It’s been a long day and we’ve not long got back and settled down. I’ve spent a good while now aimlessly stirring my tea and gazing in to the pot looking for answers.
You see, today’s been one of those days when you smash one of your favourite planes.
I was just getting ready to start the next top flattening session. I hadn’t even started my stroke when the plane just launched itself, went cartwheeling down the concrete floor and straight out of the workshop door (it didn’t even look real, more like some really crap animation!). I couldn’t have thrown the thing further if I tried.
Apart from my block plane (which I routinely drop twice a day) I’ve never actually dropped a plane before so this was a new experience for me… is it always in slow motion?
It’s now in a pretty bad state with a lot of bent iron, curling the sole over on every corner, and I’ve absolutely knackered the adjustable mouth and about every adjustment knob on it. I know I can get it back working again it’s just a question of how much time it will take, though I doubt it will ever be quite the same. It’s been a real shame for me as I do always get attached to my tools.
Even if I could afford a new one I’d have to go right through the settling in period again. It takes me quite a while to bond with a tool before I’ll happily use it everyday, I don’t go ripping the box open on delivery and excitedly put it to work. Instead I’ll have a little fiddle then put it aside for a month or so to allow that bonding time. Replacing this plane now would feel a little bit like replacing a dog; it’s just not the sort of thing you can rush in to.
I’ve got thick skin and I’m used to taking blows but I could have roared today, instead all I came out with was a lot of German! On a good note though I can give a conclusion on the PMV11 vs tarmac test… the steel won, not a nick on it!
Hi Richard, I have been their buddy, so I know how you must be feeling. People give me stick over the care I take with my tools, HaHa nothing better than picking up a tool you have tuned for your self, how it feels how it performs, well you know what I mean.
I buy the best I can and look after them, most are a one off deal as I cant afford to replace them. Money apart, I love my tools 🙂 I cant go into the workshop without picking something up just to hold it. I think I need treatment lol.
I hope you can get it sorted buddy, take care 😉
Feeling for you Richard. It happens. Not to often thank god, but when it does it hurts.
I can only imagine how hard you have been working lately. I would guess you have had a full workload most of the month. Things like that can happen to any of us when we get a little tired. It’s a bit of human nature to occasionally lose our focus or concentration when we have been working hard for a period of time and we wear down some. If you read my recent email note, you know that I did something similar twice in a row recently. I barked a little out loud too, especially the second time.
I’m really sorry about the damage to your plane and feel for you. I don’t have a low angle plane like that but I have a Millers Falls 18, or an old Stanley 5-1/2 I’d be glad to send either one to you to use while you perform triage on your plane. If I can get the address. I’m across the pond so It might take some time to get there though.
Mike
Hi Mike, I did read about your incident and my heart sank for you too – especially for the second time! You’re right though, sometimes slowing down actually gains speed. It really is a very kind offer to send over your plane, but of course I couldn’t accept in case something happened to it. I do have other options for now so don’t worry.
Thanks again, Richard
Veritas might help you out with repairing it if you ask them.
I feel for you Richard, our tools are an extension of ourselves, they are part of who we are. Inanimate yes; but we humans relate to them or bond with them and sorely hurt when they are damaged or lost/stolen. In this case you can rebuild, almost as good as new. Get busy, my friend
Richard, I share your pain. Work through the pain by checking the plane’s flatness over a rough grade of silicone carbide sand paper to start.
Tough times do not last, tough people do.
Ouch! That stinks! Maybe it’s too soon to talk about it, but I wonder about the physics and how it landed. One of the often repeated comments re: LA bench planes is their low center of gravity. When it landed,did it roll over like an SUV damaging the tote or just land on the sole like toast with jam? It is amazing how time slows down so much during events such as these. I feel your pain.
Oh man, that sucks. You might find all the answers as to how and why this happened, but in the end you’ve still lost a cherished tool. My sympathies.
Hi Richard,
Sorry to hear, but man you must be strong :-). I am now even more convinced that having laid an wooden floor in my workshop is the right thing, and exactly what happend to you was my reasoning for it.
Now.. I have to figure out a way of planes and chisels flying out of my door.
I recognize the bonding aspect you mention very well and your desciption is spot on!
All the best
Thanks Mac, I’ve always wanted a wooden floor in here and did recently put one in to the hand tool workshop when we fitted it out. Unfortunately the main workshop is just too big to justify.
Bloody Hell Richard…cracking job on that plane! Glad to see that I’m not the only one who sometimes has a really crap day. Jesting aside, have another big mug of tea (says he stirring his pint pot of T) speak nicely to Helen and go and buy another one. If you don’t, I think you’ll miss using it and after our natterings at Pete Sefton’s bash back in July, I know that you appreciate just how good it and what a big asset it is in the ‘shop. See you at Cressing Temple as well next month.
