First Shavings

The plane came in the mail this week, and of course I was excited to get to work. Far too excited as it turned out, when I quickly began working on the Redwood top. The sole was fairly true but I soon realized that the side was not, and getting a good joint was impossible.





I decided to use the back side of my MDF shooting board/workboard/sanding board to true the sole and side:



I felt like I had Popeye arms by the time I was done, it took a long time by hand. Although blurry, this photo gives an idea of how much the side was out of whack:



After adjusting the plane I got the top ready to glue, now I'm working on the back. I'm not having as much luck with the hardwood, I'm going to sharpen the blade and see if that helps att all. If not I may have to get a regular jointing plane, the lack of adjustability with this old wooden jointer makes using it difficult.



Next up, sharpen the jointer blade and get the back ready to glue. Then glue the top and back,cut out the plywood template and finish its construction, and begin planing the top and back down to the correct thickness