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10 votes
Accepted

What kind of plane is this?

Although the manufacturer call this a Stepped Rabbet Plane this is a bullnose plane. Although their forms vary all planes with the iron bedded at a typical angle* and mounted in such a way that it's ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
9 votes

Stanley Bailey frog adjustment problem

To update on what I finally did: I worked up my courage to file the frog and it came out very good! ;-) First I put some washers under the contact areas of the frog on one side to find out how much ...
Elbonian's user avatar
  • 291
8 votes
Accepted

Sharpening - grit progression

Many videos and tutorials from the much respected internet woodworkers show them always going from a coarse medium through to a fine. I think there are three key things here. With respect to a few ...
Graphus's user avatar
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8 votes
Accepted

Squaring boards with only a #4 plane

Yes. It is very much not ideal to do so, but it is always possible to flatten surfaces with planes shorter than the wood you're working on (obvious really, but many people don't see this and assume ...
Graphus's user avatar
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8 votes
Accepted

Is it bad practice not to pick up the plane as you pull back for another pass?

Is it bad practice not to pick up the plane as you pull back for another pass? Why or why not? No. Yes. Depends on who you ask! Since it appears it's subjective it runs the risk of all answers ...
Graphus's user avatar
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7 votes
Accepted

Use planer to even out edge sawn with scroll saw?

So I was wondering if an electric planer would do a better job at making those edges straight? Yes. In addition to being far far faster it is much more likely to result in straighter edges. It's ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
6 votes

Mouth of a Plane

Wood is not totally rigid. As the plane iron is cutting the wood it is pulling the wood up. This force is transferred ahead of the shaving and the material flexes up slightly. This causes the ...
SaSSafraS1232's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

How to plane the end of a through tenon without damaging surrounding area?

Flushing the tenon There are a couple of ways you can approach this, but it is actually most common to take the projecting tenon down until just about flush1, and then planing right through (in the ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
6 votes

Hand plane gouging wood even with fine adjustments

As I mentioned in my question, I found the solution just as I was about to post the answer. I first read @Graphus's answer to someone's question: hand plane controls (bevel down) I had always tried ...
dfife's user avatar
  • 4,186
6 votes

How to flatten stubborn hollow on the back of a plane iron?

How to flatten stubborn hollow on the back of a plane iron? You don't have to. If you alter your strategy here things will go a lot faster. And I mean a lot, something that can otherwise take an hour ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
5 votes

How do you plane end grain?

I just hand-planed several dozen blocks for an end grain cutting board using my shooting board. It worked pretty well, there was minimal tearout on maybe 10% of the blocks. I could have improved on ...
Ben's user avatar
  • 151
5 votes

getting edge of plane square to sole for shooting

Stanley/Bailey #4 w/ corrugated sole, #5 1/4, #6, Wood river low angle block plane, Stanley sweetheart dual rabbet plane, Simmons #6--longer than Stanley/Bailey #5 but smaller than #6). Which of these ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
5 votes
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What's a quick, easy home-made honing guide?

I'm thinking for a 25 degree surface, just cut a block of wood to 25 degrees on a mitre-saw and then screw the plane blade flat to it with the blade end just proud. Close, this is nearly all that's ...
Graphus's user avatar
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5 votes
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Is this plane any good for anything?

Please refer to my Answer to this Question from only a few days ago, this plane and that plane are nearly identical so all my comments there apply equally here. I get dust instead of shavings when ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
5 votes

Joint all sides square?

No, you cannot. This will make the board square, but it will NOT ensure it doesn't taper. With the jointer you can only make each corner square. You can't make the opposing faces parallel with each ...
SaSSafraS1232's user avatar
4 votes

Make one end of a board thicker than the other?

The best way to do this would be to put it on a slanted sled and run it through a planer repeatedly. How you make the slanted sled is up to you. I would consider cutting a series of wedges from ...
SaSSafraS1232's user avatar
4 votes

getting edge of plane square to sole for shooting

A side flat enough that it doesn't rock is all that is needed. The squareness of the edge produced is determined by the (adjustable) angle the blade edge forms with the side. The angle of the sole, ...
scanny's user avatar
  • 2,199
4 votes

How do I use a handplane to smooth a cutting board?

I had this idea that I would be able to run the hand plane over the surface of the (already smooth) cutting board and peel off whisper-thin shavings. Yes that is exactly what you should be able to do ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
4 votes

Sharpening - grit progression

there is none. eventually you will wear the blade down enough at 3000 grit to the point where it will take too long to sharpen while maintaining the same bevel angle. At that point a return to coarser ...
aaron's user avatar
  • 2,426
4 votes

Is it bad practice not to pick up the plane as you pull back for another pass?

In my limited experience I've found only two cases where I have problems when pulling back without lifting up: final smoothing of soft woods - if you'll get some shavings stuck in the mouth of your ...
Jan Spurny's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Problems adjusting block plane

Hmm, interesting. Off-hand I'd say that's a design flaw. You could confirm that by measuring (perhaps with a dial-indicator) the full length of blade travel available from the fine-adjust and ...
scanny's user avatar
  • 2,199
3 votes

Kanna setup: blade/mouth width, osae-bo bending

Most kanna irons that I have seen have their own mimi formed by grinding off the corners so the cutting edge is the same width as the mouth. As it is now the iron is cutting a shaving that is wider ...
JohnnyB's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes

How can I flatten the floor of a small carved box?

Paul Sellers has a video on making a Poor Man's Router Plane using a chisel and a block of wood. Depending on the depth of the box, this method may work for you. NOTE: I take no responsibility for ...
Jim S.'s user avatar
  • 131
3 votes

How can I flatten the floor of a small carved box?

I'm going to expand somewhat on my Comment above. Hide it I don't think you're would be really happy with any smoothing option here so I strongly recommend you just sidestep the issue and line the ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
3 votes
Accepted

Planing thin material to consistent thickness using hand tools

You can devise a jig of some kind to help in making multiple pieces of smaller size but at heart producing strips of wood like this doesn't have to be any different from getting a board to final ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
3 votes

How do I use a handplane to smooth a cutting board?

Odds are your that your plane is not sharp enough and is not correctly set yet for your project. A quick test is to attempt shaving a few hairs off of your arm with the iron. If the blade tugs ...
Ashlar's user avatar
  • 8,484
3 votes

Different ways to set up a Number 4 bench plane

like a scrub with a cambered iron and wide mouth. It's a little wide for a scrub, and will be a little heavy as a consequence, but it'll certainly work. with a very tight mouth and very closely set ...
aaron's user avatar
  • 2,426
3 votes
Accepted

How to preserve sole of transitional plane

Wooden-bodied planes were very commonly oiled (sometimes heavily) with linseed oil and the same could be done with the body of a transitional plane. Many transitionals restored by present-day users ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
3 votes

What is this plane

This is built in the style of a British infill plane, with an iron or steel body, hardwood 'stuffing' (mahogany?) and brass or bronze lever cap. It's a smoothing plane, or as commonly called today a ...
Graphus's user avatar
  • 67.2k
3 votes

How to flatten stubborn hollow on the back of a plane iron?

There is no reason to get the entire back of the blade perfect flat and polished - you only need the area from the cutting edge to just behind the chip breaker. I typically flatten about 3/4 to 1&...
Walnut Close's user avatar
  • 1,411

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