Why I Use Two Planes

Why I Use Two Planes

In the beginning I couldn’t think why my mentoring craftsman always used but one plane except perhaps he couldn’t afford two. Then I realised he had loaned me his second one. Of course not everyone uses two planes and not everyone owns two either. I started out with one and then, because planes cost so little…

Plane No 3—The Shoulder plane

Plane No 3—The Shoulder plane

Shoulder planes date back to the early 1800s with the zenith here in Britain being throughout the late 1800s and into the mid decades of the 1900s when they effectively lost purpose and therefor favour as a tool used by professional cabinet makers (furniture makers not ply-box kitchens USA) and joiners. The chief market for…

Plane Fettling Evens the Score

Plane Fettling Evens the Score

To stave off some of the questions about setting up a new or secondhand plane (high-end, low-end and any in between), and future ongoing maintenance and adjustments, you might want to watch woodworkingmasterclasses.com here. You will need to subscribe for the free membership but that’s straightforward enough. You can also watch on youtube too. Here is…

Improving plane-making standards

Improving plane-making standards

Question: Paul, what are the “higher engineering standards” you speak of relative to plane makers or any hand tool makers? Answer: There can be no doubt that Stanley UK planes slopped out and have been poorly pumped out since the 1970s by the slipshod standards assembly line work has an innate propensity to engender. Of course…

Use for round-bottomed planes

Use for round-bottomed planes

Question: Paul, I was hoping you would explain why that (nice) little plane was rounded in both ways. I inherited an ancient plane from my grandparents with the same rounding both ways, but bigger than the one you made. I haven’t been able to figure out what this plane was used for and this is…

Thank you for your plane questions.

Thank you for your plane questions.

The request for questions surrounding planes went over 300 and they were all interesting and stimulating. There are of course many perspectives from trialling various planes in magazine articles and then the individual views we all have personal insights into. Reading the questions you posed has really helped me to realise how much everyone cares about the future…