How to make square stock straight, smooth and square (stock preparation part 1) | Paul Sellers 

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Thanks Bobbie. I like doing these because they seem to help people take the plunge. We have many more we are working on so look out for them too.

I remember watching this when it first came out. Pauls videos are the best thing on RU-vid. I subscribed to his Masterclass videos for a couple years. Well worth it.

Doing it this way, I bet he remembers everything he has ever made. I'm sure his memories are filled with pride and satisfaction. It is apparent he loves woodworking. Thank you Paul.

Mr. Sellers, You make the best instructional woodworking videos-anywhere. I just love your teaching style and you're clearly a master of your craft. Bless you for introducing so many to the joys of traditional woodworking. I confess that I occasionally use machinery to save labor/time when those are factors so I'm not a complete galoot, but there is a satisfaction of working wood by hand & connecting to our forebearers through time and tradition that can't be found using machinery. Well done Sir

Seems the better I get at my woodworking, the more I want to get back to the basics, and learn old-school methods. Your teachings are helping me to get better then I ever thought possible. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and talent. Your work is impressive to say the least!

I'm absolutely in awe of this man's videos. I feel like I'm in a shop as an apprentice. He teaches with simplicity and humbleness. Thank you SO MUCH for these videos.

this video changed my entire perspective on how to prepare stock. thank you again for everything you do. also this perspective is really great. I've been trying to capture a more detailed look at the steps many overlook.

It's actually the correct way. the oron is fully protected and I never met a true craftsman that laid his plane on the side throughout my fifty years. However, in public schools, a manual was produce to stop children of 13 plonking their planes on top of chisels and squares and other tools that damaged the edge of a plane and that, I understand, is where your nono came from. My iron is protected when when standing upright and it's also ready for action without the awkwardness of lifting it.

I just want to say thank you. I see you've gone to great lengths to make these high quality videos, to share your impressive woodworking skills. As someone without a mentor, I can't express how valuable these free videos are to me. You are an excellent teacher!

wow this dude is awesome, he like the Bob Ross of wood working

Excelent Camera shots! Great instructional clip. A truly master.

I have only just come across your channel Paul. Thank you. It is so refreshing to see and learn the old skills without the $10,000 plus worth of electrical gizmos.

Hugely informative, as always - thank you

Thanks for the video, it helps a lot to see how you work on it.

The objective was to show more how it's done and yes I might cut it to length in some circumstances. That said, it is often better to prep the wood in a longer length too, if you intend to use the off-cut for something else. I often do this so that I can set gauges or use the off-cut to mark distances or thicknesses onto other pieces during layout.

ill bet paul is a wonderful husband and farther. his qui9te , confident demener is such a plus in a educater thank you paul for the vids . I sometimes watch for hour after hour, and never get bored

Haven’t seen face and v mark since woodworking class at school in the early sixties we were taught well by people like Mr Sellers.A different time when a craftsman would spend an hour squaring stock instead of knocking it out on a table saw and planer in five minutes

Paul, Great video. I have never seen someone use winding sticks or explain how tto use them. I am adding this to my favorites so I can come back to reference it.

Paul, this is a hello from China, I really enjoy your work, you are a real master

Nice job, Paul.

Paul, you're just awesome. That's all there is to it.

3in1 light machine oil. Never use boiled linseed oil or linseed oil as these readily spontaneously combust. Three-in-one works best and is available everywhere.

You might discuss the attack speed and follow through in planning. And how momentum plays in hand planning. I really enjoy your discussion of the process.

Straight across as you would with the smoothing plane and with rounded corners and yes I would then go with the smoothing plane.

Even tho I am not Paul, and didn't yet have the chance of training with him,let me answer your last question: as often as necessary. As soon as I feel that the edge isn't optimal, the iron goes back to honing and stropping. It is a minimal interruption of the work at hand and ensures that the edge is always as close to optimal for the task at hand as possible. I also tend to at least clean up and strop the iron before leaving the workshop, so I can be confident it will be ready the next day.

