Stock Prep with Hand Plane vs Jointer/Planer 

As someone who is newish to woodworking and dependent on channels like yours for guidance, I can’t stress enough how valuable it is to watch someone mill stock in real time. It’s good to see the process, hear the thinking behind it, and see how it’s “supposed” to go. Thank you!

Not boring at all. This is a fundamental skill.

I’m part of your niche audience that greatly enjoyed the whole video. I completely agree with the premise that hand tool woodworking requires a different process that machine tool woodworking. Trying to follow the machine tool process with hand tools will drive you nuts. So much more could be said on this issue. Thanks for starting to explore this topic.

So happy to see this. I flat cringe at ‘how to join without a jointer videos’. Proper stock prep is the foundation of woodworking. This is great content.

Very good observation at 8:45. I’ve noticed how hot the blade gets with continuous planing. Remarkably hot!! And planing seems to get more difficult. You’re the first I’ve ever heard mention this. Great content, man!!

I love the sound of wood being planed, so I very much appreciate your not cutting that process out. Also, the acoustics in your shop, convinced with your mic make for some of the most satisfying planing sounds. Thanks for another great video!

This is the most valuable video on the internet. You are rocking it with these videos.

Thank you for this. Glad to see the whole work stream on the hand planes. I picked up a couple of things, and learned that the struggle I have had with knots and twisted grain isn’t just some beginner/experience issue but happens to everyone. So many handtool method videos start with straight grain white pine and I always think I am missing something. This was fantastic! Thank you again for sharing your experience!

not boring at all Frank, it’s a pleasure & very instructive - Thanks

Small niche audience member tuning in! I ain't got room nor economy to buy milling machines. And as woodworking is my hobby, and not my profession, I do the work by hand. It's a workout and an active meditation, you know. I'm grateful for you taking the time to show us your take on the process. I got a few new tips along the way. Been a subscriber for a long time and I sincerely hope you'll get the recognition that you deserve.

I try to go ACROSS the grain for as long as i can ... First i go across and take out cup , then i use a straight edge to check if there is bow , and i take off the high edges by planing ACROSS them , finally i check for twist and take off the high spots to make it flat , only then i switch to planing along the grain as it minimizes tear out .. love the videos !!!

I love hard work. I can sit and watch it for hours. Thanks for showing the whole process rather than over-editing. Getting an understanding of the process is much easier when you can see it from start to finish.

I do my stock prep by hand and I learned a couple of things. Like seeing how you used the scrub plane.

Great video on how to use hand plane to flatten a board.

This is a truly great video for someone who either is bored to tears using woodworking machines and getting ‘okay’ type finishes, then goes to hand tools that they’re not too proficient in the use of and as mentioned it is like miserable merry go round. First thing I leant through serving my time was to begin with hand tools, they are a fraction of just one of those machines, even that big jointer plane which I fully admit isn’t a cheap tool, BUT, it’s a lot less than: 1. Buying a Jointer Machine, getting power to it, that’s going to require an electrician etc, etc. 2. Multiply that times the number of machines in a modern joiner’s workshop/machine shop, 3. If the power supply fails, what do you do, especially if you’re not comfortable using hand tools, depending on the job in hand most times I could match the guys with all their expensive power tools/machines sometimes I would just marginally beat them to the finish line. Keep up the great videos.

Big fan of the fact that you left in the whole process. I'm one of the niche group you mentioned!

Not boring at all. Beautiful

I appreciate you including nearly all the entire steps truing up a board by hand. You need to know all the subtleties. What makes the difference between the men and the boys. Ok work vs a nice project! Thanks

You made a good point about not holding the front of the plane as you plane past the end of the board. Beginners should also know that if they can’t push the plane with one hand then it’s not sharp enough. Great video as always Frank. Keep up the good work! I also watch your videos all the way to the end.

I have all the power tools in my shop, except for the jointer, but I hate using them. Working with a hand plane is magic. Listening to you plane that stock is magic. I would watch a full, unedited build of ANYTHING. Please do more of this.

