Restoring the Vintage Metal Handplane

This is a hands-on course focused on restoring classic Stanley metal hand planes. Whether you're a beginner or experienced woodworker, you'll learn step-by-step how to clean, flatten, tune, and bring a vintage plane back to life.
The free PDF is available from the course page.
$40

Bring a Forgotten Tool Back to Life

A well-tuned vintage hand plane is a joy to use, slicing through wood with silky precision and connecting you to generations of craftsmanship. In Restoring the Vintage Metal Hand Plane, you’ll work through every step of transforming a rusty flea-market find into a sharp, accurate, and dependable shop tool.
Whether you’ve inherited a dusty plane from a family toolbox or scored one at a garage sale, this course shows you how to identify quality vintage planes, strip away years of neglect, and restore them to peak performance.
Turn a forgotten tool into a precision instrument you’ll be proud to use in your shop. This course comes with a PDF breaking down the parts of your plane, what you’ll need for restoration as well as printable guides and templates for honing and grinding angles.

This 8-part course is broken up into 11 videos, detailing:

  • How to spot a great vintage plane (and avoid duds)

  • Techniques for cleaning and de-rusting metal parts without damaging them

  • Bench grinder set-up and proper use

  • How to flatten, sharpen, and tune for buttery-smooth shavings

  • Repairing and restoring wooden knobs and totes

  • The right adjustments for precise, tear-free cuts

  • Maintenance habits to keep your plane in top form for decades

By the time you finish, you’ll have a handplane that is reborn, razor-sharp, and ready for a lifetime of work.

Watch this first, so that you know what to buy and what to stay away from! This video covers the full history of Stanley Planes.

Restore the past. Build the future.