Category: Hand Plane How-tos

Every blog on hand plane restoration starts with some kind of soaking. Evapo-rust, citric acid, electrolysis, all meant to eat away the rust. I go into detail on these methods and more on my full Bench Plane Restoration Guide. But I’ve been soaking my planes less and less lately, finding a faster and a much  safer approach.

For the whole restoration guide, click here For the bench plane tuning guide, click here My Video of tuning the chip breaker As I was […]

Replacing a bench plane lateral adjuster Buy the book I bought a nice type 11 Stanley #4. When I received it, it had a home […]

Many time there will be a need for a new tote bolt. Here is the remedy Click here are f your looking for the tote […]

The question of how flat a sole of a hand plane need to be comes up all the time. Here is my opinion on the […]

Seasonal expansion & contraction of the wood. The metal screw is tightened in the wintertime when the wood is dry, and then in the summertime, the wood expands as it picks up moisture from the humid air. The head of the tote screw digs into the wood unless the tension on the screw is backed off. At the approach of the cool, dry season, the wood shrinks again and the screw becomes loose.