As a former 35 year teacher I find beyond a shadow of a doubt you are the one of the best if not the best on you tube. You are incredibly clear, concise, direct, knowledgeable, and most articulate. That is so evident since you do not use the most used word in the English language... “um” in every other word of your sentences. Thank you

I have recently acquired an ancient hand plane and binged dozens of restoration videos. This is way the most helpful and informative one I’ve come across. Thanks!!

To the many beginners here: Rex is completely correct and do everything he does exactly the same way. 3-in-1 brand is important. The very first power tool you should get is a bench grinder. Friends (that were good woodworkers) made fun of me for making that my first purchase, but really, it is the first tool you want. Set it up with a wire wheel and coarse grinding wheel like Rex says. Get one where the motor body diameter is smaller than the wheel size, so that the motor is not in the way of larger items you may bring. Your second power tool should be a drill press. A small bench top one is fine. So many attachments can be made for drum sanding, a large table top, pocket hole drilling. With those two power tools you can fix most anything around the house and garden. Also, the grinder will make it a breeze to make the English Joiner’s Bench stop from the hinge. Other tools are a good battery powered hand drill (the little 12 volt Bosch are delightful), a circular saw (makes easy work of breaking up plywood) and a jigsaw (very handy for smaller cuts, and when fit with a metal cutting blade, eliminates the work of the hacksaw). Those few tools will make for a very versatile home shop. Rex’s advice is fantastic. I love his bottom up approach to the hobby.

I've been using a bench grinder with a wire wheel to clean my dishes for years. Takes off dried eggs without any problems.

Rex 2017: Mocking woodworkers for not using powertools Rex 2021: *you've become the very thing you swore to destroy*

I grew up around this stuff my Grandfather was a 'Cabinet Maker' who taught my father and his brothers all he knew. These men were building contractors in the 60's and 70's in the intervening years I have been away from woodworking.Watching your videos has brought it all back to me and inspired me. Watching this video I remembered my father showing me the same thing and I remembered all of the parts of the 'noble' hand plane that my father taught me all of those years ago as you were talking about them. Thank you for your Chanle and for being an inspiration for me to try and pick up something I thought I had lost.

thanks for the shoutout man! if you ever want to do a collab let me know.

5 years down the track and I still think this is a great video. All the attributes are there; thorough while entertaining - understated wit; nothing was skipped; applicable to all the Stanley planes you might have with respect to preventative maintenance; focus on money outlays while not being cheapskate; Rex, you have set the tone for the great business you now have and carried through for 5+ years; I am revisiting you back catalog for other gems - thanks a heap, glad to be a Patreon 0:07

Thank you so much for this, Rex. Just another garage woodworker over here who is always trying to up my game and keep it there while on a shoestring budget. Your vids are always helpful and encouraging. Hat's off to you.

Rex, this was one of the most helpful videos I've ever watched. I have an old hand plane that had belonged to my father. It was a little rusty and also had some hard grime on some of the surfaces. I found that I could clean and smooth out the key surfaces with some 150-grit sandpaper (I don't have a bench grinder) and then clean and oil the rest, making it work much more smoothly. But I could only do this because you clearly showed how each part fits into the whole and managed to convey how the hand plane works as an integrated system. Many thanks!

I inherited a bunch of old tools from my dad that once belonged to my great uncles (and possibly even older!) They are in rough shape and I greatly appreciate your tutorials! More than that I can't thank you enough for doing voice overs when you are using the power tools instead of running the sound! I'm a fan for life!

You had me at "Dude, you got to he f***ing kidding me!"

Nice video. I have found old planes at yard sales that were just dirty and just needed a clean and not even a sharpen. You made it sing.

Thanks again, Rex. I've recently inherited my Dad's tools, as he's gone into care with dementia. Today, I bought a wire wheel to go on his old bench grinder. The first job..? His Stanley #4 really needs some attention.

I watched this video months ago. I finally got around to tuning up my first two old Stanleys (a #4 and a #5 1/2 ). I do have a grinder but thankfully I didn't need to use it as they were in really good shape. They just needed some cleaning and resharpening. Thanks for the awesome content!

Wright is still down there on his hands and knees trying to get a bevel on that new piece of iron! Good natured poking of fun is one of the reasons why I like your channel. I’m glad I discovered it. Wood by Wright is also a good channel. Thanks for all of your sharing.