You're the only wood working creator that I can watch the full video. Very informative and fun to watch.

Great video! I have been looking for this type of process comparison for a long time 👏👍🙇‍♂️

I was taught to plane diagonally to flatten. Smooth with the grain

No video has explained this concept better and more clearly , and with comparison to help hand and power guys. Thank you!

As someone who is becoming more interested in hand tools, this was one of the most informative video's I've watched yet. Thanks!

I enjoyed the full footage of the stock prep and appreciate it

Frank, I appreciate seeing the whole flattening process with the hand planes. Thank you.

I’m a big fan of Rex Krugers philosophy of hand tool work. Old school furniture makers didn’t dress every surface. Hand tool work is simply too difficult and time consuming for that to be viable as a professional. Basically, if you didn’t see it they didn’t touch it. Undersides if tables or backs of cabinets could even be found with bark still attached. The only reason modern woodworkers make everything perfect is because it’s so easy to have the machines do so in a matter of minutes. And as Rex says, you basically wipe all evidence of how it was made from your piece. The more I do hand tool work the more I appreciate leaving evidence behind. Not on show faces of course. But again, if you don’t see it in daily use, I’m not spending hours trying to make it look like a factory manufactured it. If it was made by hand, I want people to be able to tell it was made by hand. It’s one of the reasons why we hand cut dovetail pins so narrow. A machine can’t do that. If you’re gonna do something indistinguishable from a machine you may as well use a machine and not waste all day doing it by hand.

Really impressed with the sharpness and setup of your planes.

The best and most comprehensive video on plane jointing, great video frank!

Don’t apologize for showing your viewers the process with commentary. It was very instructive.

Not bored either. Now that I have a couple of years of practice (only weekends), it's nice to watch you in detail and compare to how I do it. Before the glue-up, isn't there an extra step of putting the two boards face-side against face-side in the vice, then planing the two edges at once so that it doesn't matter all that much if they are slightly out of square (as long as there's no twist)?

This is super timely for me; I have just been flattening some boards and came onto YT for some reassurance that I was on the right path in terms of my technique and method. Seeing this in real time was helpful and showed me that I'm not too far off the mark!

Great stuff! Appreciated getting to see the whole process.

I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos to better understand the whole process of woodworking. I'm using yt to learn how to build a cabinet for my bathroom. I've never done woodworking before and only have a circular saw, drill and sanders. Your videos are the most helpful of any I've so far watched. Thanks for going into all the detail.

This is great! I have always struggled with stock prep. It has been a point of discouragement. You have given me hope. Thank you!

😮best, complete explanation and demonstration I’ve seen (and I watch a lot)!! Thanks

Not boring. Very cool video instead. Thanks.

I appreciate seeing the whole process.

Very helpful. I'm inspired to give my flea markets hand planes another try.

I'm one of those who like the whole process even if it's a little long. Thanks for sharing!

I have a small shop with only a few stationary power tools. (drill press, lathe, bandsaw, radial arm saw). No room for others, and no budget for them either. Always on the lookout for great hand tool woodworking videos. Thank you.

LOTS of great suggestions - thank you

well done on a tricky board. sharpen well and plane confidently.

You make this process look so easy, Frank. Clearly I need more practice.

Another excellent video boss. Well done.

Awesome video. Thank you!

First time seeing your videos. Watched the hole thing. Very well explained. Liked for sure.

Nice job. Didn't get bored. My summary approach is do what you need to do when you need to do it. (Sometimes I'll take knots down with a #4 then flatten down to those - can reduce tear out).

very informative - I like the detail - thanks!

This video was top notch. Thanks for sharing with us.

Love the detailed video it's really helpful

Thank you. It was all very helpful.

Great video, thank you!

Many thanks Frank, I'm in that niche interested in the entire process, so I appreciate you showing all of it.

What a fantastic video!

Great video. Good narration and great workmanship. Thanks for sharing.

Nice simple explanation frank!

Great video Frank, not boring at all! Looking forward to watching the rest of your content. Thank you.

