Procrastination comes to an all too brief end

Having tuned up the hand planes, I really had no good reason not to make use of them.  I hadn't worked on the +Tom Fidgen bedside table I am building for my wife since before our snow apocalypse and our winter illnesses.  With the planes ready to go, it was finally time to thickness the board that would become the top and bottom of the drawer box.  My first step was to bevel the edges of the board down to my 1/2" scribe line.  My first several passes would be cross grain, so the chamfer would eliminate a lot of ugly tear out and much smoothing and scraping later on.

This photo shows the chamfers and the first overlapping passes of the jack plane on 2/3's of the board.

I was very happy with the stock removal achieved by my newly cambered jack plane blade.  Certainly the effort required was greater than if I had just plugged in my thickness planer, but so to was the level of fulfillment from doing it by hand.  I took my time and monitored my progress, and the process went along very smoothly, pun intended.  I am relatively new to some of the hand work, learning as I go.  But I will say, I really enjoy the pace of hand work, and more importantly, it is a pleasure.  The sounds of the shop are relaxing, almost meditative.  Good music and the sound of plane, chisel, and saw are much preferable to the whine of electric motors.

Nearing the scribe lines for the finished thickness.

Finished with the jack plane.

 

As I neared the scribe lines, I switched to the jointer plane, also newly ground and honed, taking my passes with the grain.  The results were just as gratifying.  By the time I had flattened the board and brought it down nearly to the scribe line, I was amazed by the finished surface.  A truly sharp blade and focusing on grain direction made the job both easier and a better finished product.

Stock removed, board flattened.

Unfortunately, the photo is a little out of focus, but this is the finished board with no smoothing, scraping, or sanding.

  

 I am certainly not a stranger to hand tools.  In some form or function, I have used them my entire adult life.  But I also realize that I am just beginning the journey of learning.  This will be my first major project completed with only hand tools ( I have done several with mainly hand tools).  I have a lot to learn, but I am having a lot of fun reading, watching, and actually practicing the craft of woodworking.  Each new skill that I acquire makes the journey easier and more productive.  I am also learning that every operation is important and they are all connected.  For instance, sharpening.  I always assumed I had mastered sharpening.  After a few years in my early twenties, believing that chisels came sharpened and stayed sharpened (I laughed typing that), someone set me straight.  Apparently I wasn't alone, because before the internet, it wasn't very easy to locate quality stones.  After much reading, trial and error, and practice, I got pretty good at getting a seriously sharp edge on chisels.  Especially narrower blades.  Enter this newest phase of my woodworking life.  Plane blades.  Yet again, I find myself climbing a little bit of a learning curve.  I probably spend longer than some, and may not be a successful as many more experienced workers.  But I am beginning to see the results of my efforts, and I am greatly enjoying the satisfaction of mastering (or trying to) each new process and procedure.  More importantly, the quality of my work is advancing every time I go into the shop.  I enjoy the work, and I look forward to a lifetime of learning.  That said, if anyone has any suggestions or advice, I would be thrilled to hear from you.  I also hope that you will follow along with my progress as I document my journey here.  And to those of you who work so hard to find time both to work in the shop and blog or produce videos, thank you for sharing.  Your efforts are very much appreciated.