“I found it in the dumpster, so the price was right.” Sounds like Mathias...

I use pill bottles labeled for the plane to keep the small parts in. Making a simple jeweler's ring clamp is a great way to hold small parts for grinding and polishing. On frog faces and seats I use an old fashioned bearing scraper along with feeler gauge and straight edge to flatten them.

the temper does not come back just by dipping the blade in water, has to be brought up to a certain temperature at which point the metal loses its magnetism and then dipped in oil or water, and it is very easy to remove the temper from that blade by even slightly overheating it on a power grinder

There's a very noticeable difference between this and your current stuff. A lot more upbeat and saturated (both in dialogue and image). Its really cool

Just started my first restore. Initial cleanup, need to do the full restore prior to use but it’s looking good so far. Really appreciate your down to earth approach to restoring and sharpening. I have a Stanley No 4 made in England. It was cleaned up with spray paint, but they didn’t remove the tote or front knob. Now looking forward to going through the rest of the process.

Thanks Rex! Picked up a Stanley Bailey #5.5 and #6 for 80 bucks all together. They appear to be in the same condition as the one in this video. Going to put them through your steps and hopefully will have my first set of good planes. Much appreciated. Look forward to more awesome videos. Love that you don't waste anyone's time. Great job!

I had to stop the video an get the laugh out of my system at, "you have to be _ _ _ king kidding me". I needed that laugh. I'm a Tinsmith and when I had to learn Auto Cad and A Plasma cutter the older Journeymen rejected my interest is learning the modern way of Fabrication. Excellent video and process. Bless you for Sharing

Thanks so much. I'm not much of a woodworker but have a plane in the garage that I'd given up using as it was rusty and blunt. In an hour this afternoon I've turned it into an easy to use tool that shaves even "papers" without effort. Thanks!

Thank you, Rex. I have enjoyed a great many of your videos. I do have one observation to add. The dangers of wire wheels should not be minimized. There are several safety aspects and one is not putting your hand in a position that it could get grabbed. Just like any high speed rotating cutting tool, keep the fingers some distance. Wires can also come off and embed in your face, body, hand or arm. Eye and face protection is good for you. I know. I had a $20,000 surgery to remove a wire from my arm that had deeply embedded next to a nerve.

Just did a little tune up on my father’s Stanley 5 1/4 that hasn’t been touched in over 30 years. Thank you so much Rex

Some time ago I bought an old Darex plane - French-made Stanley. It was at a flea market, it didn't cost much. I will restore it using what I learned here. Thank you for the detailed video!

remember, do not use gloves if you think bare hands are dangerous. Gloves get caught and pull your fingers into the machine! Rather just feel a little uncomfortable sting when your skin touches the wheel and get caloused or small wounds at most. edit: wonderfully clear and concise video, Rex! Thanks.

I got an awesome find today. I got a Stanley #5, Stanley #57 low angle block plane, and a Keen Kutter smoother at the habit re-store. It took months of visiting at least weekly (and making several other tool purchases along the way) but I got the three of them for $14 total. As they are listed $6, $3, and $5. They need some work but all of the parts are there and they are still in decent working condition. If people are looking for planes to restore they can be had at a deal if you are willing to always be looking and have a few bucks stashed away for when you find a deal.

Good video Rex. This video kept coming up in my “recommenced” list so I gave it a watch. Good, thorough, yet concise info. Your channel is a treasure trove for any level woodworker on a budget. In fact, it’s good advise for woodworkers WITH money so with your advise, they’ll have more money for projects. Personally, I’ve spent many years using the “Ready! Fire! Aim! “ approach regarding tool shopping. I have a terrific shop full of stuff for my survivors to sort through when I’m gone. I can envision my Leigh Nelson planes all marked $10.00 ea. At the estate sale. Wish I’d met you 3 decades ago! 🤪

I Enjoy your videos! You are a natural teacher! With just enough specificity for followers to understand and brief enough to keep the audience interested. Well done!

I did learn something never knew they made sand paper that big haha

Lubrication! Truly, very important.

