loudest cheer or longest applause. Sort of puts kids and wives (and husbands) on an even footing

2) highest or heaviest pile of shavings after some set time. This could be an individual event or a relay.

3) the end grain challenge. Contestant (probably best as a team) has to shorten a 3"x3" stick by exactly 1/2in using only a block plane. Winner determined by squareness of the end and the amount of spelch (to quote david Charlesworth).

4) start with a plane, with beside it the chipbreaker and a blunt blade. Contestant has to write their name (using a biro) on the edge of a board, sharpen the blade, put it in the plane and take a shaving through which their name apears as if engraved. Winner is the shaving with the clearest engraved name.

5) start with a really knarly board, which is roughed up by running a rank #7 or #8 against the grain to deliberately cause tearout. Contestant has 5 or 10 minutes and can use a maximum of 2 planes to flatten as necessary and smooth at least one face of the board. Winner decided by the best shaving produced by one pass of the judge's smoother.

6) a plane off. Start with a rough sawn 2x1 board and bring it to square at 1-1/2 x 3/4. Winner is fastest time. Contestants might be limited in the maximum number of planes they can use, or must start with disassembled planes, or, if run as a relay, each member of a team must use a different sized plane. So a three person team might have one person wielding the #7, another on the #5, and the third on the #4.

7) east vs west. A relay where one team uses Japanese planes and the other western style planes for some common planing task.