Making a Scrub Plane - Convert your Stanley | Paul Sellers 

Ah......what a man you are Paul. You are tough as old boots too when you get going with that plane. Many thanks and I will be making this.

Thank you for all of the work that you put into these videos. Now every time I go to the shop I watch a Paul Sellers video and my work has greatly improveds!

Thank you Paul, great instructions. I will be turning and tuning my first Stanley No. 4 to a Scrub plane.

Remarkable training video.

Superb! This genius never fails to pass on invaluable skills. Thank you Paul!

Ha ha, Because Diamonds are forever... DeBeers would be so proud. LOL Great tutorial, Paul.

If I were using a jointer plan, would there be any benefit from a scrub-plane setup?

Does these planes work well in hardwoods endgrain?

Diamonds are forever lol

I always love when even after all these years, Mr. Paul Sellers can even surprise himself! When he adjusted that plane, put that board in that vise and giant thick shavings started popping out ... even he was a bit surprised. How many people still find that sense of wonder after doing anything for 50 years. Got to love it, and well done that man!!

We are lucky to have the Internet and take lessons from such a professional like you Paul. Many thanks.

Mr Paul is just amazing woodworker.. it seems that he has deep sense of humanity, thats why he always encourge us to do woodworking with minimalist cheap tools and no doubt that it still will producing great result 🙏☀️ thankyou verymuch Mr. Paul warm greet from Bali Indonesia ☀️

15:48 - The only video on the entirety of RU-vid with proper filing technique. Praise you.

Paul, Your presentation on the history of the scrub plane was very informative. Personally, I would like to see more along these lines. I am sure some woodworkers are focused on getting the work done every day, but as a serious hobbyist, I find that your insight into the actual history greatly adds to the enjoyment of the hobby and opens up my mind to new possibilities. It is really nice to have someone available who not only learned the craft the correct (hard) way, but took the time to understand the details and history of the process. I thank you for your efforts. They are greatly valued. Ray

I can't believe no one commented on Paul's "Diamonds are Forever" joke. Loved it!

Plunging in water after overheating a tempered blade does NOT re-harden it. Instead it freezes the crystals in their current configuration, which in the case of properly tempered steel, is softer than it was previously, and usually softer than desired. To re-harden you would need to heat the steel up to non-magnetic (a glowing red heat), quench/plunge at that time, and then temper accordingly. Just wanted to clarify: plunging an overheated edge prevents further damage, but does not reverse the softening that has just occurred. I hope this helps!

Hey, Paul. I really hope you read posts on your older videos... I feel like an idiot! I've been trying to true up a top for your workbench, and I've been planing by hand for weeks... Finally, I decided to try to convert an old Winchester #4, which was just "okay" as a smoothing plane, into a scrub plane... What the heck have I been doing to myself?! This thing is GREAT!!! I've been killing myself with a #5 and a #4 Stanley when I should have just listened to you in the first place! 😂 If you follow Paul's videos, just do what he recommends to start with, and save yourself a lot of grief (and a few splinters!)

This guy is just a font of knowledge.My favourite woodworking channel.

One minor safety point, that I learned of years ago when I took up metal working: Though it's rare, bench grinder wheels can explode during startup, particularly if they've been subjected to a sharp blow or shock. The results can be catastrophic ...even fatal. It's a good habit to develop, to stand to one side, rather than in line with the wheel, until it comes up to speed. As I said, it's a rare thing, but the precaution is a simple one to take.

Just a side note, Mr. Sellers.You said at some point that the steel will re-harden, which i believe is incorrect. From what i saw i'd guess it didn't get much heated up, so hardening is not the issue. The issue is softening, but it can't be "reversed" by putting it in water and re-hardening it. A more correct term would be, during sharpening and if the temperature goes over the tool's tempering temperature, an over tempering, which is fixed only by heat treating the tool all over again. In your case i doubt the temperature was high enough, just trying to clarify the terms. On a side not, for very sharp items, which grits would work best? Say 600, which should be the max grit before going for the stropping sequence? Lastly, what is the brand of your diamond stones?

tried a Harbor freight #4 and its really cheap but sharpened and trued works ok. Ill have to get another and make a scrub. Not at all bad for 13$us

I just made my first scrub plane after watching this video. It was easier than I thought it would be, even using sandpaper to shape the blade due to not having a bench-grinder. It probably took just a little longer than the length of this video. Having finished, I was very impressed by how easy it was to prepare some boards for a trestle table top. I should have done this a long time ago!

