freeman woodworking: Little known plane makes all the difference.

What is this little tool that makes the life of the woodworker a little happier? First of all what's the problem you have to solve. Tough, narley (sorry but that's the only word for)wood that refuses to be planed. Included in woods that are hard to deal with I have to included other materials like plywood, hardboard and even plastics. Yes, in my work life of over 50 years, I've made and installed and repaired lots of cabinets , furniture and worked on houses to the point that when it comes to getting the job done and you only have hand tools to do it with you will do anything to get it done. I must admit that at one time I might have hauled out the belt sander or power plane for the tough jobs but I learned over the years that for speed and control a hand plane works best for me.(Quieter too).

Ok end of mystery it's a little maple shop made toothing plane that I made in a 70 degree angle to the work and like a miracle of woodworking this plane slices thru the toughest of wood or whatever and leaves a slightly grooved surface that is easily scraped, planed or sanded smooth. I originally made this plane for veneer work where you surface the substrate with low , small grooves to give "tooth" to your glue surface.

If you want to expand your hand tool experience there is two little known planes that make all the difference, the fore plane is one and the toothing plane is the other. You can buy one from Lie Nielsen for a couple hundred or like me you can just make one. Until I had a plane I always used a scraper for toothing and this is a good option. Just take a plane iron and groove the back for whatever pattern suits you. Scrapers aren't thick enough to use for this purpose. I sometimes use the scraper but I like the accuracy of the plane for things like edges.