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How do you hold thin pieces of wood like top or back when planing them by hand? Double stick tape??

I can find some Taiwanese planes which is similar to this one except they are not made of rosewood but made of what I think is hickory (I don't think it matters) :

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... 1182,46334

Are these any good? They are available in every hardware store in Taiwan and inexpensive compared to most of the planes sold anywhere in the US.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

rahimiiii,;

I have some thin cuts of ebony, about .100" that I have glued to a table, I butt the plates against them and can plane without moving them around much. They have to be replaced ever so often, but they work to hold the materials still. A few drops of CA and I'm good to go. (for two sets or so)

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Nehemiah Covey
www.coveysacoustics.com

I am going to guess that you don't have to use ebony right? any wood will do (or metal)?

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

To plane thin boards I'll hot melt glue them down to a MDF backer that can be clamped to the workbench. Because of the wax content in this type of glue you have to use it in the waste section of the wood. Also be sure to push the board down tight as the hot melt glue can set in a lump causing the edge of the work piece to sit above the backer board.
I've never used a Taiwanese style plane so I can give no opinion on those.

Steve

I bought some palm sized and thumb sized MuJingFang plane, which I think its from Taiwan.
According to some review which I read off from somewhere, the irons are pretty hard.
The plane planed nicely but when I used on spruce, it tend to stain the spruce.

As for planing thin pieces of wood, I guess you need some kind of a metal stopper, which is even thinner than the wood piece on the workbench top, for holding the wood while you plane it.

Sen

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Most of my tops and backs have a bit of run out so Im often working on one side of the join at a time. I usually clamp using two clamps placed on the half of the piece Im not working on.

For rough working of the top I use a Veritas No 4 smoothing plane and for final thicknessing I use a cabinet scraper. If plane is causing tear out (eg in Rosewood) I use a scraper plane.

When planing makes sure the blade is sharp and I work the plane at an angle to grain direction. My plane blades are convex across the cutting end rather than square thus reducing risk of corner of the blade digging into the top or back.

I use a strip of 2mm plywood clamped across my workbench when working sides. Any thickness wood is suitable as long as its not thicker than final thickness of the top/back your working on.


I wouldnt use metal...if you accidentally run the plane blade over the metal strip youre going to have a nice nick to work out of your blade.

I built a vaccum backer board that holds the work pieces down very flat. just a few small chamfered holes over a plenum chamber...

I used a piece of 3/4 MDF.. routed a set of 4 shallow rectangular vacuum chambers in it with another piece of 3/4 MDF with lots of 3/32 holes drilled in a standard pattern through it, and chamferd on the workpiece side, then glue both pieces together around the outer edges..

the 1 1/2 total thickness easliy clamps to the work bench useing the standard shoulder vice and bench dog setup.

can't say much for the planes you mentioned.. I've never used them.. look nice though.

I use my old set of ECE planes with lignum vitae soles. and upgraded to Hock blades.. They work great. helps to keep the soles well waxed.
I've always thought that planes of any style, are something that one just has to get used to useing...

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Not simply reliving the past, but Building the future.
http://www.bennett-maxfieldmusic.com

I'm new to making guitars, but have been a woodworker since I could hold a saw. I actually got turned on to this idea by my stepmother of all things. I was planing a piece of wood and ran a huge splinter into my hand making a bloody mess of the cherry board I was working on.
She took me to Lechters and bought me this rubber mesh used for shelf lining. It doesnt mark the wood, and it holds the material in place even when I start off on the edge of the board.
I'm not sure what the name of the stuff is, but I know they sell it at most residential kitchen gadget stores. Theres a million of them out there, but Just ask for a rubberized shelf liner. It's really cheap too. I just bought a 3 foot roll of it for 2.00 US yesterday as the rough wood can cause it to wear out after a couple years. I actually have planed down wood to make veneers using it.

I'm prolly not the only one who uses it, but It's one of those little gems of knowledge filed away in the Rube Goldberg contraption that is my brain.

I use the stuff when working on guitar bodies (cutting binding channels etc). I tried using it when planing but when taking big bites with the plane it wouldnt hold that well.

Looks like it's good for routing stuff but doesn't seem to hold the piece well enough for planing.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Goofy, there is a couple of threads in the archives about these pads. You might find them interesting to read. The gist of it came down to you have to be careful of the pads you use. For some of them, silicone was used as a releasing agent during manufacturing. And there is still enough on the pads to contaminate the surface of your wood, leading to possible finish failure. As I said, some do and some don't, but you can't tell by looking at them or feeling them which ones are to be avoided. I don't remember anyone saying that they had encountered silicone contamination from using a router pad sold at woodworking stores though.

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Aoibeann