Here is short video that my son and I shot the other day of me edge jointing a mahogany board with a number 6 bench plane. The blade had been sharpened using the technique described in my earlier post and as you can see and hear the curly shavings just 'whisper' from the sharp edge. Mahogany can be notoriously difficult to plane up as it has interlocking grain but sharp tools that are honed to a razor edge make things much more pleasant, easy and quick.
It is also worth mentioning that many hand planes require some fettling to make them work at their best. The more that a plane is used the smoother the sole becomes but one straight out of the box or a plane that is rarely used will definitely benefit from having the bottom trued up and polished. The best way to do this is to tape a large sheet of 150 grit emery paper to a flat machine table or sheet of plate glass and with the blade removed rub the sole back and forth until you can see your face in it. The shiny surface reduces friction considerably and takes out any uneveness; few planes are perfectly flat. One final point, to make the plane glide across the surface is to use a little candle wax on the sole from time to time; I keep a length of candle in the tool bag for this specific purpose.
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