I just discovered your site a couple of days ago. I have my grandfathers tools, no one in the family wanted them and I could not let them go. I remember him making things like whirly gigs, but the one thing that really stood out was, he used them to build his house. They date from the 1930's to the 1960's depending on the tool. I am not a wood worker but you have inspired me to give his tools a try. Thank you for your explanation of the Planes, He had both metal and wood and now I understand how they are used.
Give it a go dude, I've found a load of scrap wood around town n the neighborhood, bought a few planes and chisels aswell as both those hand drills and some different sized bits, it's so much fun man!
Godspeed, those tools want to be used to craft things again. I wish you all the best in your woodcraft. Keep your fingers behind the blade. You don't want to learn that lesson the hard way.
Your content is always so interesting and informative. I feel like I’m just listening to a friend when I watch your videos. I don’t even do wood working too much myself but I love watching and learning from you! keep on keeping on ❤️
I have no clue about woodworking, but to be completely honest just watching you explain it all is so fascinating. A part of me wants to start figuring it out, seems very blissful.
I've been a woodworker since I was a schoolchild, but you've inspired me to turn my attention to some of the more traditional tools and techniques. Power tools are great, but they don't produce the same satisfaction as a good antique plane or chisel. Thank you.
On the continent (where I live) metal planes never became very common, and professional woodworkers kept using wooden planes until they eventually switched to power tools. Here, wooden planes in good condition are very easy to find and cheap. I prefer metal planes, for the simple reason that they're faster and easier to adjust and sharpen. Getting the wedge out of a wooden plane, and adjusting the blade just right can be a pain. Also, I find my metal planes to be more comfortable in my hands than my wooden ones. Wooden ones do however have the advantage of sliding over the work surface with less friction!
Couple of points to round out your fantastic video: 1. Throw a very light coat of oil on your metal plane, or wax, to keep the metal rust free. 2. When storing your wooden planes be sure to back out the wedge so it isn't tight or they can split when the weather changes.
Cracking video again, sir! When you were talking about the biggest weakness in the different planes, it brought to mind something my old man says, that "the biggest weakness in any tool is shite on the end of it", meaning the operator, one of those phrases I never forget and use probably more than I should
I've always been a bit intimidated by hand planes. Never really understood the purpose of them. Watching your videos, especially this one, I'm now beginning to realize I could really use one. Would solve a lot of my woodworking issues that power tools just can't. Thank you!
Would love to see a project from start to finish exclusively to the RU-vid channel enjoy watching all your videos and your knowledge is top notch! Keep the good work up! 💪
Never liked the wooden planes too much. All the sudden watching this video I think I caught a bit of a crush on em 😳 Jokes aside I always preferred working with hand tools and while I love the smoothness of the steel planes, the wooden ones are catching my attention now too. I always loved the raw feeling behind hand tools, and I think there's something special to that ol' "tap tap tap, yeah that's just about right" dance you gotta do on the wooden ones to dial them in
Prior to subscribing to you I knew next to nothing of carpentry and woodworking. Your informative content has taught me so much in so little time. Carry on lad your doing incredibly well!
I like the woodies, they glide nice without any wax and nice and light. Only annoyance I have with them are particularly the double iron kinds with depth adjustment and how the edge scoots away from the cap iron for a deeper cut. I learned a workaround by putting a couple sheets of paper on either side of the plane sole when inserting the iron so that it’s slightly too deep and all I have to do is hit the rear and wedge to get it where I want it, but it made me really appreciate the adjusters on metallic planes, or even transitionals, more. Still fun to use though! I like making them too from spare vintage irons taken from destroyed bodies or current reproduction irons.
I bought a No. 7 a few months back that was in really rough shape, the guy I bought it from didn't think it was going to be usable so he was basically throwing it away! After a weekends work I now have a beauty of a jointer plane that cost basically nothing! Alot of the wooden planes I've seen at flea markets and the such are massively overpriced, everyone selling them seems to think they are something super special whereas the Stanley are so common they usually aren't very expensive.
Good comparison. I have a wood jointer and jack that I bought 45 years ago, still using them. Also have a metal no. 5 that’s about 75 years old. Still works fairly well.
I got a Veritas plane iron recently and it was $50 CAD, well worth the money and came to me lapped and sharp (I touched it up because I never trust factory sharp and with five minutes touching up it can take a shaving you can easily read through even on a cheap Stanley body). Veritas is good quality mid range planes these days, but I’ve heard from enough people that building your own wooden plane is worth the time to give it credit.
