Hand Planes in the Modern Workshop, Part II

Last year Jim Russell delivered the first half of this 2-part series. Jim will continue, building on the basics presented earlier.

Hand planes remain the most versatile and indispensable tool that perfects wood surfaces left by power planers and jointers, cleans up saw marks left by the table saw and gets our wood flat. As the most precise tool in the workshop, it is the perfect for fitting joints and joining wood. 

In this session we will discuss how most woodworkers can achieve wonderful results with just one or two planes. We will do practical demonstrations of modern day shop situations where hand planes provide the most accurate and efficient solutions. We will use the same plane to work on veneers as thin as 1/28" and lumber as thick as 4",  show how to improve the surface left by a planer or jointer, and fit joints. We will show how shooting boards provide an amazing "next level" of accuracy when bringing your lumber to length or making the infamous miter joint. 

We will address the ultimate plane issues:

• To camber or not camber my blades
• Which is best... Bevel up or Bevel down planes
• Why doesn't my plane eventually eat my shooting board
• Is life worth living if my lumber is wider than my jointer blade
• Do I really need a $6,000 36" sander to flatten my table top
• Do I really need to invest $350 in a hand plane to get good results or will $25 do the trick. 
• Dealing with highly figured wood