This is the best channel on The tube!

Your video is very much appreciated!

Paul, you and your hard work have been such a blessing. From demystifying the hand plane to easily bringing my chisels to a great edge, I owe this all to you and your wonderful explanations. Your videos leave me feeling as if I've been studying with a master. I can't thank you enough.

Hi Paul - I am slowly collecting old planes and want to tune them up soon to begin creating stock like this. One thing I am always worried about is how to begin on a piece without any straight / square edges to reference from. How do I go about establishing a square edge to begin with, and making sure it can be referenced when it comes time to square up the rest? Love your teachings, thank you for everything!

"a bit like strokin' the cat backwards" Perfect analogy, Mr. Sellers.

He is a GREAT teacher ,kind and unassuming from his demeanour. Use what you have I have heard him say many a time . he is not selling anything.If you watch enough of his free vids it is almost like getting a free apprenticeship.BRAVO PAUL BRAVO.and thank you.

Watching you work Paul is "therapeutic".. A real craftsman!

I think most people would agree that everyone should have a teacher like you in school.

Finally, someone that admits that there are some woods you just can't plane.

I never watched anyone that was so informative. Sometimes things are pushed ahead and you're left wondering about something. No measure is missed here. Great video

A joy to watch. I'm not even into woodwork but it is a privilege to see a craftsman explain and pass on his skills in such a relaxed manner.

What an absolute pleasure to see a master craftsman at work. If only you had been my woodwork teacher Paul, but now you are! See how you do not need to spend a fortune on tools, but rather to know what tools you need and where, how to use them, care for them, improvise, learn the skills, and to enjoy working with the material. As a master craftsman electrician, I can tell you that Paul is the REAL deal. See how Paul makes it look so simple.......this is called SKILL. It does not come overnight, but Paul gives every person the confidence, with a little effort and practice, to be a success working with wood. It is so very rare to see the skill of an artisan being imparted in such a straight forward way as this. Bravo Paul, a totally excellent series of videos.

my granfather was a master carpinter ans i never met him now my dad has passed away . put before he pasted . he said looking at mr paul sellers was like looking at his dad / my grandad 75 years ago . he made a lot offstuff for a lot of pepole

Paul, what kind of oil you recomend tu use on theplane?

I agree. For planing wide table tops or planing edges before a gue up i could see myself using a handplane, but this looked painfull.

Well I'm really impressed by this guy's abilities brought to us by great videos, glad I have found them. At least this man will carry on working when the electric goes off. Yes ok, using machines is quicker but all you've got to learn to operate them is how to keep your fingers out of the way, not much job satisfaction there.

Great thanks Paul. I watched this like 100 times. Everytime I see a detail I missed. I love ur videos. I can't thank u enough

I was trying to square and size some off cuts yesterday, it’s quite difficult, I use a jack plane, I do have a smoothing plane aswel but I rescued it from a skip and it needs a lot of work done to it before use but totally worth saving it. Was wondering if there’s some king of shooting board if I want to make lots of 1” square pieces?

Great skill and precision pleasure to watch a proper carpenter work, thanks for sharing.

i am here just for that pleasing swoosh sound. Seeing somebody doing such a professional work is also very satisfying. Excellent work.

I own a bandsaw mill to restore a dozen buildings on our decrepit 112 year old farm incl barn and house to former glory. We are using mostly only tools available when our home was built. We meet people who tell us to just buy square lumber and hire people! But this is our retirement project! It would rob us of the joy of bringing something dead back to life. 2400 sq’ house and 60,000 sq’ barn and assorted feeders and original log cabin. To me each struck or chisel or saw is a pure joy! (And being Scottish, i appreciate that it’s CHEAP!)

I have wondered for a long time if by using the oil to lube the plane bed if you are not inhibiting the ability of glue to adhere to the wood.

Absolute pleasure to watch. Even at 2:30am!

