HOW TO CHOOSE AND USE BENCH PLANES & SCRAPERS

Working wood with hand tools is one of the most satisfying, relaxing and rewarding activities available, and adding planes to a woodworking regimen augments it in several ways. When we plane the face or edge of a board, we slice across cells, exposing a multitude of voids. When we sand, we fill up those voids with dust, the residue of crushed cell walls. As a finish is applied, the difference is immediately obvious. A planed surface has a deep, rich, translucent quality that is missing in a sanded piece. This is a book for the average woodworker of every skill level (except for the very advanced) – a simple, straightforward shop manual for people who own a few bench planes and would like to know how to use them. This book dispenses with the lore and legend of planes, and treats them simply as tools while still preserving their dignity. The book contains how-to photography that is in step-by-step support of the text. Each image visually represents hard facts that are alluded to in the text. For example, a page on sharpening an iron will show the reader four images that illustrate flattening the requisite area of the back; grinding a primary bevel; honing a secondary bevel; and testing for sharpness.