Search:

I'll echo John Dykes' comment above. Bob's one of my favorite posters, here or elsewhere. Always look forward to learning something new from him. Excellent blog, as well.

Really good stuff here,...

You can either click on Al's name, then click "Visit Al Navas' Homepage!" and then scroll down to find the post.

Or click here, which is a direct link to the post he's talking about.

J

Always look forward to your posts, Bob. Really nice job. I also caught a Woodwright's shop episode this past weekend that showed (metalworkers can correct me here) cold forging? Anyway, metalworking...

I'll throw in some more support for the LN plane, but I might not be the best spokesperson for it since I use it so infrequently. I find it pretty comfortable to use, but that's because I think it's...

Yep -- I do something very similar, and it's worked great. If the piece is large enough, I'll put a small piece of lauan plywood between the screws and the workpiece for a little extra...

Hi Zachary:

This isn't a book, but I've found it a great resource for hand tool use:

http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/Wood_How_To/INDEX_How_To.htm

Also, free.

Hope that helps,

I'm thinking about building an armoire for my bedroom--my wife currently gets the whole closet, and I know I'll eventually get sick of walking to the office to get dressed. So fine, she can have it,...

Jim:

Actually, this helps out a great deal, so thanks for checking it out. I hadn't considered that about the skewed blade, but it makes total sense. I can only guess that LV's set screws are...

Aha. This does it. No more confusion. I was picturing the plane's use all wrong, and I had never heard of these planes being used this way--even the LN and LV catalog pictures show them being used on...

So I've been debating whether or not I should pick up a Stanley 95 (edge trimming block plane, Jeff) mostly because Chris Schwarz has confirmed a lot of my suspicions:

http://tinyurl.com/6mvt8c
...

I think the short answer here is that you want a #6, #7 or #8. Flatten with one of those, then smooth (#4 1/2, #4, #3, whatever your preferred smoothing plane). Then scrape/sand.

The long answer...

The common definition of "bench plane" includes two major things: the blade is held at an angle against a frog, and the bevel of the blade is down. This is in contrast to a block plane, which has no...

Thanks for the response, guys. It sounds like I've underestimated the usefulness of a 3/8-in. dado, so that's reason enough to pull the trigger on this.

But Pedro, you're correct. I have a few...

Hi Danny:

You've basically hit upon both of my major gripes with buying vintage tools. For as much as I like using old tools (and saving money in the process, so that I can buy, you know, wood)...

Hi again. I was wondering if I should buy a few new Lie-Niels... no, wait. Sorry. That's not my question.

I really have a quick question for any Stanley #39 users.

So I'm actually in the...

Wow. I get home from work and have quite a bit to think about. Thanks for all your responses, everyone. And thank you also for the physical measurements for the #4 and the #4 1/2. That actually helps...

Hi folks. I'm relatively new to hand planing, and I have a couple quick questions. I can currently get by with a #5, a #4, a low-angle adjustable mouth block plane, and a small LV router plane. But...