Tuning and Using Hand Planes Class

We started out on Saturday sharpening the elusive card scraper. It is a simple tool but getting it to work correctly with out help is difficult at best. All seven students were soon pulling shavings so we moved on to chisels and plane irons getting them sharp and removing some of the mystery of sharpening. I cannot say enough about how important the skill of sharpening is in woodworking, it is truly a „gateway skill“, you will not advance far in the craft without it. After munching some sandwiches for lunch we tuned some bench planes and went over what to look for when acquiring a plane. It was fun for me to see the students assemble their newly tuned planes and pull nice fine shavings with their first efforts. There really is a joy in seeing an old tool put back to work. There is also great pleasure in seeing students get their first „real shavings“ out of a plane they set up themselves. Sunday was a beautiful day with bright sun and frost on the trees. I started off with a demonstration of hollow augers and spoke pointers which I included as specialty planes. We tried out drawknives and spoke shaves of different types and went over the intricacies of the Stanley 45. Moving fillisters, rabbits, and dado planes got their chance in the spotlight along with drawer bottom planes and screw arm plow planes. The afternoon was topped off by a visit by my friend Dean Jansa who demonstrated making moldings with snipe's bills and hollows and rounds. It was a great demonstration as well as a bit of a history lesson. Thank you Dean! I believe the students left with some new skills, having a door of opportunity opened in their woodworking pursuits.

Some of the students comments: „I learned a lot and had a great time last weekend at your shop. Thanks, finally there is a school of this caliber in Minnesota.“ Bob W.

„Thanks for a fun and informational weekend! I hope to come back soon to take another class at your school.“ Nick S.

„I'm not much for taking "classes“, I'm a woodworker that thrives on doing, making mistakes and learning from them. However, the classes this weekend were extremely valuable and I enjoyed them fully. The setting for the classroom was comfortable, kudoos on the food, the content and pace of the class were just right, and the openness for questions along with the honesty in answers provided were exactly what I was looking for. Having a deeper knowledge of planes and sharpening now makes me feel like a new door has been opened for me, cool stuff." Jeff White

I almost hate for them to find out that it is probably more fun for me! Mike

Dean Jansa Demonstrates sticking moldings with hollows and rounds

Dean and his traveling tool kit