RWW 127 Get Hand Planes

So Get Woodworking week is here and I have been saving this post for a while for just such an occasion…

Getting Started with Hand Planes

The popularity of hand tools in recent years is truly staggering. Just look at the rising costs of rusty old iron in antique stores or look at the number of “boutique” dealers to have sprung to life to get a feel for this phenomenon. Both of these are indicators of increased demand for hand tool and probably the most sought after is the hand plane. Nothing embodies the nostalgia of traditional woodworking like the hand plane and when someone decides to “get into” hand tools the hand plane is the first place they start. With so many models and makers around this quest quickly becomes confusing.

I put this video together to give a very high level overview of where to start when looking at adding hand planes to your woodworking tool kit. There are many opinions, methods, and schools of thought on this and no way I can cover them all but here is a quick look of the basics.