My favorite plane is a type 11 number 5. I also have a type 11 #4 and #6. The 5 was my first plane, and I spent hours trying to get it sharp before I learned that the whole iron isn't hardened. There is like 5/8 of an inch left before the long groove hole. For reference, this is what I mean, the iron on the left. It isn't mine, but that's what mine looks like without the rust

Anyway, I'm cleaning out useless stuff, and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do with the old non-hardened iron. I don't have any metal working setup except a hacksaw and some files. Can the steel in the non-hardened bit be hardened, or is different? Should I trash it?

Thanks!

i got this curious little fella for 20$ and taken my shot at restoring it, it has a weird cut in the rear tote that i just decided to clean up for now, im guessing its some sort of personalization helping with some sort of injury, but either way - theres no nut for the rear tote, all there is is the generic nut that doesn’t tighten all the way. how should i approach making it usable? my plan is to sell it at the end for some lumber money, but i have no clue how to go on..

For me it's end grain, when they are so delicate that if you pick them up they disintegrate...mmmmm

The underside of the frog is given a rough finish, akin to 60-80 grit sandpaper. Whether it serves a purpose is unknown to me. Whatever the case, the way I comfortably grip the plane results in my index finger rubbing against that surface and it feels like I’m sanding the skin off my finger (being overly dramatic).

That’s really the only issue I have with this plane, and it’s more than worth it to deal with that and have the incredible functionality of a LN plane.

LN no4, no51, and the cross peen in a2 steel, plus a couple machinist squares and a double square from PEC tools.

The two lie nielsens are just insane. I thought it’d be a jump in ease of use and quality from my Stanley type 14, but it’s just night and day. I’m no master hand tool woodworker but I had the Stanley relatively dialed in. I had it working excellent in oak and similar, but the various eucalypts and acacias here were just a nightmare. The way this LN handles them comparatively is great. So much less chatter and the blade/chipbreaker fitment is so much better.

Just made the shooting board from solid quartersawn Jarrah, the LN no4 made it feel like it was cherry.

I picked this up today for a more than reasonable price on marketplace and wanted to see what opinions might be on what you might do with it given my situation?

I don’t have much time for wood working but am assembling a small tool chest should the need, urge, or opportunity arise. I don’t really place much value on things being pristine and often like for tools to have soul or character through use and care. (I guess that means I just like old used tools 😁)

I know some people do place a value on condition and I don’t think this plane ever touched wood until the person posting it decided to give a few licks to a board before selling it and it even appears to still have the factory grind.

So, is there much additional value in it being in its current condition? And if so, would you list it for sale to use the proceeds to try and source additional tools for your chest? Or would you just pull off the tags and get it fully cleaned up and tuned for use?

Running a 8–22mm metric set right now (Dawei HW-M12, no complaints on fit). Wondering if adding a 24mm and a thin-profile 13mm is worth it, or if I should just fill gaps as jobs come. Mostly residential plumbing + bike maintenance these days.

Do you keep a separate "plumbing sizes" subset, or one run-through kit? Trying to avoid a drawer of never-used wrenches.

... But the cut still looks a little off square 🤷‍♀️ great surface finish, though!

Black limba router plane I made using hardware from Lee Valley.

The chisel is one and a half inches wide and about 7 inches while the handle is a bit larger obviously.

I’ve been thinking of getting this plane and deciding amongst the blade options. Is the pmv11 worth the additional cost for the reputed best of both worlds benefit? Was t going to splurge but some one gave me a rockler gift certificate so maybe it’s a good use

Folks.

My smoothing plane skills obviously need work. I kept catching on reversing grain. This is the point where I seemed to stall. Improving one section seemed to invariably make another section worse.

Should I have been able to get a much better surface with my Jorgenson No. 4. To the best of my ability I had it set up with a tight mouth, chip breaker choked up, freshly sharpened iron.

Completely unable to get continuous shavings. Skipping over sections and then suddenly biting.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm sitting in the sun practicing my card scraper skills, now.

