Hand planes are indispensible tools for woodworking, and enable you to achieve a level of accuracy that is hard to obtain from power tools or machines alone. Here you'll find links to articles and reviews of woodworking hand planes. Let us know about your favourite hand planes – join the conversation at the bottom of this page.
Reviews
| Articles | Reviews | Free Hand Plane Poster |
Articles
 | No single tool personifies woodworking and craftsmanship like the hand plane. Understanding it's purpose and function can make your woodworking both more enjoyable and productive. |
 | The Veritas Combination Plane The Veritas combination plane is a groove demon, also capable of cutting rabbets, dados, tongues, flutes, beads and reeds. We give you some tips on getting the most from this wonder plane. |
 | Some hand planes get used faithfully in the shop to do common tasks, but what about those specialty planes designed to do one thing and do it well? Here are three planes that do singular tasks with incredible efficiency. |
 | As my journey into woodworking continues, I find myself reaching more and more for hand tools (hand planes in particular) to achieve that exact fitting of parts and/or surfacing of panels. |
 | Looking for an alternative to sanding dust and noise? Look no further...the smoothing plane will peacefully get the job done. |
 | Veritas: Lord of the Planes |
 | Tuning a Block Plane |
 | Wooden planes have been used for thousands of years. In fact, from Roman times, until the industrial age, when planes made of cast iron became widely available, wooden planes were the only option. Now, woodworkers have a wide selection of planes, of various materials, available to them. |
 | Building a Hand Plane Jim Shaver describes how he made his first hand palne, a Shepherd Smoother. |
 | No other plane performs as well as a shoulder plane when hand-fitting joints. |
 | Making your own plane is a great shop project that results in a fine tool that you will use on a regular basis. |
 | Sometimes an inexpensive plane can be transformed into a useful tool that will provide you with years of service. |
 | Learn to prepare and maintain your plane irons, as a sharp iron can make the difference between frustration and enjoyment. |
 | In the age of electric machinery, some woodworkers have forgot about the simple but trusty hand plane. They have also become confused about sharpening a blade. With the right approach to sharpening, you’ll be happy you took your hand plane off the shelf. |
 | Wooden planes offer flexibility that is unmatched by metal planes. Using the same construction, a plane can easily be made long or short, wide or narrow, or radiused across the width or the length of the sole. |
 | While the smoothing plane excels at preparing face grain, the block plane with its special set of features, is a necessity for working on the toughest cuts of them all…end grain. |
 | Lee Valley has a wonderful collection of tools, which, for the most part, stays behind closed doors. Rob Lee, owner of Lee Valley, shares some information about the collection in general, then selects one of his personal favourites and tells us all about it. |
Reviews
 | We tested four models of block planes for you – here is how they fared. |
 | Clifton Low Angle Block Plane Extremely well made and comfortable to hold and use, the Clifton will handle any job that a block plane is meant to perform. |
 | Heavy Metal At Its Best. |
 | A rock solid performer at a competitive price. |
 | Put the router aside, and take hold of this beauty |
 | A joy to use, you'll find this plane surprisingly easy to hold in a vertical position |
 | Veritas Detail Rabbet Plane Great for fine tuning rabbets and grooves |
 | An exceptional hand plane. Could this be the new 'classic' smoother? |
 | Cutting rabbets by hand is a joy with this exceptionally well made plane |
 | Veritas Bullnose Shoulder Plane |
 | HNT Gordon Block Plane |