Thankyou Mr. Sellers, for all you have done in these videos to help everyone to really understand how to work with wood and hand tools and really understand the why, what, and the how to, of real woodworking. Now I can work much better with wood, and with the proper hand tools and enjoy it more too now that I understand better, exactly how it's done. Thanks again, you're the best at teaching real woodworking I've ever seen.

Thanks

stroking the cat backwards is the best way i have ever heard planing against the grain explained

So much work, only to square a small piece of wood. I guess it would take 10-15 houres to build a whole chair, so it would be prohibitively expensive and that's what our current system wants. they want us to completly rely on big industrys and I hate it

Thanks Graham, I hope people enjoy them. It does take a lot of work, but we feel that it's worth it.

Mr sellers. Well what can one simply say I just wish I had you as a teacher back in the 70s I could of been In a job that would of been my life. The lazy sod I had was only interested in teaching his son and his mates leaving me out I so much love working with wood. I must say what a master many thanks for shareing your skills sir. All the very best to you. Many thanks.

great vid, so clear and precise - I'd been trying this but always going too far, hadn't realized you are meant to keep the weight at the back. I think keeping that little bit of waney edge will make the piece look far better and show that it was indeed made with hand tools. (think I might still buy a jointer machine though at some point as my WW time is limited)

How do you go about squaring construction lumber to build Sawhorses; when you need the Sawhorses to build the bench; where the bench has a vice/holdfast to hold to lumber to be squared?

Paul I so enjoy your work, you are a true craftsman. I was pleased to see you prepare your stock and use the same face side and face edge marks that I was taught 70 years ago. Big mistake I didn't continue with joinery work, did retail instead. However I have always done my own carpentry at home when necessary and use the methods I was taught and I still really enjoy it. Mike

It was kiln-dried red Oak

I learn so much from these videos. Little points such as oiling the plane sole....never thought of that. The patience of Paul is a real inspiration, and the way he works around the issues that the wood present him, in such an considered and relaxed manner, is a lesson to many of us who think that projects go from start to finish in nothing but a perfect straight line. Great videos. (as for the 'stroking the cat analogy', I feel that I am fighting a tiger some times !!)

Hello Carlos, Good to hear that you have a young translator. I have friends in Esquiel, Patagonia. Wish I spoke Spanish though.

Hi Paul! I don't know if you still see comments on these older videos but I wanted to ask, how dry was that wood? Do you prefer letting stock dry or can it be prepared while it is still green? In general, maybe a good subject for a short video would be your thoughts on using "found" wood.

I follow Mr. Paul's videos religiously. I've learned so much. Now, I gots to go find myself a tomato can!

Is that an I Sorby metal 5 1/2? I didn't know they existed 😳

Hi Paul, what kind of oil do you put in your tomato can? Fantastic videos

paul sellers: thank you so much for your contruibution to the woodworking world. You are an invaluble cornacopia of knowledge- I myself am a woodworker, working at a custom window and door shop, but all that we use are power tools- giant planers and shapers and joiners, most from the 50's- I always assumed that using hand tools was time consuming and laborious. well, color me changed! Your videos have inspired me too buy some hand planes and chisels begin practicing. So thank you! That being said, what affordable quality tools would you recomend too a relative beginner?

I love this guy. Thank you Paul for these wonderful videos and the time you have taken to teach us true mastery. I am loving carpentry more and more i watch your videos.

3 in 1 light machine oil and the Q is a good one because you should not use other oils that can spontaneously combust.

I could actually feel my stress levels go down as I watched this. Thank you Mr. Sellers. I am sure they will rise again when I try to apply these techniques however!

An excellent video Paul. Just the job to make you fitter with such a workout with good, sound woodwork advice. Many thanks.

Very much enjoyed watching this, and learned a fair amount. Thank you, Mr. Sellers.

Paul. Its really enjoyable to watch you doing woodworking with your hand and not using any new tools. its really a master class woodworking.

Start and finish with 150-grit. That's plenty and you do not want a smooth benchtop as all your stuff is constantly slipping and sliding. I apply a couple of coats of Danish oil.

