hand plane restoration: good references?

[jwaterdawg]

I've slowly been picking up a few planes here and there with no rhyme or reason. I don't think I have anything particular exotic or valuable but I would like to set about to restore them to good working condition.

Could someone recommend a good reference for identifying and restoring/refurbishing/sharpening hand planes?

Thanks,
J

[Jim Boyd]

Here are a couple of links. The first has a good step by step in "Handplanes 101"
The second has a lot of good links.
http://www.rexmill.com/
http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDo...DEX_How_To.htm

[dabeeler]

some more good links

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/works...lanes1_anchor6

http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/sta..._plane/dating/

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...cles_720.shtml

http://www.woodworking.org/InfoExchange/index.php

[Peter59T]

Nice books on handplanes

I got attacked by the hand plane bug recently too. So far my very limited collection consists of a couple of pre-war (I am pretty sure that is WWI) Stanleys, that I have managed to get to perform very well. (Even at 80+ years old, they completely and utterly shame the little #4 generic block plane I got a few years ago from the borg).

I got a couple of books that are very nice from Amazon

The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156...549616?ie=UTF8

This is a really neat book going through history of planes, loads of different models, and designs as well as use, care, tuning of etc.

and

Working with Handplanes (New Best of Fine Woodworking) (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156...549616?ie=UTF8

This is a collection of various handplane articles. The articles are independent so they approach handplanes from different angles. It is good too, but it gets a bit repetitive here and there as many of the articles touch on some of the issues. As long as you don't read it from cover to cover in one sitting it will still provide lots of good info.

[jwaterdawg]

Thanks for the book suggestions.

[germdoc]

You need to change your signature. It should read, "My name is Jay, and I'm a clampaholic AND a planeaholic."

You're gonna need 24 steps to get outa those 2 addictions.

[Peter59T]

Finally learned how to use a hand plane

I just took "Introduction to Hand planes" at our local Woodworkers club last night. It is one thing to read about it and another thing entirely to have a local cabinet builder show you how to adjust and really use a hand plane.

In about an hour and a half we learned to plane and joint using a #5 jack plane. It was a blast. A well tuned plane (deadly sharp and flat) is a joy to use. Very easy as long as you pay attention and watch what you are doing. Infinitely more relaxing and quiet than the big power planers and jointers they have. And you get a bit of workout too.

My restored 75 (give or take) years old #5 jack plane Stanley and I won't need to buy a power planer or jointer. Really cool! Plus it sounds so nice when it cuts the wood.

[germdoc]

Peter--

Glad you enjoy it--you're hooked!

I use several of my 20-25 planes on virtually every one of my wood projects. I couldn't get along without them. My most useful is a Veritas low-angle block plane that I also use for chamfering.

On the other hand, when it's hot outside, and you've got dozens of board-feet to joint or thickness, I confess I fire up Mr. Power Jointer and Mr. Power Planer. Couldn't live without them either.