Popular Woodworking Magazine » Handplane Techniques

Tuning Bench Planes at Vesper World Headquarters

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:24:57 +0000

Honestly, I’ve tuned so many dang metal planes in my lifetime that I’ll never worry about having enough iron in my diet. They might mine my carcass for the mineral when I’m dead. For me, it has always been an analog process: Do it by hand with inexpensive supplies. Today I spent the day tuning … Read more »

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Exploit the Weakness of the Tree

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:39:27 +0000

In hand-tool woodworking, brains almost always trump brawn. For example, when I need to remove a lot of material from a localized area, I need to think like a tree assassin and exploit its weaknesses. Think about it for a minute: Trees are much stronger in the vertical axis than they are in the horizontal. … Read more »

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Cut Rabbets by Hand

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:46:31 +0000

Even if I have an entire shop filled with power equipment, I like to cut my rabbets by hand. Why? It’s fast and fun. Once you master a rabbet plane or a moving fillister plane, your router table and table saw will get a lot less use. To push you along this path, I wrote … Read more »

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Correct the Skew on a Plane Blade or Chisel

Christopher Schwarz — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:16:33 +0000

Some woodworkers would rather stick their hand into a running disposal while naked than turn on a dry grinder. So when they need to correct the skew angle on a skewed plane iron or skewed chisel they are at a loss. I even met a guy who would just buy a new blade rather than … Read more »

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Get Lubed Up in 19th-century Style

Christopher Schwarz — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:05:10 +0000

Ever since Roy Underhill wrote about the joys of mutton tallow as a tool lubricant in Popular Woodworking Magazine in the August 2010 issue, readers have been asking where to purchase the stuff. Or, even more alarming, how to render it themselves. The good news is that Lee Valley Tools has started to carry McQueen’s … Read more »

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New: ‘Mastering Hand Tools: Basic Skills for Balanced Woodworking’

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:47:47 +0000

If you read this blog, you are probably interested in hand tools. And if you are at the beginning of your journey, this blog entry is for you. Popular Woodworking Magazine commissioned me to make a series of 10 to-the-point videos about hand tools that try to strip away the confusion so you can get … Read more »

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Confession & Redemption

Christopher Schwarz — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:15:03 +0000

I have a palm-grip random-orbit sander that I’ve used for many years on household projects that could not be planed because they were too big, such as 16’-long runs of base moulding nailed to a wall, or weren’t designed for handplaning, such as plywood that is covered in paper-thin veneer. A couple years ago, the … Read more »

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A New Bookmark: Hardware City Tools for Totes

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:29:12 +0000

When you buy vintage Stanley planes in the wild, one of the most common problems is the tote – and sometimes the knob – are trashed. My first No. 5 had a crude replacement tote that was so poorly rasped that it looked like it was furry. I’d always intended to make a replacement but … Read more »

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New Episodes from ‘The Woodwright’s Shop’

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:35:30 +0000

The shows from the latest season of Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s Shop” can now be viewed online for free through this link. What, you are still here and reading my crap? Click the link and get over there and watch all 13 episodes. That’s more than six hours of Roy, with less than an hour … Read more »

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New Closed-throat Routers from Lie-Nielsen

Christopher Schwarz — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:49:58 +0000

In the great battle to make the best router plane (what, you weren’t aware of the war?), Lie-Nielsen has raised the stakes by introducing two new closed-throat routers. For those of you who don’t follow router plane minutiae like I do, the throat of a router plane can be either open or closed. Closed-throat routers, … Read more »

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