After watching your video I bought the cheapest plane set from Harbor Freight. Reshaped the iron according to your instructions and sharpened accordingly. It works just fine and I've been very happy with the results. Thank you again for your instructions which for a beginner like myself have made learning about wood working a pleasure and enjoyment beyond my expectations.

First time I've seen Paul flip a switch

Your contribution to woodworking is immeasurable. Many thanks for sharing your vast experience.

What a guy! "It will harden as soon as you plunge it...probably." Love the candor, the smile and the knowledge. You are my Bob Ross.

Great video Paul. It seems that many woodworkers put some slight camber on all their plane irons. I have done this myself and it works, but it does somewhat limit the width of my shavings. It seems that English woodworkers prefer a straight edge on their smoothing planes and I can see the advantage, but having tried this I always get unwanted grooves from the sharp corners of the irons. do you file off the corners the same as you did with the scrub plan?

Thank you Paul for another great tutorial. Just restored a rust Record no4 so I converted my Span no4 which already has a wide mouth. Wow what a great tool a scrub plane is it makes cleaning up rough timber a breeze.

Thanks for another valuable and practical video.

Oh my God, you are really the best. I love how simple you made sharpening for my work. It works perfekt. Thank you a lot. All the best. Mike B.

Just speechless because of the amount of skills Mr Seller is showing us. Thank you for educating the web. (Even his screwdriver is cool! 🙂)

Weird i know but i love the sound of a scrub plane going through wood lol.

Mr. Sellers, I know this comment comes a long time after the episode aired. However, I wanted to assure you that it still is relevant. I have an old #5 Stanley Handyman plane which I got from my father's shop after he died. I followed all of the steps for restoring old planes and got it to the point that it was reasonably serviceable, although the mouth was far larger than most Stanley planes. I was never really satisfied with it. I later purchased an old Stanley #5 at an "antique" tool sale here in Dallas, for which I paid the princely sum of $50. I did the same restoration on it and turned it into a very fine jack plane. I recently decided to turn the old Handyman into a scrub plane. I had already put the camber on the blade using the recommendation found in a video by James Wright (Wood by Wright). I had begun the long and tedious task of setting the bevel by hand when I saw your video. I finished setting the bevel (roughly) on my grinder and then finished it up on water stones. This morning I finished the process of sharpening on the strop and reassembled the plane. That is where your pointers on adjusting the frog and filing the corners of the chip breaker came into play. After doing that, I was able to get the blade to completely retract. After final assembly, I tested it on an old scrap pine board and it worked beautifully. It only took a few strokes with a #4 1/2 smoother to get a buttery smooth surface. Thank you for all that you do and for all that I have learned from you. Best regards.

Well, a couple people here mentioned the really cheap Harbor Freight planes, and someone somewhere mentioned Stumpy Nubs. Not having seen that, and being a thoughtful Harbor Freight shopper, I had bought a HB #33, after seeing Paul Sellers' conversion of a #4 Stanley to a scrub plane. I'm sure there are a lot of people with more than one #4 Stanley, but I only have one. I couldn't look at the $10US price tag and think "scrub plane". Stumpy's video It's a hoot! Just ignore the machine driven sandpaper sharpening. I'm going with Paul Sellers' method, except as atonement for watching Stumpy, I'll use the hand driven grinding wheel my grandfather left. It's the only one I have, with a -100 grit stone. Maybe I can get the kids who live next door to play a new game: "Turn the Handle." Then another new game: "Keep Turning the Handle!"

Paul, I was wondering how that was done. From one Texan to another; Thank you.

For people new to sharpening it should be added........ get rid of your burr after every stone, otherwise you could be feeling the burr from the previous stone and not actually touching the edge with the current stone. Sharpen on your stone, then remove the burr from the back, then move to your next stone 😁

Great idea, I am going to try this with my 5c. Have you ever thought about a video teaching us about on the uncommon planes such as the scrapper, floor, radius, 45/55 types of planes?

I hugely appreciate your videos and your detailed style of explanation. Thanks so much!

