Planing to even thickness

If you’re going to be a Neanderthal, then you have to do the whole thing the old way. Once you get one side flat, use a marking gauge and layout your other side all around. Then take that new plane and a straight edge and go to work. It’s more fun than you think.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

The correct jig is a flat bench.

Handplanes will naturally tend to produce uniformly
thick panels if you use a truly flat workbench. I am
not saying you don’t have to pay attention to what
you are doing, but the plane will cut off the high spots
first. As long as the pressure of your weight isn’t forcing
the board into concavities on the workbench top you
should be able to produce relatively uniform panels
by eyeballing the thickness. A marking gage helps to get
the thickness very correct all the way around.

I’ve found it actually more challenging to thickness
smaller boards than larger panels with handplanes.

Thicknessing by hand is sweaty work but enjoyable if you
don’t do woodworking to pay the bills.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online businesses - http://COPYMATCH.COM

Two words

Jointer Plane

I recently picked up a No. 6 clone to go along with my No 7 nice for shorter boards

Good advice so far. I especially like Loren’s thought on getting and using a good workbench. That really is the key to using a hand plane. The plane’s natural partner is a well- made, solid, flat bench. In some cases, you don’t even need a vice. Simply a bench stop on one end of the board is sufficient.

Time is all you need – and some skill. You can use a marking gauge to thickness plane, but remember, you have to have one very flat side first to reference to. If there is twist it must be removed. I have a short video that explains some of the basics including how to remove twist/warp that might be useful at: http://woodtreks.com/how-to-use-a-hand-plane/21/. Hope that helps. Keith (www.woodtreks.com)

-- Keith Cruickshank, www.woodtreks.com

Nice video, Keith… I am just making boxes, fine tuning my long-lost skills in preparation for a new career in the Island where I’m form.

When resawing with a table saw, I have found that a small divet forms where the cuts on one edge meet those on the other, so I generally cut 1/32” larger than the width I am targetting. After I got that cheap plane at the big blue box store, I found that this was a lot easier done with a plane than by sanding.

I suppose you could say that using hand tools prepares you to become a better woodworker, because if you find yourself in a situation with no power tools, you can still do your thing.

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't

Sometimes hand tools just fit the need better than power tools. The finish left by a good finishing plane is far superior than sanding. Even if I sand I like to scrape after to get the sharp distinct look rather than the slightly fuzzy look after sanding.

Theres guys out there who combine the power/hand tool worlds very well. And it sounds like you found a way to do this in your shop.