Good job! Ilike this process 👍

thanks, great vid

On the contrary! I really appreciate seeing the whole process. As someone just starting out in woodworking it is beneficial to see all the work. Keep up the awesome content. Love your site

You make that look so easy! I definitely lost my mind a few times 🤣🤣

Very nicely explained. Really enjoy your content!

Excellent !! Thanks

Great video as always!

That’s a great beginner lesson.

Gooood stuff, as always!

Perfect. I have the 735x dewalt, and a dewalt job site saw. No jointer though! I have 7 pieces of 8-10 foot by 7-11” wide by 8/4 thick walnut I have to plane and joint. For this I had to build out a 6 foot out feed table to reduce snipe, and an infeed using rollers. The plan is to use sacrificial pieces before and after each plane to reduce snipe. Then on table saw, yet another out feed table (yet to be built….ugh) to use melamine with factory edge and attach walnut on top to joint one edge, then flip to straight edge to joint other side. $1800 worth of wood and 25 hours of prep just to build a table. I agree on the no dowels or dominos. Way more issues created than solved. Straight stock, bessy pipe clamps and glue with wood bars across to keep it flat. Air dried, kiln dried wood should behave (key word, should) and glue up should work ok.

Thank you for sharing!

I love your content like this; another fantastic video for hand tool woodworking! I find that your explanations and detailed videos help me to refine my techniques!

educational and therapeutic!

Fantastic! Like many beginners, I’m unsure of the right way to prepare stock with hand planes. Perfect timing, just what I needed. Absolutely loved the uncut version.

Thanks for sharing. Super helpful.

good practical video as usual Frank, you almost makes me try to film my clumsy realisation and stuggles so most of the people can have a good laugh and some could learn how not to do thing :D You are very nice person to watch and listen too, i still find some reference to Paul Sellers (like the rub your handfull of glue under the bench :D) and love it :D

Great Video

Great demonstration! I did find the shots of the winding sticks to be a bit hard to follow, though. The edge of the farther stick doesn’t really stand out against the background.

after watching this video i would never do hand planing and will definitely get a jointer , and a thickneser for those kind of jobs if needed one day 😀

great job. I only have a planer, no jointer. This is exactly what I do for everything I have ever built. It is tons of work. For softer species like cherry and walnut it is fine, but for white oak and hard maple this is just painful when you building a large project.

Appreciated!

I like it. Thanks

thank you, this is helpful.

Would you be able to make a video showing all your saws (make/tpi) or ppi? I am into hand tool wood working and like your set up. Thanks

Niche audience == me. I think is really great information for beginners, and it gives a very realistic idea of what it takes to use hand tools.

I would have riped the board, run both pieces over a jointer and then a thickness planer but then that would have deprived me of buying that Chinese plane collection. You can tell from my comment that I am a Veritas fan and it only takes a couple of hand planes to do that job provided you have a spare blade with a camber on it. I enjoy hand planing but I don’t need the extra workout at my age.🇨🇦👍👨‍🦳

watched the entire video, not boring at all

You are always beautiful bro🇵🇸 I wish you the best always 🇵🇸

I struggle with keeping my planes set up and sharpened. And so many of edges end up going up or down hill

How sharp does a plane has to be in order to plane knots ? I use a 1000 grit diamond stone then strop. But whenever I encounter a knot, it doesn’t cut at all

what if i use my jointer to get the bottom and the side flat so i only have too worry about planing two sides with a hand plane?

Wondering if you could expound on something? At the end of video you say your not bothering to get other side parallel, and also mention dovetails. If you dove tail this board together will surfaced side go on inside and non parallel side be planed after assembly? Sorry if I'm getting ahead of something here. Just trying to figure logic of this decision for my own edification.

Where do you get your paraffin wax? Most I'm seeing is in small chunks for melting.

I've about broke my wrist in knots before...

I don't think my plane is sharp enough

I cringed every time I saw your plane go over those big knots. I bet you had some big nicks to grind out of the knives after that session

Hi. my name is Niche.

Who won their right mind would use that board for anything with all those shit knots in it

Not boring at all👹