Just wanted to say thanks for the great video and tutorial - Im into carving spoons and bowls from green wood and although axing the length of tree trunk can be quicker some woods have grain running in odd directions and you get a length ripping out. I started using a plane I bought at a boot sale and it did the job well - although took forever! I picked up another plane - Ross #4 and followed your video to convert it to a scrub plane. 3 quid for the plane an hour to get the blade setup. Happy days. I got a flat bottom to the blank in less time than before. Its now in my "carving" tool kit.Thanks again.

After watching this video and a couple of others, I converted a $10 Harbor Freight plane. Works remarkably well.

Thanks Paul for a great intro into making a scrub plane. I converted my 1944 Stanley #4 bench plane into a scrub plane using Your method and it has been the single best addition to my woodworking technique. Took a while to get the feel for it but well worth the effort. Your recent Scrub Plane Techniques vídeo was also very useful in changing my view of how wood can be formed.

Paul Sellers "All safety precautions, put your goggles on, respirator on, whatever you need". Also Paul Sellers "I've taken the safety visor off mine" 😂

Out of curiosity, is a #5 jack plane with a cambered blade just as good as a #4? Wasn’t the #5 the “Jack of all trades “ ?

Hey Paul, I bought a cheap plane from Harbor Freight, and I was wondering if I could convert it into a scrub plane? It doesn't have a chip breaker. Would this work?

I made one of these using a Windsor 33 - a la Harbour Freight. 3" radius. Polished the edge nicely at about 31deg. Cleaned the burr off, stropped her a bit. Tried it on Doug Fir and Pine. All I get is pathetic tearout. It looks like a six year old has used a wire wheel or something. Any help please as to why this is happening?

You make it look SO easy. I love watching your videos. Precise, practical and very well filmed.

Yet another comprehensive instruction from the Master using the same tools that a beginner might have but fine tuned to a professional spec, how lucky are we to have this free content at this level.

I did this with my garage sale Great Neck plane. It was useless for anything else but works well for that.

I did this with a #5, works great. Certainly cheaper with an ebay find than a new scrub!

is it best to use an old plane to convert it to a scrub plane? I have an old number 4 but not Stanley given to me by my father. It's really seen better days. Would it work with that?

just what I was looking for. excellent. Thanks!! :)

love this video....finally making one for my shop Thanks!

Has anyone here used those Harbour Freight planes to convert into a scrub as done here? Will you let me know what you did, and how it turned out please?

Thank you! I was thinking of buying an electric plane. I won't now.

Should you camber the blade of a jointer plane?

Paul, any thoughts on why my #4 keeps leaving scratches when I plane? Plus, I'm not getting very good shavings.

I am a new wood working, just getting into the craft and want to work with hand tools, could any one answer me a question? I only have 4 planes, a old Stanley #5 and #4, a Woden #4 and a Stanly HandyMan (a #3 i guess?). My question is can I use the handyman as a scrub plane? I have set my Stanley #4 as my smoothing plane and the others are jus set up normally.

Probably I won't get an answer, the video is old, but I want to thank you, perfectly explained. I have a question, where do I buy those diamond stones? I ask because I bought one from China and it lost the grain in one month. Thanks

… nor do you want to wear your diamonds to a casual affair.

Pardon please for being way off topic. I just purchased, on Ebay for $57, an old USA made Stanley #4 with the number 465 on it. I know nothing about planes, so I would like to know if this is a good buy. Thanks in Advance. Ken.

Thanks!

Thank you Mr. Sellers for your videos. I don’t find them nearly as intimidating as other “tutorial” type or at least demonstration videos. I just finished converting a No 62 Stanley Sweatheart low angle jack plane to a scrub plane. Wow! I took off the surface of the quarter-sawn maple really quickly. Too quickly, actually. I’m thrilled. Now on to flattening the board, etc. Anyway, Thank you for your video

Paul, Having few planes, I recently picked up a 4 1/2 Stanley. I was considering converting my No. 4 to a scrub plane, and using the N0. 4 1/2 as my smoothing plane. Does this seem like a sound strategy? I like the size and weight of the 4 1/2 , it seems to fit me and is my go-to plane.

Hi Mr. Sellers, what would be 4 planes that a woodworker should have I know about a #4 plane and a spokeshave, what would be the 4 you would recommend, thank you

One woodwork site had a chap puzzling over drawing a 10 inch radius curve . In case we lose a compass try this. Hold your pencil as if to stab the bench. Place your elbow on the surface and keep the elbow still as your fist draws the curve. on the paper . Result .There or thereabouts .

