BEVEL ANGLE
The Correct Bevel Angle
Honing a Hollow-Ground Bevel
How an Edge Dulls
Factory-Ground Blade Angles
Plane Geometry, a Summary
6. LENGTH OF PLANE/WIDTH OF BLADE
The Proportion of Length to Width
CHAPTER 4: TRADITIONAL USE: THE BENCH PLANES
JACK, JOINTER & SMOOTHER—AND A COUPLE MORE USEFUL PLANES
The Fore Plane
Trying, Long, and Jointer
The Correct Blade Shape
The Ideal Edge Shape
Chinese Smoothers
Why a Narrow Smoother?
Winding Sticks
OTHER HANDPLANE PREPARATORY WORK
Techniques for Shooting an Edge
CHAPTER 5: SHARPENING PLANE BLADES
A BASIC SKILL THAT LEADS TO OTHERS
Grinding Out a Nick
Grinding on a Sanding Belt
Using and Maintaining Waterstones
Stone Choices
Listening
Notes on Sharpness and Sharpening
Sharpening
OF SLAVES, DOGS, AND DEADMEN
A Simple Bench
CHAPTER 7: SETTING UP THE PLANES
AND TUNING THEM TO WORK TO THEIR FULLEST
SETTING UP A TRADITIONAL WOODEN PLANE
The Back of the Blade
Flattening the Back of a Plane Blade
Checking for a Custom Fit
Marking
What Really Happens
General Techniques for Adjusting the Plane Blade
Adjusting a Wedged, Tapered Blade
A Twisted Plane
The Oiler
Getting Rid of Those Burnishing Marks
Fitting a Sole Plate at the Mouth of a Plane
Setting Up a Flea Market Find
Check the Brass Mouth-piece
Efficient Planing
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Keep the Surface Flat
CHAPTER 8: MAKING & MODIFYING PLANES
EXPANDING YOUR OPTIONS
MAKING TRADITIONAL WOODEN-BODY PLANES
Handle Shape
Fitting a Moveable Sole Plate
Fitting a Moveable Sole Plate When Making a Krenov-Style Plane
INTRODUCTION
You may ask yourself: Why bother?
I mean, when we have so many other beautiful planes to choose from that could certainly do the job well enough? Planes we are probably more familiar with, marvelously mechanical metal planes of proven reliability. And other styles of planes as well, both beautiful and functional.
Well, simply put, if you’ve got a lot of work to do in solid hardwood, the traditional wood plane excels at efficiently working hardwoods and is better at this than any other style of plane.
Say you have a large plank, maybe a live edge board for a tabletop, and it’s too big to fit in your jointer. The traditional jack plane—maybe preceded by a scrub plane, used with the correct technique—is light, low in friction, comfortable in the hands, and will quickly take the high spots off, leveling one face of the board sufficiently to get good registration through the planer. Or maybe your planer isn’t big enough either. Traditional wood handplanes, used in the traditional sequence, with the blades correctly shaped and with appropriate blade angles, will make this job doable.
Or say you have a nice piece of figured hardwood that just wants to tear up when you go to work it. Only with a high-end two-drum sander will you get results that won’t take hours of sanding to get rid of the ripples, variations at changes in hardness, and streaking that the nonindustrial sanders tend to leave. Again, use of traditional wood handplanes, used in sequence