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Thread: Hand planes

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    anoka minnesota
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    Hand planes

    I was just wondering if theres anywhere in the Minneapolis area that teaches or can show a guy to set up and use hand planes i just inherited. Rockler stoped holding classes, when they closed the minneapolis store. I had this posted in general woodworking and refered over here thanks for any help.

  2. #2
    Do you have a WoodCraft in your area? What kind of plane(s) do you have? I'm sure you'll find a lot of help here too.
    If it ain't broke, fix it til it is!

  3. #3
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    Northwest Wisconsin
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    I've been keeping my eyes open for a whie, but haven't seen any classes offered. Of course, I have not searched with much determination...

  4. #4
    I know it's not in person, but have you seen if there is anything on youtube about setting up handplanes?
    Trevor Walsh
    TWDesignShop

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Portland, OR
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    528
    Quote Originally Posted by Aaron Black View Post
    I was just wondering if theres anywhere in the Minneapolis area that teaches or can show a guy to set up and use hand planes i just inherited. Rockler stoped holding classes, when they closed the minneapolis store. I had this posted in general woodworking and refered over here thanks for any help.
    Kinda strange that they haven't shifted classes to the three remaining suburban stores...

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Baldwin III View Post
    Do you have a WoodCraft in your area? What kind of plane(s) do you have? I'm sure you'll find a lot of help here too.
    Looks like there is a Woodcraft in Bloomington, MN. I see there is a class in January on building a wooden shoulder plane, and a class in February for sharpening plane irons and chisels, so seems like someone there would be able to help.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Sebastopol, California
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    Google "Woodworking club Minneapolis" and follow up on the listings. It's been too many (40) years since I briefly lived in St. Paul, so I no longer recognize names of the suburbs; you would know what's close to you.

    Reading and practicing help, too.

    But tell us more about this "inherited." Father? Mother? Grandparent? Tools that come down in a family are really neat - lots of good karmic vibrations there.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Spring Hill FL.
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    Pictures of tools are always welcome in the Neanderthal haven
    Andrew Gibson
    Program Manger and Resident Instructor
    Florida School Of Woodwork

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    Aaron,

    Hopefully you will find hand planes to be an enjoyable trip down the slippery slop to Neanderhood.

    This may help in getting started with hand planes:

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=148076

    Also, near the top of the Neanderthal Haven are some posts preceded by the word "sticky."

    In the one labeled Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs is a collection of many posts that are good reads for learning about hand tools.

    Hope this helps.

    As others have mentioned, getting your blade sharp is the first step in getting a plane to work well.

    One thing to remember about sharp, at least for me, the blades of mine that seemed sharp a few years ago are put to shame by my ability to sharpen now. In another year or two, I hope to be able to sharpen better than I do today.

    What do you have for sharpening at present?

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Trinity County California
    Posts
    729
    Leigh Nielsen goes around the country with a half-day demonstration of their products. They bring along their full array of tools, and have 5 or 6 or so experts to show how they work. Naturally, the emphasis is on planes since LN's main product is the hand plane.

    I'm on their mailing list, so I get an email telling me where and when this is happening. The last one had a list of cities and dates and Minneapolis was included. Go to their website.

    Another direction would be to get online and located woodworking clubs in your community.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA
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    I no longer live in Minneapolis, but I grew up in St. Paul, and still go home for the Holidays.

    There's a Woodcraft store in Bloomington, just south of Minneapolis.

    I know they have classes there and believe some are specifically about tuning up planes.

    Here's a link to their current course schedule.

    http://www.woodcraft.com/Resources/E...ID=306&State=0

    The store has an employee there named Ralph who knows a ton about hand tools and hand tool work. He teaches some of the courses. However, even if he isn't currently teaching, I'd bet if you just go to the store and ask for hand plane advice they'll point him out to you. He's real friendly and helpful and could probably teach you a lot just through a chat in the store.
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 11-20-2010 at 3:34 PM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    anoka minnesota
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    23
    thanks the planes were left to me from my grandfather im cleaning them up i know they are Stanleys. I checked woodcraft but they only seem to teach how to make them. Im shamed to admit but Dewalt has always done my planing for me, going to build a workbench with a maple top and wanted to flatten it with my Grandpas planes. thanks for the advice everyone.

  12. Not sure how close it is to you, but Mike Siemsen's school is somewhere in that general 'area'. I've never taken his classes, but I've seen him work, and seen his work, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better teacher anywhere.

    http://schoolofwood.com/

  13. #13
    Aaron-My grampa got me into this whole mess too! He left those planes just laying around for someone to find. Since they probably hold the same value to you as mine do for me, I definitely think you should take the time to tune them up. Each time I pick one of them up, it's like talking to my grampa, and I hope he'd be proud that I'm using his tools.
    If the irons are pitted, go and get new ones (grampa won't mind). You'll have an easier time sharpening a new iron instead of restoring an old one.
    Check that the soles are flat. If not, true them up. Sand paper taped down to granite or glass has worked for me.
    I'm no plane expert, and I'm definitely not a collector. Taking one of these old planes and making it usable again is fun and educational (for me, anyway...I'm weird like that).
    If it ain't broke, fix it til it is!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Madisonville, Tn
    Posts
    47
    Aaron, if you are like most of the rest of us you can learn fettling yourself, a lot of us did not have as much information available to us as you do now. Check out the rexmill.com site by Johnny Klesco aka Rarebear. Most anything you could want to know about planes. Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned the books available. I found that Garret Hack's "Handplane" to be a great book. I have read through it dozens of time, looking for specific information. You could probably find a used copy for not to much. I too, have many of my Grandfather's tools, pretty lucky since he had twenty three children and dozens of grandchildren and he died almost a hundred years ago. Obviously, I cherish them. Wish you lived closer to me, I would be glad to help you. I am just a little south of you in East Tennessee. About seventy five here today, that wasn't very nice was it?

    Ken

    Ken

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Hutchinson, MN
    Posts
    600

    Woodcraft in Bloomington

    will teach you what you want to know.

    Furthermore, there are other resources, too. For instance, Mike Siemsen, who posts here on occasion, teaches everything you could possibly want to know (and then some) at his shop/school in Chisago City. He's a good guy. Google Mike and "school of wood" for contact info.

    There's also the MN Woodworkers Guild, too. They're always holding informational sessions, if not formal classes.

    Oops! Sorry, didn't see Raney's that post mentioned Mike Siemsen.
    Last edited by Bruce Haugen; 11-21-2010 at 10:45 PM. Reason: correction

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