Beginning woodworkers can take the flat smooth surfaces on our hand planes and other metal tools for granted. And sometimes the seasoned woodworker can as well. Even with the highly accurate grinding and surfacing that occurs at our factory, it can still seem like a bit of a battle pushing some planes across the wood. […]
We’ve been cooking up something good in the back offices of Highland Woodworking, and now it is ready for you to see: our new WOODTURNING-SPECIFIC newsletter, The Highland Woodturner! This will be a monthly publication devoted to all things woodturning, including useful tips, woodturning-specific shops, the latest woodturning tools and more! This month we feature […]
So what is it about Lie-Nielsen planes that ISN’T Earth “shattering”? Many of you know the designs we pattern our Lie-Nielsen planes after are primarily the Stanley Bedrock series. The originals were made well and were easier to adjust than most others at the time. When customers either stop by our showroom or one of […]
I hesitate to say I have tamed the skew, but at least I can live in the same house with it now. I went to the “Taming of the Skew” class at Highland last week and we spent three good hours with Hal Simmons, a professional turner, to try to solve some of the problems […]
Many of us have a picture of a certain spokeshave in the back of our mind. You know the one I’m talking about. Somewhat beat up with a mouth that’s open so wide you’d swear it was a big mouth Bass. I personally own two old second-hand shaves that so exemplify this statement. I can […]
This article is a continuation of a two part post. To read part one, click here. Now it’s time to glue the pieces back together. I use standard yellow glue for my planes, and it works great. Before applying glue, I use the dowels to line up the heel and toe on one of the […]
I talk a lot about both setting up and using hand planes. Probably about 95% or more of my audience will either go to their favorite shop to buy a plane, or work to restore an old family heirloom or a garage sale find. There is another way to obtain a plane, and it brings […]