# Now THIS is a Nice Ash plane!



## dkirtley

Welcome to the fun side of planing. I really suggest making some. They are fun. If you are not comfortable going it alone the first time, do one of the kits. You will probably want one of Ron Hock's so you can have one plane at least with a chip breaker. They can be a life saver with nasty grain. One you start making your own, you are free to do other sizes, shapes, and iron angles.

If you want to go the inexpensive route, Lee Valley and others have the inexpensive replacement irons for their imported planes that are around $10. Nice to have some around to make a different plane on the spur of the moment.


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## rhett

Thank you for the great review, you have quite a skill for writing.

You can purchase a completely build, Nice Ash Plane, for less than the mentioned kit. Chip breakers have little effect on a planes ability to to handle nasty grain. The mouth opening has more impact than anything, on a handplanes ability to tame wild grain.

Should anyone want to open some dialogue about this, please include the mouth opening of your prefered smoother and how far back the cap iron is set from the cutting edge.


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## GregInMaryland

Hey, can someone send me a Big Ash plane to review? I promise that I'll give it back …. eventually 

Greg


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## jap

How can the plane be comfortable in one's hand? I imagine the corners digging into the palm of my hand. Shouldn't the back of the plane be sculpted to be more comfortable like this?








In short, after using the plane for a period of time, does it feel comfortable?


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## RaggedKerf

Jap: yes, it looks like it would be uncomfortable, but it's not. Granted, I haven't spent a solid hour planing with it, but then again, I haven't planed for a solid hour with any plane yet. What I can say is maybe it's the way I held my hands. My hands are large enough that the palm of my left hand (I am a southpaw) only rests lightly against the back of the plane. My fingers (maybe I just have long fingers…when other reviewers add their opinions we'll see if I'm just freaky lol) tend to wrap around and my thumb and fingers rest along the sides of the plane. My right hand kind of mimics the left, only on the front. I agree, having it more rounded like the picture you show (gorgeous by the way) looks like it would be more comfortable, but all I can say is this: using my WoodRiver jack plane gave me the beginnings of two blisters on my right (knob) palm and a bit of soreness on the pinky knuckle of my left (tote) hand. In the same amount of time, using this Nice Ash plane, my hands felt fine. I may need to hone my technique on the metal plane yet, but with the Nice Ash it felt pretty easy from the get go. Perhaps the larger Nice Ash planes would be mofe uncomfortable given their bigger sizes (I have not held any oth the others…), but I think at least the little block plane is pretty easy on the paws. Then again, I may just be freakishly proportioned to male a square shape comfortable lol. Nice Ash encourages people to sculpt their planes so maybe that will be next and then a comparison…


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## rhett

If it feels uncomfortable, by all means round it down. It would be impossible to shape a piece of wood and have it be ergonomically comfortable for all woodworkers hands. We decided not to try, this gives more options to more people and it also keeps costs down. Any woodworker buying a hand plane will be able to shape wood.

Most woodworkers could not get a plane to this point, cheaper than we are selling it, even with a kit.

Personally, I find the square shape easier to use. There is always a perpendicular and parallel reference area. Also, I tend to use fingers more than palms when using a wood plane.


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## Robb

Thanks for this review. I'm debating about buying some handplanes, and your review definitely gave the Nice Ash line a bump up in my consideration. Do I interpret correctly from your mention of using sandpaper to sharpen that you're a scary sharp guy? Do you use a jig to hold the iron, or just freehand? Your honed edge looks great.


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## RaggedKerf

You bet Robb! I had fun with the Nice Ash and have used it a lot since, still holding up just fine and doing a great job. Yes, I am a scary sharp guy--until I get some stones. I think… It was going to be a "good enough until I get some decent oilstones/waterstones/grinder/etc.." and that was a year ago…

For what it's worth, I free handed the honing. Later I went back with my shop made guide and got similar results. The iron is small enough lengthwise and thick enough that free-handing is very easy. The thickness of the iron really gives you a nice register when trying to feel the bevel!


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## Robb

Thanks Steve! I'm pretty excited about trying out some handplanes. I'm a little apprehensive about the whole sharpening thing. I'll have to practice and see if I can get the hang of it. I avoid it like the plague right now.


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## RaggedKerf

Robb, you know what, I was the same way re: the sharpening. I dabbled in it and got what I thought were "good enough" results. After about a year of messing around I finally got serious and watched as many videos on scary sharp on the internet as I could without my eyeballs exploding. Well, okay, that's a little overly dramatic but you get the point. My biggest tip: when you're sharpening and you think "Wow, that's got to be good enough" just go 30 seconds longer. The difference is amazing. Once you get a feel for how long to abrade the iron with the sandpaper, you'll wonder why you never did it before.

And that first cut with a well sharpened iron…music to my ears. The feeling of that iron slicing through the wood like a hot knife through butter is heaven, man. Good luck!


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## Robb

Yeah, man! I'm still definitely in the "dabbling" category. I did recently order some 400-1000-2000 grit paper from Amazon, so I'm moving from dipping a toe in the water, to wading, at least. I have an old Stanley Bailey plane that my father gave to me that I'm trying to learn to use, and I have a couple of Nice Ash ones on order now. I like your suggestion about the YouTube videos. I haven't gone looking there. I definitely want to get to where I'm at least competent to sharpen. I'm sick of dull tools.


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