I recently shared a video and blog of my CNC creating a wooden hand plane for a client, which you can see here if you'd like the full backstory Crafting a Hand Plane. I also shared the video on a woodworking group and had a request to show it in action from one of the viewers. That was a great idea and I'm happy to oblige. This isn’t a master class, just a 3-minute glimpse into flattening a 3" wide by 18" long piece of curly maple, perfect for woodworkers who know a little bit about wood grain direction.

I designed this plane in January 2021, drawing inspiration from David Finck’s and Christopher Schwarz’s books on Hand Planes, with a nod to a very basic Krenov-style plane from Hock Tools I had purchased a couple years earlier. Crafted from spalted maple, it’s 2 3/8" wide, 11 3/8" long, with a 1 3/4" wide Hock blade that’s been my go-to ever since. Spalted maple, with its swirling patterns, is fine for personal use, but its slight weakening from the spalting process, essentially a natural molding, makes it less ideal for commercial tools. I love it for my own projects, though.

I'm using a board that ended up being curly maple, but I didn't know that when I started. Curly maple can be beautiful, but the curly nature of it makes it tricky to work with a hand plane, if not outright difficult. In this quick demo, I’m using medium passes on the board, which is secured on a workbench with small 3/8" dog holes and hardwood dowels. My intent was to keep the demo brief, not an in-depth class, and the result is a surface about 90% flat and smooth, good enough for a small project like a utility box top.

Adjusting the plane for very light passes at the end, would result in a board ready for a special project. Light passes reduce tear-out, letting the wood’s reflective, undulating surface shine like ripples under the light. A sharp blade is key, using high grit sandpaper, sharpening stones, diamond plates, or whatever method you prefer. Check out the action below:

If you're interested in one of these planes, or a CNC model to make your own, please visit Hand Planes.

Thank you and enjoy your day.