Can someone describe how will Paul plane the end grain, after cutting it with the knifewall method? Is it possible to use a shooting board for this?

Paul, you are so generous for sharing these videos for free. These are much more instructive than expensive DVDs!

Poetry in motion is watching the master planing stock.

Paul, you are so honest and talented in the traditional way. Thank you.

great video as ever Matt, just out of interest what app do you use to display and plan your 3D models? Thanks

Another great video. As a recently retired electrician this video has inspired me to carry on trying woodwork as a hobbie (once I've finished my overdue jobs around the house) as I intend using reclaimed timber from skips etc, seeing how to true up timber is very encouraging although when using winding sticks how do you know whether you have a twist in between the sticks?

It's nice to see an actual educated Joiner on youtube. Woodworking has become too much of a backyard business in the last few decades. People tend to forget this is actually an art. With knowledge accumulating after decades, not after a table saw purchase.

These are great videos by Peter. As for myself I have found that my fathers wooden jack plane, and my grandfather’s try plane are the best for taking off a lot of stock quickly. I would think the that the planes would be about 90 and a 130 years old respectively . After taking the bulk of the stock off I then use my Stanley bedrock or my ‘Woden’ not wooden try which my dad gave me when I was 14; that was 54 years ago.

can you make some cross leg table video? I really like to start with it.

I always get far more information from one of your videos than I do from any other presenter. Thanks

I feel like im an apprentice again.

Ripping that wood is an art in itself. I wish you didnt compress that part. I would certainly like to know how you kept that true. I know you had the guideline but..........

5 minutes in and I caught myself paying more attention to all of the wonderful stuff in the background lol. That interesting mahogany coloured tool box to the right. That small pine box directly behind him. The coping saws hanging on the door etc etc lol I simply need a complete list of everything in that shop so I can acquire the same for my shop lol Cheers mate

thank you Mr. Sellers for you're wonderful lessons fine wood working, after watching many of your videos I see what my mistakes have been thank you so much for all the knowledge and experience you have shared with all of us

Paul, check out my friend at Cross Sawmill. Has some amazing wood.

Great video. I've been practicing squaring small pieces of timber and have found it more difficult than most of the joinery I've attempted! Can you share some other tips and techniques on flattening wide boards and panels? Cheers!

Hi Chris - You can plane hard maple and white oak with hand planes, provided your irons are sharpened correctly and you're not taking too heavy a cut. In tiger or birdseye maple, the constant reversing or undulating grain can make it a bit more difficult to plane by hand, but adding a back-bevel to your plane irons in bevel-down planes to increase your cutting angle can help. In white oak, grain direction is very important, so always be sure you are planing with the grain.

Thanks a lot for this video, I'm currently making my own workbench and your videos are most helpfull. My design is a little diferent, but the approach (make a bench without a bench) is equal. I'm looking forward to the next video on the workbench.

At least hand planing keeps you warm :-)

Always a pleasure watching you work Mr seller's, you use that pencil with so much class, I truly aspire to reach your level one day keep the videos coming. Your an icon 😀

The most satisfying and enjoyable video on RU-vid, as with every video!

Why do we still go to gyms when we can work out like this ;)

what kind of oil is in the tomato can?

So I been splitting my own logs I get free on craigslist then planning them. A lot of oak, maple, and pine. Should I wait for them to completely dry before splitting the logs or should I split them and wait for them to dry? I know I can't plane them wet. I just want to know what would give the wood better results?

At about 25:00 when you were planing the out of square face back to square, what did you do to make the plane only cut on one side ? It seems to me the plane is still cutting the whole width.

Wow I love the tomato cam with rag and oil! What type of oil is recommended Paul?..... or any suggestions from anyone? Thanks for sharing the knowledge.... God Bless

QUESTION: Is "rough cut" stock the same as lumber(wood) that is "green"... requiring to be dry before responsible use (due to shrinkage)?