Hand Plane Restoration

Bringing an old hand plane back to life is simple to do, and will yield a top-notch tool.

- Logan Wittmer

When I build a project, I use a variety of “fancy” tools (readers' words, not mine). Lie-Nielsen, Bill Carter, and Blue Spruce, amongst others. It never fails that I get comments about how “it must be nice” or “I can only afford vintage tools.” Well, here’s my secret: me too. Now, I don’t mind paying for craftsmanship. However, I’ve paid for almost every one of my “nice” modern tools by buying vintage tools, restoring them, and selling them. The money goes into a “nice tool” fund that I use to fund this... problem... that I have. Do these “fancy” tools work better than a good, restored vintage tool? Nope. Not at all. I’m just shallow and love the look of them. However, I don’t want anyone to think that a particular tool works better because it’s “new.” Vintage tools, when properly restored, can work every bit as well as modern makers at a fraction of the price.

Good Bones

When it comes to vintage tools, the key is to pick a good candidate for restoration. I mainly focus on hand planes, although I occasionally get into saw, chisels, and other tools. But for this article, let’s focus on hand planes. I don’t necessarily look for hand planes, but somehow I always seem to find them (maybe I subconsciously search for them?). When it comes to hand planes, I look for a couple of things.