Troubleshooting Planes
Practical solutions to common plane problems. When a plane is working right, it can produce a silky-smooth surface that absolutely glistens. When it doesn’t work, you get an ugly surface covered [...]
Handplanes for Beginners
Once you understand the anatomy of a handplane, you’ll be well on your way to using it with success. [View the full-size exploded view of a handplane here] Handplanes are the king of woodworking [...]
Planes Fit to a Tee
After building an I Can Do That: Tool Rack , I wanted to have my planes accessible on the rack as well. So here’s my solution. Cut two pieces of oak into 1⁄2” x 3⁄…
EZ Planing Sled – Future Improvements
As it often happens with my ideas, the moment I start thinking about some type of innovation or another I gravitate to my sketchbook and try to evolve it on paper until I feel certain it has [...]
Building and Using the EZ Planing Sled
As I mentioned last week, a common way to flatten a board that is too wide for your jointer is to build a planing sled and then pass the board & sled through the planer. Via incremental [...]
EZ Planing Sled: A Preview
Truing and milling twisted or cupped boards whose width is broader than your jointer is always a challenge. And this becomes a true headache if you need to do this fast and efficiently. If you [...]
5 Mistakes Beginners Make with Block Planes
When I teach beginners, one of the most common phrases I hear is, “I cannot get this (insert tool name) to work. What’s wrong?” They hand the tool to me and the fun begins. Though block planes [...]
The Real Truth About Block Planes
Armed with a little trickery, you can make the block plane perform a wide variety of tasks. Hang around enough woodshops (or Internet discussion groups) with a block plane in your hand and you’ll [...]
Extreme Block Planes
Tool: Nx60 Shop Now and DX60 Shop Now Manufacturer: Lee Valley MSRP: $209+ These low-angle block planes from Lee Valley are beautiful marriages of fine art and sound engineering. [...]
Veritas Small Scraping Plane
Tool: Small Scraping Plane Buy Now Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $139 Sometimes a wood’s grain direction is so unruly that planing just gets you in trouble–tearout is [...]
Skew Block Plane
Modern hand planes continue to be popular, and this low-angle block plane excels at trimming tenons, rabbets, and end grain. Tool: Skew Block Plane Buy Now Manufacturer: Veritas MSRP: $229 [...]
J. Wilding Moving Fillister Plane
Vintage moving fillister planes are easy to find but can be tricky to restore because of all the moving parts and the general wear and tear these tools endure. If you don’t want to buy a metal [...]