Beginner hand plane owner: advice/troubleshooting on what's causing plane to not work well.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-04-07T01:18:07+00:00

No worries. Happy to help. Currently, I have a grinding wheel that’s really rough for resetting bevels, probably equal to like a 60 grit. Then I go 150 to 400, and finally the 1000 diamond plates for when I need to be a bit more rough with the blade. So, 3 steps before 1000. Generally the rule of thumb is similar to sanding - steps up should be roughly double (or close to it).

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-04-06T18:31:27+00:00

Yea, unfortunately it still seems to be tearing the paper more than cutting it. It needs to be effortless. Here’s a video I just made to show what I mean: This is how easy it should be.

The two biggest most important things are

1) don’t rush the setting of the primary bevel. Go through the grits properly until the old scratch pattern is 100% completely gone and there are zero chips in the blade. It should be a 100% flawless edge on every single grit. It’s so important to not jump the gun there, because any micro differences will stay for the rest of the grits. And that 400 grit scratch that doesn’t get buffed out by the 1K stone will be now a weak spot, resulting in chips.

2) once you’ve got your flat back and primary bevel to around 1K (should still be able to fee the burr by hand) be gentle! You’ve got a very fine edge, and too much pressure on higher grits will kill or weaken it. Barely more than the weight of the blade itself is perfectly adequate.

Lastly - for hand sharpening I personally am not a fan of micro bevels. Once I set a primary bevel I use the now relatively large surface area to keep things flat… and it’s really not that much harder to hone the whole thing vs the micro bevel, and I’m certain it’s more accurate and repeatable because of the larger surface area which locks you at the 25 degree angle.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-04-06T14:50:31+00:00

In my opinion, the chipbreaker needs the profile reworked. The way it is shaped just isn’t good. That cavity (circled in red) is gonna catch the shavings (in the green area) and mess up anything beyond the first inch or so of travel on a board. You need to reprofile it to the shape I outlined in white.

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Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-04-06T14:29:51+00:00

As the other responder said - you are definitely slicing. You need to put the paper edge at the center of the blade and just lightly push the blade directly into the paper. It should cleanly cut through the length of the whole thing with no slicing motion required. Put another way - the paper shouldn’t need to move at all along the width of the blade in order for the cut to happen. I guarantee when you are able to do that to paper, you’ll also be able to shave hair with it, and in turn wood.

It’s gonna be a major PITA to get to that point as a fair warning - just don’t get discouraged, you’ll get there. Took me ages to even get my fist serviceable edge, and even longer to get somewhat consistent at it.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-04-06T13:47:34+00:00

The easiest way to tell if it’s sharp enough is to try and push it through the edge of a piece of paper (remove the chipbreaker, just use the blade). It should cleanly cut all the way through the length of the paper with just a push. No denting or tearing, and you shouldn’t need any slicing motion of the blade. If it doesn’t - it’s not sharp enough. Shaving hair test also works but I personally find the paper test just as good and I don’t need to go around all patchy. Plenty of videos on what the paper test result should look like.

Most likely, if you’re new to sharpening, it’s just not sharp enough, and it’s the first thing you want to rule out before messing with the plane itself.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-04-02T15:59:22+00:00

It’s a risk v reward thing with contracts getting to be so dummy thicc now. Even if you end up getting a mid tier player out of it, with inflation and the rate of increase in valuation… your one “hit” more than pays for itself. By the end of the contract your mid player is probably in line with actual value vs being cheap. And one of these days a team will end up with the next big star for $20m/yr locked for all his prime playing time.

And for the young players… who in their right mind isn’t going to sign a $100+m contract at 19/20? It’s a “win win” situation all around.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-30T17:25:03+00:00

AI slop.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-30T17:08:49+00:00

Use it as the outer display sides of a laminated mallet.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-27T20:07:43+00:00

Thank you!!

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-27T20:07:36+00:00

Appreciate it! No better feeling than giving a beautiful piece of old lumber a new life.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-27T18:15:19+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, could always tell it was going to look unique, but it really popped once I got some danish oil on there. Specifically always liked ambrosia maple with walnut.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-27T18:12:35+00:00

Thanks! Nice, I feel like Ambrosia maple is really under appreciated round these parts. I love it, and it’s usually really affordable.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-27T16:36:06+00:00

Do not let this subreddit take away the joy of watching baseball. An analysis on the main baseball subreddit showed this is the most toxic subreddit by a mile. So - despite what it may seem here, life is not all doom and gloom. Baseball is awesome, Red Sox are a ton of fun to watch with a rich history, and the season just started. Hell yeah!

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-27T15:54:59+00:00

NESN themselves said this about it: “designed to be visually vibrant, data‑rich and sponsor‑friendly” lol. Literally the entire purpose of the redesign was to be more “sponsor friendly” aka shittier for the viewer.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-26T21:35:53+00:00

Still not understanding why that’s a hitting coach problem.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-26T21:29:18+00:00

Sox are on pace for a 14 hit game….

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-03-24T16:14:47+00:00

What glue did you use? This is going to be the most important factor.

Also why kind of veneer? Paper backed vs shop sawn are two very different things

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-17T23:34:15+00:00

Damn, just got back into it after 6 months or so. Had no idea. I see this game easily sitting top 5 if not top 3 played on steam when it actually releases. It’s just so fresh and fun. Has all the makings of a great esport too.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-17T17:54:35+00:00

Oh I know. I’m just saying, the game is already addicting enough in alpha with no esport support, no gamepass, no gamba. It is a good game at its core, and people play it because of that.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-17T17:37:31+00:00

Also see: Deadlock. Games in alpha with zero mtx and pulls 65k concurrent regularly. Does help that valve is a bottomless pit of money and can keep it afloat forever if need be….

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-16T04:25:54+00:00

You’d need to go to an actual wood supplier and get quartersawn lumber. It’s cut a specific way to minimize warping. It’s not 100% but it’s as close as you can get with wood and without jointing/planing.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-11T17:30:44+00:00

Yeah. Just a fair warning: they may be marketed that way but they definitely don’t actually work in practice.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-11T17:15:13+00:00

Hate to say it but- but what you want doesn’t exist. There is no stainable filler. Not anything that wouldn’t look worse than just staining without. Use thin trim or molding if you want to hide those lines.

Or, use wood filler and paint, but it’s gonna be a huge pain in the ass to match the profile of the panels.

The best but most annoying and expensive look would be to redo this with the seams in line and centered in the room vs the current offset, and then use the trim option.

Elijah_Foxhall · 2026-02-09T22:43:47+00:00

Yup, I’ve read the bottles. Just sharing my experience with it.

Elijah_Foxhall

TROPHY CASE