Traditional Wooden Handplanes: How to Restore, Modify & Use Antique Planes

Great book. Arrived promptly.

Im gut verständlichem Englisch werden hier alle wichtigen Dinge zu traditionellen Holzhobeln erklärt. Auf europäische Modelle wird genauso eingegangen wie auf asiatische (China, Japan). Wer noch zusätzlich etwas über Hobel aus Metall erfahren will, sollte zum "Woodworker's Guide to Handplanes" vom gleichen Autor greifen. Alle Infos zu Holzhobel sind auch dort vollständig enthalten.

Buch ist auf Englisch.Beschreibt wie man Hobel restauriert bzw. wieder brauchbar macht.Etwas für Leute die ein bisschen Geld sparen wollen und spaß am Wiederherrichten haben.

First, the positives:This book is excellently written, beautifully illustrated, and has clear instructions. If followed, these instructions will undoubtedly allow the reader to construct quality wooden body hand planes, with some unique modern features, such as an adjustable mouth. The author also does away with hard to carve abutments, instead using a pin (similar to a Krenov style plane) but with a triangular plate to distribute pressures without damaging your wedge. Brilliant, really. Properly constructed, these planes will surely serve their owners for a lifetime. Additionally, there are great instructions on how to refurbish old wooden body hand planes, allowing them to be brought back to the bench to work again. These instructions include adding a new sole plate to the mouth of a worn out plane to tighten it back up to useful tolerances again. It includes sections on sharpening and shaping plane irons as well. Lots of useful information here.The negatives:This book assumes you have access to some serious shop machinery to complete these projects. You will need a drill press, at a minimum, to build these planes. The author recommends a router for cutting the mouth plate openings. The author recommends use of a chain mortiser for cutting the bed of the plane. This is serious equipment, folks. I mean, thousands of dollars in equipment. To build a plane that will save you maybe $100 over just buying a Veritas. Now, if the goal is to make planes, then sure, invest thousands in tooling and make and sell planes. But if the goal is to own wooden body hand planes for your own hobby woodworking, well then it seems silly to spend thousands just to save a few hundred bucks.Now, that being said, I think that a competent craftsman could deviate from these "ideal" plans, and with a few basic modifications, could make a hand plane that is 85-90% as good as the ones that the author gives instructions for. A craftsman could laminate up this design, using basic tools, and even eliminate the adjustable mouth, and still create a wooden body hand plane that would be fantastic, and likely last a lifetime. I think that this book could best be used by craftsmen as a jumping off point for modifications to the existing plans, for building their own woodworking tools.Overall, I recommend this book highly, as long as the reader looks at the author's recommendations as the "ideal" goal to shoot for, and isn't afraid to use his own mind to explore alternatives. As far as the rest of the book, the sections on restoration and modification are brilliant, and I have nothing but positive things to say.If you are interested in traditional wooden body hand planes, but this book. You can't go wrong.

The discussion of blade steels is a testimonial of the superiority of laminated cast steel blades. The author shows us how to restore old planes and how to build new ones with an improved design that is far simpler to construct using an ingenious cross-pin bearing plate. There is also a discussion of historic plane types needed by craftsmen like myself, who are wanting to forego using power tools to dimension their stock. I found this book invaluable.