The joy of planing
Recently I went to the BBC in Leeds to record a piece on the joy of planing for Radio 4. I talked about how planing appeals to all the senses; the lovely sound that a really sharp plane makes as the shaving swishes off the blade; the beautiful burnished surface that is left; the smell from certain woods as you plane them, the peppery smell form walnut, the perfume from rosewood and the aromatic smell of cedar of Lebanon. Of course I didn’t realize until I had left the studio that probably the most satisfying thing about hand planing is the sheer physicality of it. The rhythm of planing, putting your weight into the stroke and the sense of control from using a tool that responds to your skill. It’s about the hand to eye relationship between you and the tool. Its a unique feeling that you just can’t get when using machines.
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Thankyou, Chris.
