In the following video (published by Lie-Nielsen on YouTube) Deneb Puchalski talks you through the benefits of using a toothed blade and quickly demonstrates how you can use it to dress the face of a curly maple board with massive tearout.

While this task may require various tools like a scrub plane, a jointer, a jack and a smoother, most share the same anatomy.

Take a look at the exploded diagram on the left (click on it for a larger view) and you can get familiar with all the terminology and part names used on a hand plane.

Enjoy:

• Handplane Anatomy

For Stanley handplanes there is The Superior Works: Patrick’s Blood and Gore, where you’ll find all the information you’ll ever need on these classic tools.

The next time someone refers to one of Stanley’s handplanes by their funny numbers you’ll know exactly what they’re talking about.

Next on the list is The Disstonian Institute, which has the name implies will provide you with lot’s of information on Disston handsaws.

Last (but not least) on my list is A Millers Falls Home Page which contains a wealth of information on Millers Falls handplanes, hand drills and bit braces.

Happy reading!

Handplanes

Choosing the first handplane may not be an easy task, there are many models to choose from and while each one has it’s funcion, some of them are quite versatile and can be used for various tasks.

When looking for handplanes, some advocate that old is better and that you should get a Stanley or other antique brand name from a local flea market. I don’t agree, specially if this is your first handplane.

A vintage tool will require some restoration and tuning before it will perform well enough to compete with the tools produced these days – significant tuning if you want it to perform as well as the top brand names like Veritas and Lie-Nielsen. This is not impossible, but you really need to know what you’re doing.

If you’ve never used a well tuned handplane before, how will you know how it is supposed to perform if you’re buying a second hand vintage tool? This is why I recomend that for your first handplane you should buy the best tool you can afford.

Quality handplanes sold these days can use some tuning and they’ll perform even better, but out of the box they can perform quite well. Sharpen and hone the iron and you’re good to go.

But which ones should I get?

I would say you’ll need three planes in your basic set: a low angle block plane, a low angle jack plane and a large shoulder plane.

Here are my reasons:

The low angle block plane, preferably with an adjustable mouth, can be used on end-grain and face grain, you can use it as a small smoother to handle difficult grain by changing the bevel angle on the blade and it’s a very handy plane when working with small pieces for small projects.

The low angle jack plane can be a really versatile tool. It can be used as a small jointer to flatten a small board and by closing the mouth and setting the blade for a fine shaving it can be used as a smoother. It won’t replace a full size jointer or a smaller smoothing plane, but as a first handplane it will be a tool that will accomplish many tasks.

The shoulder plane will be useful to adjust tenons, rabbets, and whenever you need the blade to extend all the way across the sole of the plane so you can reach a tight corner. This will be the third plane to get.

From here I would say you should get a dedicated smoother, a jointer plane and then you can dive into specialty planes like the router plane. Or you can start to make your won wooden planes.

Next installment: Shaping tools

Can you imagine a jointer plane costing over $9.000? Well… take a look at this 28″ steel and ebony torpedo and you’ll see why. This thing will almost plane boards on it’s own.

• High-End Hand-Tool Sales Surge

I want it to be a low angle plane but making a wooden plane with a 12º bed is out of question, the body would be too thin to handle the strain, so I decided to take a different approach and instead of making a bevel up plane this will have the blade resting with the bevel down on a 37º bed.

This design should have the same cutting effect of the #60 1/2 since the angle of attack of a bevel up plane is the sum of the bed angle and the angle of the bevel of the blade (usually 12º + 25º respectively).

Pictured above is a sketch I made using SketchUp to have an idea of the dimensions. I guess it will work out fine!

The SketchUp model isn’t perfect but will give you an idea of all the parts and dimensions.

Attached files:

• Block plane sketch

• Make a Plane from a HOCK Plane Kit

In the end of the video you’ll also see the method used to tune a wooden handplane, with just a few taps you’re good to go. Simple and effective!

I haven’t built mine but I keep revisiting this article over and over again: Hand Made Hand Plane.

At just over 6″ long and with a 1 1/2″ iron it can be used as a block plane to trim edges and surface small pieces.

Enjoy!

The book if well structured and takes you through the steps of building and using the Krenov style wooden planes from start to finish.

It does not give specific dimensions and drawings but rather takes the approach of giving you the information you need to design and build any plane you want.

This revised edition is full of color photos which take it a step further, making it more comprehensive and pleasing to the eye.
I can not recommend this book too highly!