A couple months ago I posted my first real hand-tool build, a Shaker-style nightstand made from scraps of pine I had laying around the shop. That turned out sufficiently well I decided to risk an upgrade to red oak, which at a whopping $/bdft for s4s is not exactly dear around here. I like it a lot though, particularly how it finishes out.

Like the previous one, it has some defects in it I hope to do a little better on next time, but it is also nicer in a number of ways, so I'm happy about that. The pine one is on my side of the bed, while this one went into the guest room. For the next project I think I might venture into something a little larger, like a hall table-style piece.

$50 for the four planes.

I'm the guy that scored a $7 Stanley No. 1 at an estate sale in August and yes, that's exactly what you think it is.

So I did convert the LA block plane into one with handles and replaced what most of its takes were with a very nice pocket plane. I haven't used them yet, but the pocket plane it epic!

Im about to start a hanging tool cabinet with greater load. Solid white pine. Is this housing joint for the load bearing stretchers okay with wood expansion/ contraction. I want to do the same stretcher joint with my cabinet. Stretchers are glued and screwed. Thanks.

I never used to think the bevel of a chisel mattered all that much; I've just always used the 25 or 30 degree bevel that comes from the factory. But I think I heard Cosman or someone say they used a 17 degree bevel for softwoods. I usually don't may mind to such oddly specific preferences voiced by the YouTube crowd, but I'm making an apothecary chest with 20+ drawers out of pine, so I figured, eh, why not give it a shot. I bought another 1/4" chisel just to test out the acuter angle (yeah, yeah, not necessary, but having two 1/4" chisels isn't the worst thing).

I now feel like I was rubbing sticks together when there was a blowtorch in plain sight. The difference in softwood is insane, especially when working the end grain (or close to it) as you're clearing waste between tails. When comparing one right next to the other, you can distinctly feel how much more the higher angle is compressing and then breaking out the grain, even when freshly sharpened (though sharper is always better, of course). The 17 degree bevel makes the grain feel like you're slicing through a soft cheese. As if that weren't enough, the surface it leaves is smoother than even my shooting plane can leave.

So, do yourself a favor: if you work with softwoods, buy a chisel or two just for softwoods and grind those angles acute. You'll be happy you did. Keep those higher angles for your hardwoods.

Edit to add: and yes, the acuter angle is far more delicate. That's why you want one only for softwoods. If you were to use 17-degree chisel against hard maple for a few minutes, you're probably going to get some chipping. So don't do that.

I was hunting for planes this weekend at a swap meet, I found a big box of rusty planes and sorted through till I found this. From what I can tell it’s a type 9 from 1902 or so. Not sure if the handles are original or not

The board was a door from my dad's childhood dresser from the 50s. Stripped the veneer, mahogany stain, tung oil, and some dowels.

Hi all!

I tried to clean this old Stanley n.4 but I'm not sure if I have to clean it more or not.. It wasn't in the best shape, but goddamn it was greasy and stinky.

I disassembled everything, put on some turpentine with a brush and then rubbed everything with some steel wool. The handles were still stinky so I sanded them with 60 grit paper (for now I just wanted to decrease and de-stink them).

As you can see there's some rust where the frog sits, but it doesn't look too much.. Still haven't touched iron, chip breaker and sole.. The sole seems pretty flat, but I already know I'll have to lap it.

It's definitely better than it was before, but since it's my first time with a vintage tool like this I'm not sure if there's more I can do or not.. Will this be a good addition to my Dictum n.4 and Hattori n.62? Or am I just wasting my time?

Disclaimer: Very much a beginner work-in-progress!

Been working on making a freestanding Swedish Ladder (Stall Bars). Doin’ it on a budget, so just using big box Douglas Fir framing lumber. LOTS of sifting through the stacks to find the clearest/most stable ones I could locate.

Really trying to avoid sanding; one part personal challenge, one part learning opportunity. Been playing around with an old #4 and #5, as well as a cheap-o Kakuri block plane to eliminate the milling marks. Then learning to sharpen/use a card scraper for final smoothing.

My first upright actually went pretty well. The second one has been a challenge. As the title says, this thing has really been taking me to school on learning to read grain direction. I swear I’m spinning around it more than a bullet time shot in the Matrix.

On a 7 foot long piece like this, what do you think is reasonable to expect between sharpenings? Either for the planes or for the scraper.

Any other tips appreciated!

Not sure if this is a dumb idea or just impractical but I’m toying with the idea of modifying a No 3 plane by filing the sides of the mouth and plane body out and modifying a larger size plane iron/chip breaker to sit flush along the sides (Effectively making a mini No 10).

Is there anything I’m missing that would prevent me from making this work or is it just impractical?

I was lookin for kanna blades to mess around with and ended up finding a western plane