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    Video Workshop

    Restoring vintage handplanes with Roland Johnson

    Author Headshot By Roland Johnson Jan 27, 2021
    Article Image

    You can get great results from a garage-sale find or an eBay purchase as long as you know what to do. Roland Johnson has rejuvenated dozens of Stanley Bailey planes and given more than 100 seminars on the subject. Here, he demonstrates how to tear down a plane to its bare chassis and rebuild it into a classic.

    In this video workshop, Rollie demonstrates how to restore:

    • Bailey-style bench planes
    • Block planes
    • Stanley 82 scrapers

    Discover the joy of taking a rusty old plane and transforming it into a fine tool. Armed with what you’ll learn in this class, the best new tool in your shop might end up being an 80-year-old handplane.

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    Videos in the Series

    • Restoring Vintage Handplanes with Rollie Johnson: Introduction

      January 27, 2021

      Rejuvenating an old Stanley Bailey plane is a great way to get started handplaning without breaking a slim woodworking budget.

    • Restoring Handplanes: All About Stanley Planes

      January 27, 2021

      Rollie Johnson talks about the history of Stanley bench planes and explains what to look for when buying one.

    • Restoring Handplanes: The Parts of a Bench Plane

      February 3, 2021

      Learn about the anatomy of a bench plane and what each part does.

    • Restoring Handplanes: Cleaning and Repairing

      February 10, 2021

      Rollie Johnson demonstrates how to clean up an old handplane using something you might already have in your refrigerator: cola.

    • Restoring Handplanes: Tuning up Parts

      February 17, 2021

      Rollie Johnson gets his hands dirty in this episode, flattening the mating surfaces of the frog, and the sole of a vintage handplane.

    • Restoring Handplanes: Sharpening and Setup

      February 25, 2021

      Rollie Johnson shows his simple but effective method for sharpening a bench plane and then dials it in to get perfect shavings.

    • restoring a block plane

      Restoring Handplanes: Block Plane

      March 3, 2021

      Rollie Johnson shows how to fix up and restore a vintage block plane, converting a clunker into a classic hand tool.

    • Tuning and Using the Stanley 82 Scraper

      March 10, 2021

      Rollie Johnson shows off one of his favorite hidden-gem hand tools: the Stanley 82 scraper.

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    About Video Workshops

    Watch our experts build a piece of furniture step-by-step on video and download a detailed project plan so you can build along.

    If you're looking for a new woodworking project, try one of our video workshops. These are complete, online courses taught by some of the best woodworkers in the country, and include companion articles, project plans, and step-by-step video instruction.

    View All Video Workshops

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    • Restoring vintage handplanes with Roland Johnson

      Woodworking expert Roland Johnson teaches you how to tear down and rebuild three classic handplanes.

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