Great videos. Iv ready the comments im sure im going to repeat something here so if i do sorry in advance. Your correct with the rear adjustment, for lowering the blade that button on the front of the plane is for you to tap this will lower the blade. This way your don’t damage the back of the blade and the button is there so you don’t damage the timber. Give it try see what you think. You rock
Metal planes are very convenient, need to take a heavy cut? Twist the frog knob to have more iron in the cut. A lite/smooth cut? Well twist the knob the other way. Wooden planes are like old ways of having light before the light bulb and electricity were a then. It an odd way compare, but it makes sense to me. I will admit though using a wooden plane feels very nice. Amazing video as usual.
I like both. When I’m using metal planes, I enjoy it. When I use my wooden planes, I enjoy that process too. Handplanes are such a satisfying thing to use.
I thought you were the Irish version of Roy Underhill from the Woodwrightshop, but I think you are much more thorough in covering a subject. Keep up the good work.😊
Found your videos through Shorts, and they're just so fascinating. Something really nice about the concept of not using power tools... But the way that saw is positioned, it looks like the teeth are facing you and super close, and it keeps making me nervous 😂
I really enjoy watching you give these lessons on woodwork. But I can't help but wonder: when are you going to come up with your own high quality tools? World class... Tools by Eoin Reardon of Ireland. You'll be selling tools around the world. Blessings, Charles of the USA.
Hey eion if you can put the camera a bit closer man it's kinda hard to see what you're talking about. Other than that continue your amazing work you've made me really fall in love with carpentry and generally doing/making things myself
I'm no professional but I'd have thought that the metal bodied plane would take the smaller shaving as I'd have thought the very obvious predictability of the metal, would be able to get the blade lower and closer to the bottom of the body. But then again the Japanese style wooden bodied plane takes off incredibly thin shavings if set up/used correctly.
I noticed you mentioned Japanese plane. Was interested have you ever invested in a japanese pull saw or any of there wood working tools? Id recommend. Keep going lad great content. Kiss the blarney stone for me bud lol
As shipwrights we had both types at our disposal. They were used for different jobs. A wooden jack is far superior to a steel one for fairing planks, or mast making. The bailey type hand plane no use at all for hull fairing, compared to the ergonomics of a coffin type wooden hand plane.
Remember to tap the wedge every time you adjust the iron! And use the striking button, that's what it's for. You would normally use a standard claw hammer or similar to adjust the plane (at least in any English speaking tradition). I use a small dead blow with acrylic faces, though. No reason to bang it around with anything more serious than that. Rex Krueger, however, did make the informed decision to go for the authentic (again English speaking tradition) choice and only use a claw hammer. My point is, have one hammer at hand to adjust it with-and it should be of a size that can also tap the wedge. Your bench hammer was perfect for that. You are talking from an English speaking traditional perspective (UK and American (the continents)), in the rest of Europe wooden planes are still the norm. They do not rot away. Most of them are made by stable wood that don't even move anymore. It's common to find wooden planes more than 100-150 years old that work fine, and new ones are still made. And the wear you talk about I can't quite recognize. Not that I haven't found beat up wooden planes, I sure have. I made a worn slethøvl (between a scrub and a smoother, closer to the smoother) into a scrub. It's absolutely perfect. Most of the wear is superficial. But of course they wear, but it will take many, many years! Just use a little bit of wax on the sole. Not that wooden planes need much lubrication, but it doesn't hurt. And if the sole is worn out, make a new plane or a new sole. That's the whole point of wooden planes in the olden days. You made your own. Stanley just wanted to make money on something people would normally make themselves. For professionals using wooden planes look up Peter Follansbee, Graham Blackburn, Mortise and Tenon Magazine, and Richard Maguire to mention a few. And Stavros Gakos for plane making. In my opinion wooden planes are much easier to adjust and use. You just tap them; down, on the strike plate (if it has one), on the side (you can hold it in your hand, no reason to put it on its side), etc. and then on the wedge. Always on the wedge! It's extremely fast and intuitive. I don't really like all the knobs and adjusters on metal planes; they make the planes seem less in touch with the work. But that's just down to personal preference, of course. (By the way, when adjusting a wooden plane you don't sight it, you have your fingers over the mouth and feel it. Watch Mortise & Tenon Magazine video "How to Use a Wooden Handplane". They're also using a claw hammer.) The point is. Metal planes aren't superior to wooden planes at all-it's only a question about personal preference. You can't do something with a metal plane that you can't do with a wooden plane and vice versa. And, for crying out loud, stop shaving your hairs 😅
Not sure if this is the right place to ask Eoin, but I recently bought an antique German nuthobel, or plough plane. The steel is old and needs a sharpen, and that's ok but it only came with one bit of steel. Could I get away with placing a chisel in there to give me a range of groove sizes, or would I need to adjust the bevel, etc to make that work?
I use mh stsnley planes for most precise work and my wooden planes for more course work because they are much ligther en feel nicer to hold really strong