Needed to create an ‘adzed like’ finish on an oak beam casing for next week. Watched vid this morning, visited flea market this afternoon, bought stanley #4 for £15, went to workshop and carried out method demonstrated. Worked perfectly. Thank you very much! If only life was always this easy.

First of all, thank you for teaching us all what you know!. I am a begginer of woodworking and i have just bought a number 4 Stanley and i saw that it has a non right cutting edge but a curving edge. I have 2 questions, if you can answer because i speak spanish ( am from Buenos Aires) and it is difficult to me to understand all what you say because of my ppor english. 1) The curving edge is useful for scrubbing but the right is for smoothing? 2) may i have 2 planer's knife ? ( one for scrubbing and the other for smoothing? Really thanks for teaching so well! God bless you and be care of you!

I have been given a cheaper Footprint No 4 that is about to become a scrub plane. A Veritas is nearly $200CN so I am saving a lot. Thanks Paul. As always a helpful vid.

Thanks Paul to share this information. One question: On the WEB, we've seen many videos mentionning that a Plane no 5 works great too, as a Scrub plane. Whats are your toughts on this ? Regards, Robert,

Hi Paul! I found 2 US Made Stanley Bailey No. 4s in the basement of an antique shop for $8 ea.. I'm cleaning the rust and polishing and flattening all of the surfaces as you've instructed in the restore video. It's going very well! I want to make an improvised scrub plane out of one of them. Of the two Bailey No. 4s. One has a smooth cast iron sole, but the other has hollows cast grooved out of the sole. is One sole better than the other for an improvised scrub plane? Thank you! I Just got your tool book in the mail today! Fascinating how you described the old craftsmen stropping on the palm of their hands! Thank You!

Thanks Paul! I just finished converting a #4 Footprint in a scrub plane under you video guidance and it works wonderful! Cheers from North Bay, Ontario, Canada!

Another great video Paul.. I have only one No 4 & don't wanna ruin it but do have a Bedrock 602 for most work, It's tote is really too small for my hand though & it's worth too much to modify, I might have to pick up a No 4 or 4 1/2 to make myself a scrub plane, I have many irons though?? Hmmm??

Is that mouth not small for a real scrub plane? Doesn't it hinder the real thick shavigs you can take with a scrub plane? Just used european horned wood scrubs with narrower irons and more curved irons, no cap iron.

I am appalled you did that on a bench grinder. Should have used a wet stone or at worst a linisher. You took any tempering out of it. When there’s red it’s knackerd. That won’t hold an edge for shit.

Hi Paul. Here where I live, I managed to find new old stock Record #5 planes. I can't find a smoothing plane to convert it into a scrub plane. Do you think a jack plane would be okay for this purpose? I already have a #4 for smoothing.

The bur yes, there is also an easy way. Also after scharpening corrugated knives , instead using sand paper (not a good idea) you can cut the bur simply with an disposeble tct knive, like a 50 mm knive. It needs some learning to do this but it leaves you with a much scharper knive. Also with this kind of handplaner knive it should work. hold the disposeble knive flat to the burside of the knive and cut toward the cutting edge withe a smooth movement. Easy, try it. Over here the good, maybe old skool( profile) knives sharpners with experiance are using this technique. It is old shool but the good way. Do not cut in to your fingers. Sorry for placing this on your vid, but it can help people. Thanks.

Dang. I thought I newethings, and here I am still learning. Thanks. Reminos me of Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 mentioning his father. "You've been gone 20 years and you're still taking me to school."

Nice tutorial. Just one question, I was taught to always put my plane down on it's side to protect the protruding edge. I notice you don't do this. Do you think I've been misguided all this time.

After so much procrastinating, I bought a cheap #4 Stanley handyman plane (plastic handles) and modified as you show in this video. Works like a charm!

Reading your blog. Watching your informative videos. Learning new things! Keep up the great work Paul.

