Friday, June 18, 2010

Spring Fresh Hand Planes?

Tonight I was creating transition molding for my entryway from Walnut.  I planed all four face sides before applying the profile.  -grumble- ...every shaving was clinging to the plane tenaciously from static cling (it's dry here).  Flip the plane and they'd stick or cling to my arm.

I fought back.

Recalling my previous tip to eliminate static cling from floor mats, I took the dry version.  Make that the dryer version: a used dryer sheet.

I rubbed down the plane with the dryer sheet, especially the mouth and sole, and the shavings no longer stuck to the plane.  Flipped upside down, they fell from the plane and mostly didn't stick to my arm.  Joy!

The secret is an anti-static chemical in the dryer sheet.  Rubbed on the plane, it neutralizes the charge from the shavings as they come off.  Remember: used dryer sheet.  New ones have a lot of waxy substance on them to distribute "Spring Freshness".  Used ones do not.  Used ones still have enough chemical to affect the magic.

Down side is, I'm single. That sheet is probably from last year!  And here, a gratuitous shot of the planed molding.  (The multibeads go all the way across, but I couldn't get a raking light to show that well.)

To the old curmudgeons crying foul that somehow this anti-static chemical will alter the ultra-precise alloy's composition and negate all benefits of the cryogenic hardening... chill.  It's just iron.

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