Chisel Planes: The Bacon Saver?
The first time I saw a chisel plane was at an antique market in Kentucky. It was sitting out on a table with a bunch of common planes. Every person who walked up to the table picked it up to …
After Hard Use: Lie-Nielsen vs. Veritas Router Planes
Pint-sized router planes see a lot of use in my shop. Instead of using a trim router, I always prefer to cut mortises for hinges with a chisel and a router plane. So as soon as Veritas and [...]
My Scrub Saw
The stuff I write about Stanley’s metallic scrub planes always gets me in trouble with the people who use the tool to dress the faces of rough lumber. You can find my stories here and here. [...]
First Photos of the New Stanley Planes
Though the new Stanley premium handplanes won’t hit stores for a month or more, the company has released these photos of the planes that are going to be used on some packaging. These photos [...]
New Stanley Planes Coming in 2009
The new line of premium Stanley planes should be available in January or February 2009, according to Stanley officials. The planes were originally planned for a November 2008 release, but a [...]
A Close Look at the Veritas Premium Block Plane
The unveiling of two new Veritas block planes this week has thrilled some customers with their sleek design, and confused others. Is Veritas , a company historically focused on function more than [...]
Corrugations: Stopping Stiction? Or For Suckers?
Handplanes with corrugated soles vex many woodworkers. If you find them on a vintage plane, should you grab it or should you shun it? If you order a bench plane from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, should [...]
That's Not a Collection; It's a Large Working Set
A lot of people ask to see my tool collection. I tell them I don’t have one , I’m a user, not a collector. If I say that again, however, I’ll be a liar. Somehow during the last [...]
I Need Something Like a Ruler
Several years back I was fitting some 1/4″-thick mullions and muntins into a door and needed to plane the little suckers to remove their sawmarks. Planing thin stock can be a real pain. [...]
Better Methods of Mating
One of the most powerful things about hand tools is that they allow you to work on small areas of a board with ease. Instead of running the whole board through an electric planer to remove a [...]
Get a Flat Frog Sandwich
Reader Tim Williams writes: I have a number of old Stanley planes that I’ve spent a lot of hours cleaning and refurbishing. I’ve read multiple places about how when tuning up a plane, [...]
Understanding Bench Planes
Almost every day I get an e-mail or a phone call that goes something like this: “I’m a beginner. I want to buy some handplanes. But I have no idea where to start or what to buy. [...]