I just happen to have a stanley 4, and I was about to buy a “scrub plane”. this is great. my planes are not taking off enough material so this is perfect. This is the 3rd time Ive found your videos helpful.

thank you mr sellers.....this will be my project today with an old sargent #4!!! really like your videos.....thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I love you Paul, and have learned tons of great tips from you, but I was kind of shocked when you said, "it will re-harden when you plunge it". I'm no expert in metal, but I'm almost positive that, that is not true. Once you start to temper it, it' will not harden again until you heat it above it's critical temperature (more than 1300 degrees, cherry red) and then quench. And that is not an easy thing to do well without a proper kiln and you're likely to warp or crack the blade during the quench. Anyway, I would keep fine tool steel away from a course/fast grinder like that, and if you must use one, I would be quenching constantly, because as soon as you start seeing color, you're pretty much ruining the blade (unless you grind back behind the tempered area)

It works! I've turned a useless junk shop No. 5 into an effective scrub plane. A split log is now a flat beam for a shave horse. Many thank Mr. Sellers!

Another thanks Paul. Finished a refurbishment today, iron ground / honed at 7" radius. Works well, leaves those tell-tale 'grooves' in the wood, and yes, works lovely at 45 degrees! Tatty 20 pound ebay number four, now fully serviceable and ready to scrub!

I own one of the much-maligned Stanley SB-4's purchased in my more ignorant days. It has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I saw this video and thought this would be a perfect use for the SB-4. It already has a large mouth, and the lack of adjustments, the lack of precision in the adjustments it does have, and the fact that the cap iron cannot extend very close to the blade edge do not seem as important for the scrub plane. I followed the instructions, and it seems to work well. Time will tell.

Picked up a Stanley Bailey No 5C Type 11 over the weekend to specifically turn it into a scrub plane. Worked like a charm. Paul's instruction is always as good as it gets. Thank you, Paul!

Awesome! Your So lucky to have access to your experience, knowledge and wisdom/artistry. Thank you. Yes a scrub plane was once a diamond in the rough.

You make me nervous when you repeatedly slide your hand over that plane. Just don't go in the wrong direction. Thanks for the video. I inherited many planes from my dad, love them all... Robert.

It's always funny when Paul hedges and says that something is not going to be perfect, but then he nails it and chuckles at his otherwordly skill. Cutting that arc with his knife is one example in this video.

Absolutely amazing tutorial on setting up a No.4 scrub plane. Excellent!

Wow, Thanks soo much for teaching us how to build scrub plane from regular plane.. I had idea like that before but never would try sacrifice my regular plane,just have to buy cheaper plane..

Very good video, especially if you want a multi-use plane, only used sometimes for a scrub by switching irons. Made my scrub plane from a no-name #3 plane (as most of the manufactured scrubs are narrower than a #4) and just opened the front of the throat to about twice what it was originally (again, manufactured scrubs have very open square throats) with a small grinder cut-off wheel, as it was never going to be anything but a scrub ever again.

Just finished making mine from a flea marker Sargent no. 4. The mouth was already opened up and the cutter was in bad shape as it was a victim of a bench grinder. I gave $15 for the plane and took about 2 hours to figure out how to set up my disk sander to do the work of the grinder. I had to set the angle and add a wedge to get 30*. Some grinding, sharpening and I was hogging off slivers. thanks again Paul for the lesson.

I have a small wooden scrub with a blade that has a camber of about 2 inches, the blade is about 1 1/4 in and it raises about half an inch. The plane itself is very small, a kindergarten kid would use it. It hogs of the materiel like a saw.

Guitar radius gauges (7.25") are perfect for drawing the curve on the iron. Also, I used a Grobet handfile to then radius the iron and it worked pretty well.

Great video Mr. Sellers! I’m looking for a cheap plane on eBay as I write. Quick question: what is the very minor advantage of an engineered scrub plane that you mention at 27 seconds?

I have a Stanley 40 scrub plane and it's an engineering marvel. It's the lightest of all by big planes and it's simply amazing how much wood this thing can move and how fast. I never thought to turn the blade vertically, all this time I've been horizontal and suffering just trying to gauge the angle.

Only Paul Sellers could withstand showers of sparks on his hand while he grinds without even blinking. Thank you Paul for the wonderful tip. Looking forward to trying this soon!

Thanks for this whole video - how would one go about cambering their iron without a bench grinder, a pot of tea and plenty of patience?! I got a smaller, lower line plane from Stanley made easily 40+ years ago - is half the weight of my old #4 and even has a tighter mouth. I think it would make a better smoother and thinking about converting another iron for my #4 just as you describe here!