11 Hand Plane Tips that Will Transform Your Woodworking!

I gotta tell you, I’ve always kept my planes razor sharp. I didn’t think it could get any better. But, not long ago I bought your “scary sharp” system and oh my gawd! 😮 Now I know what you mean when you say your planes have to be razor sharp. I just spent an entire evening resharpening ever plane blade and chisel I have. Thanks for putting out such a great product, (and especially at such a reasonable price). By the way, I got your no deflection stop block at the same time, and it is absolutely perfecto! Tighten both knobs and the thing doesn’t move at all. It is way better than blue name brand stops I own. They have now been moved to my junk drawer. Anywho… thanks again and take care Jonathan! ☮️

Just learned more in twenty minutes watching this, than I did in two years with my carpentry teacher at school, , , , great vid 👍

Great tips! I always learn something from your videos, and I love your products. It’s been a while since you’ve done a build video though…… just saying 😅

Hey Jonathan, nice video. To tackle the rust problem I have used CMT blade cleaning solution on all of my hand plane. Basically, you put a bit on and leave it to dry. It has anti-corrosion agent that will help rust prevention. Obviously, there are other products out there but I found this very easy to use.

#12. DON’T put the plane down on the work surface resting the blade of the plane on the work surface. “London to a brick” when you next pick up the plane you will, drag the blade along the work surface.

JKM leaning HARD into the "ck" in knicker.

Well done, my dude.

"All the accuracy of a blind guy at a urinal" ? Never heard that before now! Seriously though, good tips for using a plane, thanks

Great video lots of great information for beginners thanks for sharing

A mini seminar! Thanks JKM.

I just started with planes, because i got 4 old planes when I cleaned out my in-laws house, the best one is a Firestone supreme and I restored it, but I have a lot of trouble getting them set right, I think mostly because I don't know how, or if something is not right with them,any how I love your videos, I'll keep trying and watching, thanks for helping!!!

"Can't afford a jointer so you get a big long plane like this"

<holds up a $700 hand plane>

lol

Yeah, I know you can get a quality jointer plane for less than that. It just made me chuckle.

The hump is from how, when, and where you're putting force into the plane. The fix is super easy. It's all about preventing yourself from putting the hump into the board in the first place.

At the beginning of the stroke, make sure all of of downward force is applied only to the front end. Your back hand should put absolutely no downward force into the tote at this point, only forward momentum. The tote should feel totally loose in your hand. Your front hand is really doing all the driving at this point. Sometimes I won't even bother to squeeze the tote, instead just providing forward movement with only the web of my thumb. As you push forward, begin to add downward pressure only after the tote is fully supported by the board. These steps prevent forming the ramp up into a hump on the leading end of the board.

In the middle of the board, even out the downward pressure between both hands, and keep only enough downward pressure to maintain control of the plane. The weight of the plane itself really provides all the downward pressure needed for the blade to work.

As you approach the end of the board, gradually remove all downward pressure from the knob or toe, and keep only enough downward pressure on the tote to keep driving straight, maintaining the back half of the plane as your primary registration surface. I'll often remove my front hand from the front of the plane entirely before I reach the end of the board. That step prevents forming the far end of the hump by keeping the front of the plane from diving off. You can actually see this nose diving behavior in some of the shots in this video before you address the hump issue. If your front hand dips at the end of the stroke, you know you're applying too much pressure at the last 5 or 6 inches of the board. Break the habit, and you'll notice you have to fix a lot fewer humps.

The whole fluid motion should almost feel like you're attempting to plane a very shallow concave surface, taking a scoop out of the board. Your muscles might feel that way, but in the end you'll find you have a flat board.

I feel stupid for asking, but the biggest issue I have is identifying situations where I should even be reaching for my planes. Every few months I get the urge to start using them more, but I just end up using them on scrap boards and checking my understanding of sharpening and adjustment. I struggle to understand how they can fit into my workflow on real projects.

Rob Cosman sells his custom made wax that comes in a stick, so you just scribble a curly line on the sole as the sole starts to stick.

my first hand plane was a #4 Stanly, just picked up a small (yet unidentified) hand plane from a market. It was rusted and I'm restoring it, and your advice for setup is amazing. Thank you

You forgot one of the bigger ones, practice practice practice. However, don’t buy some cheap lumber from your big box store to practice on. Find a nice good clean piece of pine and practice on that. Make mistakes on it, go to deep and see how it reacts, go off slightly and see how you might make a twist on the top of the board and then correct it. Any woodworking store usually has a bunch of cheap scrap pieces you can practice on.

