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Cap Iron Fatigue

March 2, 2016 By Richard Maguire 42 Comments

Since ranting about using the cap iron for dealing with tear out, the question 'why do you only use it when smoothing?' comes up a lot. This question is best answered by me asking you to go and do something. Go and set your hand plane up to take a shaving with the cap iron nice and close to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools

Meeting Rosie

September 17, 2015 By Richard Maguire

Side escapement plane

I'd seen a picture of this plane a while back and I was looking forward to seeing if she'd be taken along to the European Woodworking Show last weekend - I was in luck! The old and unassuming little plane has been named Rosie (there's a story behind that) and it's one of the latest wooden planes … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing

How To Use A Fillister Plane

August 25, 2015 By Richard Maguire 15 Comments

A Fillister Plane Makes Cutting A Rebate Joint Fast & Repeatable

Anyone used to using machines or power tools can be surprised at just how quickly a joint can be banged out by hand. There might not be any motors, but there are many tasks which can be completed well before you would have had time to find the bits and set up a router. In addition to the benefits of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

Learning To Set Wooden Planes

August 14, 2015 By Helen 40 Comments

Wooden Smoothing Plane

When I decided to start woodworking I chose do it with wooden planes. Perhaps this was heavily influenced by what Richard felt would be a good route to take, but also because I've always felt a great attraction towards them. Setting up a wooden hand plane is not intuitive. Not for me … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking For Beginners, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

Real World Hand Prepping

August 12, 2015 By Richard Maguire 17 Comments

How to use hand planes to flatten a board

For someone who hand planes everything when building furniture, I find that I traverse (or plane across the grain) very little. I avoid it deliberately as I find the action suits neither our workbenches nor our bodies particularly well. The reason that I thickness by hand is not because I'm stuck … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking Techniques

The Right Plane For The Job

June 5, 2015 By Helen 32 Comments

Wooden Hand Planes

My favourite plane until now has been a very cute and tiny wooden smoother. It was small enough for me to manage the restoration, nice in the hand and just sweet. Time seems to get the better of me so I'm still very much at that stage of enjoying making shavings rather than much else, but with a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

Setting The Cap Iron / Chip Breaker – VIDEO

May 24, 2015 By Richard Maguire 37 Comments

Setting the cap iron / chip breaker on a hand plane

  This is the last (for now) of three videos about cap irons / chip breakers. If you haven't seen the others then you can find them here: Cap Irons & Tear Out Preparing The Cap Iron / Chip Breaker I find a well set up cap iron to be vital for preventing tear out. It allows me to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Free Videos, Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

Preparing The Cap Iron / Chip Breaker – VIDEO

May 22, 2015 By Richard Maguire 25 Comments

Using hand planes to smooth wood and avoid tearout

  Following from the last video, we're looking at setting up a cap iron. This one's in two parts and the second video can be found here. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Free Videos, Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

Cap Irons & Tear Out – VIDEO

May 8, 2015 By Richard Maguire

How to set the chip breaker on a smoothing plane

Stubborn tear out can be a huge frustration. Particularly when you're just getting everything smoothed off and it shows it's ugly face. I'm not one for faffing about with my tools, and whilst I expect my hand planes to give a perfect result, most of them look dog rough. But getting to know … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Free Videos, Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

Why Small & Sweet

May 1, 2015 By Richard Maguire 17 Comments

Smoothing planes wooden and metal

  Small Planes Are The Best For Smoothing When writing these articles I hope to provide an insight in to my ways of working. This is never to dictate, and if you read it as though what I do is the right, or the only way to go about things then you could end up confused. But through reading … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hand Planing, Woodworking Hand Tools, Woodworking Techniques

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