Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

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Ceann Cromtha
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Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by Ceann Cromtha »

Could someone please recommend a good plane for shaving the sides of the cane slips to bring them down to the proper width? I’ve had two that I’ve bought at local hardware stores and they don’t do a good job of it (despite regularly sharpening the blades in them). I think that the blades in my planes are simply too thick and they tend to mash into the cane instead of shaving slivers off of it. Thanks!
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by daveboling »

I use an old Stanley No.60 low angle block plane. It has a Hock blade, and I've used it for reeds, boat building, and harp building. I can literally produce a shaving of oak or cedar you can read through (and my skill with a plane is far less than some I know). For any plane, the edge angles and how sharp it is make the most difference.
If you want to start a fight/flame war amongst wood boat builders, suggest two numbers as the best for primary and secondary bevel angles, and the step back a watch the fray... :P

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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by myrddinemrys »

I use a China special from Home Depot. Keep a keen edge and set your blade height real low.
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by an seanduine »

Thread Drift Alert:
I make slips out of Western Red Cedar, Thuja Plicata, not cane. The slips are flat, not curved. I fasten the slips on a block of known thickness, then run them through my fairly inexpensive Ryobi planer. I can readily make slips of between .085 to .095 inches thickness, in increments of about .001 inch.
Initially then I ´bend´ a curvature in the slips by lashing them to blocks of my target curvature.
I would propose something like a router table with a ´profile blade´ could possibly be used on cane. Sharpness of the blade would be critical.
Legere reeds use a CNC setup to accomplish cutting curvature into their Bassoon Slips made of synthetic material with a rotary single tooth diamond blade. They tell me they are working toward making some kind of Uilleann Chanter Reed, but it has been two years, and I may die before that comes down the pike.

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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by m4malious »

Stanley 220. Low angle. Cheap second hand.
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by ausdag »

I have good results with a Veritas Miniature Low-Angle block plane which I use primarily to plane nice straight tails before shaping further if needed on the sanding cylinder:
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/to ... em=05P8220
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by Ceann Cromtha »

Thanks all!
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by iain beag »

ausdag wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 5:15 pm I have good results with a Veritas Miniature Low-Angle block plane which I use primarily to plane nice straight tails before shaping further if needed on the sanding cylinder:
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/to ... em=05P8220
Thats a nice wee tool might have to get one myself.

I used a cheapy for a while by Faithfull but currently I'm using this one.
https://www.workshopheaven.com/quangshe ... JEEALw_wcB

Its worth spending time setting the plane up and ensuring that the sole is flat, plenty of info about tweaking planes.
https://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworkin ... ane-basics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFw--HUkWTc

I like to offset my blade so I can vary the amount I shave off by using a different part of the plane.

Iain
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by Ceann Cromtha »

Great stuff, Iain. Very helpful, thanks!
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Re: Good Plane for Reducing Cane Slips

Post by BzzzzT »

My favorite plane, is a chisel plane for the edges. It's easy to sharpen and set up, unlike a normal plane.

https://www.rockler.com/bench-dog-no-92-shoulder-plane

To bring down the slip, I use a paring chisel. Blue Spruce makes good modern paring chisels. Mine is Victorian and around an inch.

https://bluesprucetoolworks.com/collect ... ing-chisel
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