Thread: Block Plane Selection and Rehabilitation

Excellent stuff, Bob. A great education for this rough chippie.

Cheers,
TM

Thanks for the post Bob. This one has gone into the bookmarks for when I find some old planes to restore!

Hi Bob,

Like everyone else said, outstanding. Terrific write up.

Cheers
Pops

To show how much better these forum discussions are than editors, and how much I gain from them, here's my draft introduction for the article:

Block Plane Selection and Tuneup


I probably first heard the word sweet used to describe a tool back in the family boat shop where I began working as a boy in the late 1950’s. Tools were supposed to be sweet, whatever that meant. It wasn’t until I graduated from the broom to the carborundum stones that I began to understand. Almost a half century later I still hear the same discussions, only today most of it centered on how much you have to pay to buy a sweet tool than what you have to do to make a tool sweet.

The humble block plane is one of the most important tools in boatbuilding, and one of the easiest planes to sweeten without spending money needlessly. After all, if you’re reading this at all you probably have more than just a block plane you still need to buy.....

Thanks.

I've only just discovered the somewhat mixed pleasures of restoring Stanleys and old chisels. Kinda addictive.