Watching that guy on his knees was HILARIOUS. Oh my goodness, he loves the struggle. Thanks Rex. Great video

I lucked out and found a 1932 Stanly #4 earlier this week and spent all weekend cleaning and restoring it. It's oiled and looking almost like new, I just need to sharpen the blade and lap the sole and I'll be working in no time! It's my first plane and your videos were the inspiration to look around second hand stores to find one, so thanks!

Thanks for another excellent video Rex. Top of the line Craftsman grinders are really quite good. I have 3 grinders. 1 Craftsman, 1 Dayton that looks the same as yours (regular Grainger's customer). And a very old hand crank grinder that has a very heavy flywheel. It is a workout to get it up to speed but has enough torque to provide plenty of grinding time. Once up to speed spinninging the crank every couple of minutes can maintain the wheel speed. The coolest part is that I found it in a junk pile for free. It just needed cleaning. Peace!

I'm a novice woodworker. Power tools mainly. I have a few planes my dad left me and they have been a mystery. I have watched 20 or so videos on sharpening and adjusting and using planes. Honestly, I feel like the others all taught me things, but this one sort of tied it all together and I think I can actually set up and sharpen my planes. Wish me luck!

This is a great video on practical plane restoration. It looked like fun, so I bought some old planes off eBay and tried fixing them up. Don't use a coarse wire wheel, a fine wheel is plenty aggressive on soft cast iron. Because of COVID, flea markets and the like really weren't an option, so I had to spend quite a bit more on some fixer upper planes. Instead of going right to the wire wheel, I bought some evaporust, and used a plastic shoe box as a tank to soak the parts. After about 24 hours, the rust is gone, even for very rusty and pitted planes.After the soak, I cleaned them up with the wire wheel, sharpened the blade, flattened the sole, and reassembled. Most of them work great. The only caveat is that for VERY rusty planes, the blade can get pitted on the back side of the iron. If this happens, you won't be able to get the back flat, and even if you get it mostly flat, pits will appear on the edge and cause problems. This isn't a big deal, as a new blade isn't prohibitively expensive. You can even get super nice PV-11 or A-2 steel replacements from Hock or Veritas.

I own a Central Machinery 8" grinder from Harbor Freight. I'm happy with it.

Love the suggestion on putting the knob in the Drill press. Pretty much a "lathe" for those of us who can't afford one.

Another informative, interesting, entertaining video by The Amazing Rex K. I now acknowledge the fact I need a grinder. Thanks!

Love your example for need for bench grinder. And response I've used myself. Needed a good laugh. That gave it to me. The information is great

Hi Rex just found your channel recently and have found it incredibly informative and enjoyable. As a cook and sous chef in a professional kitchen for the last ten years I've done my fair share of hand sharpening knives. Although I don't know it translates to the plane blade, one thing I picked up a few years ago was to have a wooden dowel next to my stones so that between each Stone change, swipe perpendicular across the dowel using only the weight of the knife. This removes the burr and allows you to sharpen the blade itself and not the burr. Thanks for your hard work on the content!

As always another great instructional video on your channel. Using a stainless steel wire wheel will help minimize rust in the future. Fine particles of stainless steel are left behind. While it isn’t like a spray arc transfer it does help. Also steel wire wheel on aluminum transfers enough steel to cause aluminum to look rusty if not protected.

I love this video. It covers the basics of general plane maintenance and cleaning. Tho i have a no power wood shed. I do have another building that does have electric. It allows me to get the best of both worlds.

Thanks for this excellent tutorial Mr. REX. I will save this for maintenance of my old planers. Have nice weekend, rgds, Robert

Tip I learned from a welder about working with wire wheels: Glue a small rare earth magnet to a 2-inch section of dowel, and keep the magnet end covered, then keep this in your first aid kit. If a wire ever *does* manage to get flung into your eye, it is a very fast and safe way of removing it, that way you're just sitting in the E.R. to get your eye checked, instead of needing to wait three hours to have that bit of wire removed.👍

I have watched this once a year for the last six years and it is my go-to master’s course in learning about my tool. You have done God’s work, or at the very least, my work for over half a decade. I’m now teaching my 9-year-old your tutorial. Thanks Rex!

