Making and Mastering Wood Planes

I bought this book based on the other reviews here, and I completely agree with them: this is a real gem. There is not much more I can add except to say that I think every woodworker should have this one. That includes any beginners out there, I think this one has so many excellent guides covering just about every topic, you can hardly go wrong. Note that it doesn't cover joints / furniture design etc.. etc.. but it does cover most of the basic skills, and it gives you a worthwhile project (building a plane) to work through. HIGHLY recommended.Good for novice / advanced woodworkers also. I hope this added review helps you decide to give it a go, because I wish I had this book way back when I was starting out.

Yes, the title DOES suggest that it's about making wooden planes and I suppose it is. ('Krenov-style' planes only, but that's a great start.) In actual fact, this is a book with so much more than just the usual overload of information on a very narrow field. Every page has something of interest to anyone who works wood, or who uses tools for either livelihood or recreation. If you DO want to make wooden planes, then you couldn't do better than to get this book. I believe it's among the best titles available and is probably the best still in print anywhere. The techniques outlined would permit a reasonably careful reader to upgrade any plane, wooden or metal, that came into his or her possession. Almost incidentally, the reader is taken on a short course in testing, upgrading, creating, fine-tuning and using all manner of tools for cabinet-making and general woodworking. The band-saw, metal block-planes and spokeshaves, the cabinet scraper and all manner of jigs and tool-rests are covered. There is even a small section on making a brass mallet for adjusting planes, if you are so inclined. There are even methods outlined for coping without a 'proper' work-bench.No elaborate machine-shop or tool arsenal is necessary to utilise this book and no greater skill than that of reading is required to take a pile of great gems from this outstanding book. If you're very experienced, you might have heard most of the tips and advice before, but probably have never had them explained so thoroughly and convincingly, with high-quality photographs accompanying the text on the same page. There is no preaching and there is nothing 'forbidden' in these pages, but there is a philosophy of good craftsmanship that really under-pins the work and manages to come through clearly. The author's love of fine tools and their interaction with the raw materials is infectious. This book would suit the professional woodworker as well as the complete novice who has yet to decide whether to take up some form of woodcraft. You WILL gain something from reading this book; you may even lose out, if you ignore the clear and powerful techniques and messages that it offers. It's brilliant. I've never quite been able to say that about a woodworking book before.

This book, while taking you through the steps of making a wood plane, teaches the essence of woodworking with handtools and is a 'must own' book for beginners to experts.It starts with instruction on how to use and tune both the hand and power tools that will be used in making the wood plane, as well as covering the essentials of wood as it relates to woodworking (i.e. run-out, etc.)Then it presents an excellent chapter on sharpening, discussing how to sharpen plate irons, chisels and knives. Next is a long chapter on actually making the plane, although interspersed as always are extremely useful digressions into gluing techniques, truing various tools, etc.Next, a chapter or two on how to use a plane, both for edging, flattening and polishing. This chapter shows the level of perfection that the author wants from each of his students, as he discusses issues such as how much the thickness of a cut impacts that ability to match the grain when joining. To be honest, this attitude is pervasive throughout the entire book. The author is obviously a craftsman of the highest calibre and of traditional 'old-school' values.The last chapter is on scraping, a technique I've never understood the advantage of until now: for those working in hardwoods, having made good use of their handplanes, scraping is the best, cleanest (lowest-dust) method of smoothing a board. Why risk sanding a gouge into a beautifully flattened work when the scraper will shave off the last of that rough surface, requiring only a quick pass with a 400 grit piece of sandpaper?I borrowed this book from the public library to see whether I wanted to buy it. Needless to say, my purchased copy sits close-at-hand in my workshop shelves, already well-thumbed and dog-earred.

If you are already a woodworker and want to make planes, this is a great book. If you are a beginner and want to learn woodworking, this is the best book I've ever seen. Get this book and "Making Joints" by Ian Kirby. I have both on the shelf dead center above my workbench because I refer to them often. I used to think the Kirby book was the standard by which all other WW books should be judged, but "Making Planes" has set a higher mark.The best things about Mr. Finck's book are it's thoroughness and logical organization. Every time a new tool is introduced, information about using it and tuning it (ever see how to tune a combination square?) is given immediately, thoroughly and clearly, instead of at the end or a few pages later or whatever other cockeyed place was convenient for the editor. Further, techniques are described for doing the work to a very high standard of precision and beauty, not just "close enough". We all need to urged on to higher acheivement, and it sure helps if the person urging is also showing you how to do it, clearly, symapathetically and in detail. Using a band saw? Shows how to check the tires for trueness. Grinder? how to dress the wheels. Sharpening stone? how to flatten. Make your own marking knife, adjusting mallet. How to plane -- how to stand, where to put your hands, everything but breath control (2d edition -- ?).

This book ostensibly is about making both functional and beautiful wooden planes. However, in my humble opinion, I think it is one of the best books on woodworking fundamentals ever written - and I've pretty much read them all. That's because on the way to making a plane using this book, you get a thorough grounding in craft, in wood working fundamentals and in just plain how to do things right. The book is clearly written and illustrated. Sometimes, I have difficulty in visualizing what an author explaining complicated processes is saying. Sometimes even with pictures, I struggle, (and I assume others do as well) with something missing from the explanation or perhaps with an explanation that raises more questions than it answers. In the case of "Making & Mastering Wood Planes" I felt that I was able to visualize what the author was putting into words quite easily. Mr. Finck has a very good way of explaining things in a sort of three dimesional way. He also has done an excellent job of anticipating the reader's questions. The only other book I've had this feeling about was Michael Dunbar's book on Windsor Chairmaking. The amount of detail in this little book is really amazing. It's also amazing that the detail is consistently in support of the key concepts and processes that the author is explaining. Far from being a burden, the exhaustive detail provides the "why" and the rationale for what is being explained. It's actually quite motivating; you read, and as you read the pieces of the puzzle come together. So in this book you make a plane, but you make it by way of the Brooklyn Bridge. What I mean is that when the author instructs you to cut out the wood you need for a plane using a bandsaw, he first shows you how to tune the bandsaw up so that it is not the "weak link" in your arsenal. Nothing is left for granted or to chance - the book is complete, exhibiting the fine craftsmanship it so ably teaches.