Archives

One of the great mysteries of the hand tool world is how Roy Underhill never seems to get older. (Is there a cursed painting in your attic, Mr. Underhill?) The other great mystery is about the [...]

One of my first handplanes, a Stanley No. 5, had a shopmade tote that was all kinds of wrong. Wrong shape, wrong wood, wrongly made. So as soon as I could, I bought a replacement front knob and [...]

There are still some spots open in the woodworking classes I’m teaching this winter. If you’ve recently come into a little money (thank you First National Bank of the Plasma) and have [...]

If you’re parsimonious, tardy or just plain wary, then this post is for you. My book “Handplane Essentials” is now on sale for the first time since its release this summer. [...]

Many woodworkers think it’s bonkers to use a curved cutting edge in a jointer plane. After all, the plane is designed to make things straight and flat, so using a curved cutter seems [...]

Years ago I got a phone call from plane maker Larry Williams that changed the way I look at long planes. “Do you have the book ‘American Furniture of the 18th Century?'” he [...]

We’ve just received our shipment of our newest DVD: “Handplane Basics: A Better Way to Use Bench Planes.” And despite my needing a haircut when we filmed it, I’m pleased [...]

I’m a mediocre guitar player. But because I’m a fair judge of craftsmanship, I have an immense respect for real-deal lutherie. Have you seen one of Jameel Abraham’s ouds in [...]

After years of development, Lie-Nielsen Toolworks is planning on making a No. 51 chute-board plane that should be released in the first quarter of 2010, Thomas Lie-Nielsen says. Tool collectors [...]

Legendary English craftsman Alan Peters used a Stanley No. 7 for every bench plane operation. David Charlesworth uses a No. 5-1/2. Joseph Moxon says you need a fore, jointer and smoothing planes. [...]

Today most of the magazine’s staff spent the day with Ron Herman, a seventh-generation housewright in Columbus, Ohio, who has spent the last 29 years building, remodeling and restoring [...]

Hi. I’m a long-time reader and a first-time caller. I really want to start using handplanes in my work. I’ve been looking at some of the premium handplanes from Veritas and [...]