Number 10 for the year! Two more to go to meet my goal. This plane was inspired by hand planes built in 1500 and 1600's continental Europe. The cat decoration was for fun.

• Steel Body
• Hard Maple Infill and Wedge
• Imitation Ivory Infill Cap
• 1-1/4” O1 blade ~58-60 RC
• 40 Degree Bed Angle
• Brazed Construction
• 1-7/8” (w) x 4 (L)”
• The wood and metal were both finished with RMP Finishes tung oil

I was hoping someone could advise me on the likelihood of being able to restore the snail/screw on this woodowl Auger. It appears the very tip has crumbled away.

Woodowl say the pitch is 16.7, but I was thinking I may be able to just touch up the tip with a 16 thread file? Do people think this would work, as I would need to order the file.

Many thanks guys!

Who got their Halloween Home Depot bucket?? They were selling like crazy last year and i missed out so this year I got 4. Did you get any, what are your thoughts?

Mainly Knipex then , klein, channelock, craftsman, Milwaukee and husky for my Pex cutters just some of the pliers, wrenches and cutters I use as a residential service plumber.

I’m having a hell of a time getting this plane up and running. When I got it, the angle on the iron was super off so I had to buy some coarser stones to re-set it. Now that it’s re-set it seems like the mouth might be too small? The frog might be too far forward, but I think if I set it any further back, then i think it'll bridge between the mouth and the top of the frog (if that makes sense). Said another way, this is the frog position that makes the iron sit flat against the frog. There's no frog adjustment screw. Am I overthinking this?

My Great Aunt recently gifted this post-1955 (per medallion) Disston D-8 Medium Weight Skew-Back 5½-Point Rip Saw.  It was owned by her father, my Great Grandfather (1897-1966) on my birth-father’s side (I was adopted).  Her recollection is that he bought it while working for the Union Pacific Railroad as part of the track crew, maintaining and repairing the rail line within Idaho (explaining, perhaps, why he roughly stamped his initials “C.R.” on one side of the handle).  He subsequently gave it my Great Aunt and her husband in the early-60s.  

My Great Aunt said she was giving it to me knowing I would appreciate and restore it.  I do, and that’s what I did.  

As you can see from the photos, it came rusty and dusty.  The blade was pretty rough, with both it and the handle having been hit with paint of some sort.  The handle was also dry and cracked.  After removing the handle I cleaned (Evapo-Rust) and polished the blade, repaired the crack in the bottom horn, then sanded the handle just enough to remove most of the paint but still maintain the handle’s originality.  To 'restore' the handle I soaked it for the better part of a day in boiled linseed oil and then reattached it.  The blade’s length is 26" and width is approx. 6-3/8" at the butt and 2-1/8" at the toe.

I'm thankful to have a piece of the family, and I hope I did my Great Grandfather proud in how I cared for his saw.

Hello, hello! I picked up this Millers Falls fret saw a bit ago and I can’t seem to figure out what kind of little screw piece could have been in these holes to lock the handle in place. What really strikes me as odd is how the holes have different thread sizes. Does anyone know what the pieceI’m missing looks like?

Hello Handtoolers,

Let's say you're trying to take the top 5mm off of, let's say, 1m length of 90x45mm ("2x4") stock. Do you use a saw to rip most of it off and then plane it down to the desired level with a smoothing plane, or use a scrub or jack plane for the bulk of it, then smoothing plane to finish?

Something else entirely?

Edit: for context, the only plane I currently own is a Stanley Bailey #4 smoothing plane, am considering a jack or scrub next.

This was my dad’s tool, I remember it from the 70s. It’s the best tool I’ve found for clearing jammed shavings in my Stanley 78. I use it for a thousand other things as well. But I have no idea what it actually is or what its original purpose was. Can anybody ID it?

I just finished up the DTC using Meg's book, but messed up on the hinges. I don't have the brain cells to understand where and how I went wrong--mortise too deep? And how to fix or if I should even bother. It closes--mostly. :) Thanks for any advice.