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Guides · Section 06

Tool Skills

Every tool cuts well only when it is set up, sharp and used the way it was designed to work. These guides cover sharpening, tuning hand planes, chisel technique and the setup that makes power tools accurate.

Subjects
4
Guides
3
Level
Beginner · Intermediate

Start here

Foundation guide

How to Sharpen Chisels and Plane Irons

Flatten the back, set the bevel, raise and remove a burr, and compare grit systems: a method for sharpening chisels and plane irons, with a fault table.

Beginner · 8 min readRead the guide

In this section

Hand planes

Setting up, adjusting and using bench planes.

  1. How to Use a Hand PlaneSet a plane’s depth, lateral and mouth, read the grain, keep pressure right through the stroke, and plane a face flat and an edge square, with a fault table.Intermediate · 10 min read

Chisels

Paring, chopping and working to a knife line.

  1. How to Use a Chisel: Paring and ChoppingPare and chop with control: hand positions, which way the bevel faces, grain direction, working back to a knife line, and how to avoid undercutting and splits.Beginner · 6 min read

Reading order

  1. 1.Beginner

  2. 2.Intermediate

What this section covers

  1. 6.1

    Sharpening

    Bevels, honing and keeping an edge.

    1 guide

  2. 6.2

    Hand planes

    Setting up, adjusting and using bench planes.

    1 guide

  3. 6.3

    Chisels

    Paring, chopping and working to a knife line.

    1 guide

  4. 6.4

    Power-tool setup

    Aligning fences, blades and bits for accurate cuts.

Work it out

Related reference.