John Whelan unlocks the fascinating secrets of an almost lost art: wooden planemaking. For those curious about the ingenious ways of the craft, this book lays out clear, step-by-step instructions that will enable any woodworker to make a plane. Each chapter (covering 20 different types of planes and spokeshaves) is fully illustrated by the author's line drawings. In addition, there are chapters on the history and alternative methods of planemaking, making plane irons, and the tuning and using of wooden planes. Every chapter that details the construction of a particular plane starts with a photograph of the plane that has been made by the author. As you would expect from Mr. Whelan, this book is the finest and most complete work on the making of wooden planes in print. The reader will enjoy it even if he never puts blade to wood. Should he make a plane or two, he will find Making Traditional Wooden Planes most satisfying

Teaching you how to make a classic plane yourself (it takes only a day or so) and how to use it in a refined manner.

Learn how to make, modify, restore, and use traditional wooden handplanes. Discover the different types and how to use them to their best advantage; how to tune up a new plane for peak performance; and how to make your own set of planes.

With its initial publication in 1983, A Guide to the Makers of American Wooden Planes profoundly transformed the emphasis and direction of tool collecting. After several years of meticulous research, Thomas L. Elliott has completely redesigned, revised, and expanded this fifth edition to include entries and information accumulated since the fourth edition. The heart of this guide is the alphabetical directory of plane makers and dealers. This fifth edition now includes: 4590 biographical entries; 6160 imprint illustrations; 3030 wedge outlines; and over 3000 individual ratings for judging relative scarcity and value. Also included are sections providing insights helpful in buying and selling planes, an illustrated glossary of plane terms and styles, and an extensive bibliography for further research. This book is useful to both the beginner and the advanced collector, to historians and genealogists, and to all other with an interest in the subject.

This new edition of the classic reference British Planemakers from 1700 has been completely rewritten, with over 200 pages of new information. Online research tools haven enabled much greater insight into family connections of planemakers, family and business continuities, and the discovery of previously unknown planemakers. Confirmation that planemakers were working in the late 1600s, in fact, inspired the new edition’s title, Goodman’s British Planemakers. The biographic directory covers more than 2400 planemakers and includes 2250 maker's mark illustrations. Like its predecessors, the new edition traces the development of British planemaking, but far more extensively, now confirming that planemakers moved around the country to a much greater extent than previously realized, and identifying several new family planemaking dynasties. The book includes chapters on the planemaking trade and its practices, descriptions and illustrations of the many types of planes and their evolution, and provincial planemaking, as well as sections on apprentice records, trade marks, and a complete index. An absolutely invaluable reference.

A comprehensive reference that has been called "a work of clarity and imagination so influential it virtually defines its subject," this book describes, illustrates, and classifies all types of wooden planes from the common to the rare and unusual -- tracing their development and explaining their use. Included are both American and English planes, and also French, Dutch, German, Japanese and Chinese. Over 500 pages long, with more than 1,000 illustrations, it also includes: Chapters that describe and illustrate over 90 simple and 300 complex molding profiles; a description and explanation of the planes used by specific trades: the Cooper, Sashmaker, Coachmaker, Wheelwright, Planemaker, Organ Builder, Staircase Builder, Basketmaker, Rulemaker, Chairmaker, and Patternmaker; an Appendix that outlines a system for naming and classifying molding profiles, and another for identifying and classifying any plane based on its physical shape.

Sharp Tools Work Better! If you've never experienced the pleasure of using a really sharp tool, you're missing one of the real pleasures of woodworking. In The Perfect Edge, the mystery of the elusive sharp edge is solved by long-time sharpening expert and tool maker Ron Hock. You'll soon find how easy and safe hand tools are to use. This book covers all the different sharpening methods so you can either improve your sharpening techniques using your existing set-up, or determine which one will best suit you needs and budget. Ron shows you the tricks and offers expert advice to sharpen all your woodworking tools, plus a few around-the-house tools that also deserve a perfect edge.

A technically rich analysis and evaluation of every handplane style in the world and how to maintain them for optimum performance.