Cheers Rob, I know I did a proper job of it didn’t I! Pleased to hear you’ll be along to Cressing Temple, I’ll definitely not get anything done now with yourself and Mr Chapman going along!
If you have a concrete floor it’s worth considering a more forgiving surface around the bench. In the event of dropping a tool it might survive and it’s better for the feet, particularly in winter. I use a piece of old carpet – not ideal but better than nothing.
Hope you get it sorted – your own planes become part of you.
Oh crap – that’s really upsetting. Did it once myself and broke the casting, just after I had finished tuning it up!. Hope you can recover yours.
Crickey Barry, that’s bloody tragic. I bet that was one of those moments when you couldn’t even pick it up, you just walk straight out of the workshop!
Dude! I feel your pain because I’ve done this myself. I spent the afternoon with files and sandpaper trying to fix what I did. Although, I don’t think I did it as spectacularly as you did.
It’s always sad when you have to put an old workhorse down. I will observe a moment of silence in honor of your loss.
Well if you’re going to do a job you may as well do it spectacularly! I’ll be raking out my granite slab soon.
Ouch! I’ve got one and have seen you using this plane in all your vids, so I feel a little sad too. If you buy a replacement, maybe this one could find a second life as some kind of heavily modded specialty plane (adding guides for chamfers or you could chop the front off to make a chisel plane).
Or maybe a paper weight…! 😉
I’ve got a feeling a should be able to get it back up and running its just a matter of how much time I can give it.
Richard,
yeah I’ve done that once myself but very lucky for me that it was just after rebuilding my shop with a thick ply floor, screwed tightly to a cavity floor filled with insulation….it saved the plane…a brass Lie Neilsen No 4, otherwise it would no doubt have been a similar outcome to yours …very sad.
On a more positive note it also points a finger perhaps at the joys of using the old wooden planes that i know you have several great go to users…..a lot less risk with those old masters.
Hope you get it sorted with the plane….maybe its time to line that shop floor!
Good luck.
Thanks Stephen, I bet that’s the only time anyone’s ever been chuffed about dropping a plane – when it lands on a newly laid wood floor! Not only did the plane not break but it’s a good way to justify the cost.
My condolences and sympathies. Hope you can salvage it and that the loss won’t slow you down too much. I second the comments about wood floors or cushioned mats for future consideration.
Hi Richard,
Sorry to hear about you plane mishap. Hope the plane can be made right again. Favorite tools like a good dog become a part of the family.
An echo of what Mac and Paul have posted. For the longest time the floor in my basement shop was just the usual concrete. A few years ago age related leg problems began and a softer floor under foot was looking better and better. Don’t know if a similar item is available on your side of the ocean but over here some of the big box stores sell underlay flooring pieces. These are inexpensive 2 foot square OSB board backed by plastic with ridges to allow air circulation underneath. This keeps any moisture from coming up through it and the feet much warmer in winter. The squares are tongue and grooved on two sides so they fit together and sort of lock in place.
A couple of days after the underlay was installed, a chisel slipped out of my hand and after a maneuver that would have made an Olympic diver proud, stuck sharp edge down in the flooring. There was no damage to the tool as a result. The only problem that arose with the floor was that my bench, which never moved on the concrete, would slide some in planeing sessions. A tiny baton screwed into the flooring at the base of each leg put an end to that.
Thanks Dennis, that underlay sounds pretty good, I’ve not come across that here but then again, where I live it’s either wood or stone… They’re your two building materials!
Why is it always sharp edge first? It’s a bit like your scone always landing cream down!
Richard, I feel your pain too, I cant afford many expensive tools and the thought of breaking them is terrifying ! Back in the nineties when I lived in Lincoln my workshop(such as it was) was burgled, I lost most of my hand tools and all of my power tools, it was heart breaking and at the time you just don’t feel you can replace them, luckily for me I couldn’t right away as they came back three months later and cleaned me out of everything they had left behind in the first place ! Because of that the insurance company didn’t believe me and it took years to get a payout. My tool collection has never really recovered, (I don’t think I have either really) money is very tight so every purchase is carefully thought out these days and that includes where they are kept and how they are used, so hang in there mate you’ll get through it, just take your time if you can .
Like others have said I covered my concrete floor, I just used old carpets, its warmer under foot, saves some edges and is not to bad to hoover up instead of sweeping .
Hi Ian, I’m really sorry to hear that, you don’t get much lower than stealing someone’s tools. A carpet sound like a nice cost effect way of doing it, do you find it curls at all in the corners?