About pressure on a bench plane, you hold the front of the plane down on the wood with the knob. But as the knob passes the far end of the wood, you are no longer pressing down on a plane. So sole is now a lever and your knob hand is pivoting the front down, and the back up, with the far edge of the wood acting as a fulcrum. So it works to ease off on the knob and shift a little weight to the tote.

"This is REALLY important. You want to be at least 1/32 away from the edge so you can set it between 1/64th and 1/32nd." Umm, so should it be more (at least) or less (between 1/64th and 1/32nd) away from the edge of the blade?

Nice collection of Lie-Neilson hand planes!

Where and who told you the lever cap is designed to loosen the cap screw? I personally would never use it for that but to each his own

The lever cap was never designed to remove the chip breaker screw...that's why you see so many broken lever caps!...but it is your tool you can do as you please .

New to hand planes--Rob Cossman videos are baffling to me--this was excellent. Thanks, Jonathan.

Great tips. Just started a new project and used a hand plane to flatten a board I had to resaw. It came out great and these tips were very helpful.

No the lever cap is not designed loosen any screws

why did he spell out nicker like a spelling bee? still 10/10 video content and helpfulness and expertise

Easily the most complicated tool in the shop. You mention all the plane numbers but nothing about what that means.

You have great content, sir. I’m confused though. You obviously watch and know about Paul Sellers. But then you say you can’t use a #4 one-handed. It was at that point I realized, you are a silly-person.

Great video. I'm pretty new to woodworking, and I only have a couple of planes: a #5 and a block plane, both Stanleys. I picked an ambitious first project that involves surfacing a bunch of 6x4 rough timbers. I'm still removing material; not focusing on flatness yet, but I have started angling my #5 across the width of the face to keep it relatively even. A 14" plane angling across a 6" face still keeps most of the sole on the surface.

One thing I never thought to do (but I will next time I head down to my basement) is camber my blade slightly at the edges. Right now I get distinct edges on each stroke. But on the whole, thanks to the tips here and on the Canadian woodworking forums, my project is going quite smoothly.

recently I realized how perfect hands are created, to be honest why the more I get into this hobby, I want to use hand tools, but why hand tools are so expensive 😭

Hello Jonathan, I am a fan and viewer that has learned a lot from watching your videos. I was just watching James Wright talk about a Taytools Jack plane that he seems to like. I was watching Rex Krueger just before watching this video, and I consider him another expert much like yourself. I certainly don't expect to hear anything positive from expert Rob Cosman about anything but, Wood River and I do understand his loyalty to that brand. Can I ask you a huge favor to possibly give me your thoughts as an expert on wood planes by the Taylor brand? I have just had a terrible experience buying a new Stanley, Bailey style plane and it was not good. I complained and they sent me a second bad plane to replace the first one free of charge. I complained again and told them I did not want to third Stanley plane and asked to get my money refunded, which they did agree too. Please, kind sir, can I get your thoughts?

All I can say Big Guy is that it is plain to see what you are saying, get it plain (plane) the old one's are the best. All the best from Scotland.

thats a great video. and yes shana tova

Banggood is selling your little hammer for 65 bucks. Stick your lawyer on them.

Finally someone who explained what I did wrong with my planes. Thank you!

I couldn't remember which video it was where you commented about the hump in longer boards. My guess is that the hand planes don't have an infeed and outfeed tables at different heights. I am just starting to play with the Japanese pull style planes, and thus far, that does not seem to be a problem. I am guessing that part of that is the slightly concaved surfaces before and after the plane blade. More experimenting ahead!

NNNOOOOOOOOO, lever caps are NOT designed for removing the chipbreaker screw!!! Please don't abuse your tools!

Just a caution for novices out there… as soon as an internet “plane expert” refers to a part called the chip breaker… leave the channel and find something different. Hand planes do not have chip breakers… as there’s no need to “break chips” in the planing activity. The piece of steel immediately pressing on the top side of the blade is called (in all Stanley parts schematics) either an iron cap or a back iron. It’s purpose is to stiffen the blade and minimize/eliminate chatter. Nothing else. On older wood body planes that used a much thicker piece of steel for the blade, this part did not even exist, as the need to stiffen the blade was unnecessary. If planes need to “break chips”, then all planes would need this part. Which isn’t the case.

What are your thoughts on electric hand planes

Trying to get a #7 and I'll have everything I need. Bought a #4 and a #5 on Ebay. These are great tips, I keep working at it and am getting better.

Thanks!

Why do you hold your plane like that

What? I use my no 5 one handed all the time lol

Why are they so expensive

No need to do 30 pulls on the back. 2 to 4 will do. Keeping it as flat as possible.

I wouldn't tap the plane. I find using a small Warrington pein hammer works perfectly well.

just subscribed!! Great video

Is this Jimmy Kimmel?! 😂 He sounds and looks the same

Excellent tips, thanks!