Want to learn how to flatten the sole of an antique wooden hand plane? Or maybe you’re building a new, reproduction handplane? In this video, Hand Tool Woodworking expert, Bill Anderson will show you how!

Bill shows how to turn the wooden hand plane upside down, and then flatten the sole using a sharp and tuned-up hand plane to flatten the sole, or bottom, of the wooden hand plane. A flat sole is important on precision hand planes like a smoothing plane, or as in this case, a jointer plane.

He then shows you how to use a straight edge and winding sticks to make sure that your hand plane’s sole is not twisted or bowed. You can visit our in-depth hand plane buyer’s guide, here.

You can find vintage hand planes via these Ebay searches:

• See antique wooden hand planes on Ebay
• See antique metal Stanley hand planes on Ebay

Bill is a handplane expert, and an accomplished maker and restorer of wooden hand planes. His workshop is full of both wood planes and metal planes, and he teaches classes on making, refurbishing, and sharpening hand planes. See Bill’s classes at our school here. Bill is also now (as of 2024) teaching small, private classes at his workshop outside of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. You can see his website here.