Getting Bit by the Toothed Planing Stop

I know there are people who use edge tools straight out of the box, but I can’t. I always sharpen them. So why should workbench accessories be any different?

For many years I’ve been indifferent to metal planing stops. The aluminum ones are terrible for too many reasons to even get into here. The iron ones I’ve used in the past are OK, but there is always the risk that you are going to slam a plane into one.

No wonder tail vises are so popular.

But since August I’ve been re-evaluating my relationship with the iron planing stop. I’ve really no choice. I sold my old workbench that had a full array of workholding devices (including a tail vise) in favor of a French behemoth that has only holdfast holes and a metal planing stop on its benchtop.

I’ve built three pieces of furniture and some try squares on this bench so far and have been slowly falling in love with the planing stop.

What changed my attitude? For starters, a file. After installing the planing stop, I grabbed a file and sharpened the teeth in about five minutes. Somewhere in my frontal lobe I recalled that some old stops were made using sharp nails. So I thought I’d try sharpening my existing stop.

This made a huge difference. Suddenly my work stayed put.

Then my brain’s second neuron decided to fire that day. I remembered something odd about the so-called Stent panel – an early carving showing Burger King planing at a workbench while Skeletor brings in some tea.

As it’s a carving executed by a woodworker, everything in the scene carries some important visual information. On the bench of the planing Burger King, there are only four things shown on the benchtop: the plane, the wood, the metal planing stop and a hammer or mallet.

I never gave this any thought until recently. Why would a hammer be important to planing?

To knock the wood into the planing stop. Duh.

This little trick made the planing stop bite even harder into the stock. I can easily immobilize rock-hard teak with a whack of the mallet.

Yes, this leaves marks in your work. You learn to deal with it. And yes, you have to be careful around the planing stop, it’s about as dangerous as having a sharp chisel sitting on your benchtop. You get used to it.

My new bench also has another unusual characteristic: Its leg vise doesn’t have a garter or a parallel guide. I was worried at first that I’d miss both features, but it turns out not to be the case. More on that in a future post.

— Christopher Schwarz