I know this is a 3 year old video, but I'm just now getting a shop built and your videos are a great information source. I teach people how to work on motorcycles and outboard engines. Often, we're dealing with corroded screws, bolts and nuts. I've been offering a tip that works on these fasteners better than all other methods. Coarse Valve Lapping Compound. Honestly, there's no need to lap valves anymore. With the coatings they have, it's actually a bad idea in most cases. BUT ... a little on the tip of your screwdriver or allen wrench, a little in the socket or wrench and you'll never "cam out" of a screw slot again. (Maybe never is incorrect, but 99% of the time, it's apropos)

Funny stuff! Hey, there are some really awesome flap wheels by 3M that you can use on a drill press now. Add a variety of small wire brushes and you don't even need a grinder for refurbishing. Just a drill press and lapping station. Way safer, and no heat problems.

Looking up garage sales and estate sales is a great place to look for old planes and other hand tools but all the power tools you'll need are out there too. I got a Craftsman grinder that was not only in "new" conditions... Whoever had it before took super great care of it so it was in great condition AND it came with five wheels from course grit to a 3,000 diamond wheel and two brass and copper brush wheels for only fifty dollars. It saves me over a hundred bucks if I went with buying it all new.

Rust: The dark color and very smooth/fine texture of that rust is the kind that I wouldn't bother to remove. If it's not red/orangey or bulky/grainy, it's not a problem. Red rust is spongiform and flakey, and it sucks water into itself and propagates deeper rusting. The plum to chocolate color rust is one of the good rusts. Notice that the thing is covered in it, but there is no pitting. This is because this kind of rust is protective. Once it is in place, red rust can not take root. I would have cleaned up the adjustment screw and made sure the pivot lever moves. If you need to flatten the sole or whatnot, that's fine. The rest of that plum rust could use a fine buffing with chromium oxide on a cloth and some oil. That's it. It is hard and solid and it polishes great, and after any excess/loose rust is removed, it won't stain wood or anything else. This kind/color of rust takes many years to develop, naturally, in the right conditions. And when you find a plane that looks like, with this much saturation, it is possible it was well-maintained and regularly oiled and polished by an owner who understood there was no reason to remove this rust. In the old days, before stainless steels, chrome plating, parkerizing, epoxy coatings and the like, they (gunsmiths and machinists, in particular) used to put this kind of rust on parts, intentionally, thru many cycles of forcing surface rust with steam (and other solutions) and removing excess/loose rust with a card brush/file to ensure they saturated the entire surface. This was laborious work. Note that it is often referred to as a method of "bluing," perhaps called "card bluing," but the color it produced is exactly what your plane started with. Traditionally, it was called plum, but it is more of a milk chocolate brown with just a hint of eggplant when polished. I was sad when I saw the beginning of the video, because I knew your restoration would probably include shining up everything you could, when there was not necessarily anything wrong with the plane to begin with. If the plane were in good shape/form with the sole and all, it could have potentially worked very nicely for the rest of its life with that beautiful patina.

Super stuff, gonna get me Dads old tools out and restore!

This is very helpful if you want to review all the parts of a typical plane. And how to make it good again so thanks Rex your inspiring man.

Simply awesome.

Nice video! really enjoying your work. I like using the little wire wheel with my fake dremel knock-off tool for the little parts like screws and whatnot, it'll still bite you, but usually a much smaller bite.

You are a very good teacher! And like all good teachers, you are most knowledgeable. I appreciate you muting the power tool noises.

Rex, YEARS ago i bought a plane from harbor freight because it was on sale and I didn’t have a plane. I used it out of the box and IT sucked, but I figured I was just using it wrong. Both were correct. Fast forward to quarantine 2020: I have been watching your videos for a few months and I find this plane that I forgot I had. :) All the parts were there, but poor quality. The iron was ROUGH, but i got it flat. Your video was extremely helpful. THANKS!!

Great video as always .I really doubt that it matters if you flatten the sole under tension or not . I've seen vids on YT that show it doesn't , but I haven't tried it both ways . Always informative .

I have had a small high speed grinder for years before I ever got into flat work, and it has the coarse wheel on one side, and the wire wheel on the other. Just made sense. For truing up the top of the frog, I have seen 2 solutions. One person used a piece of melamine and cut a slot in it for the lateral adjustment lever and the nub that engages the plane iron. Another one, some thing about super tuning a Lie Nielson block plane (boy was he persnickety!), he used a pin punch and I used nail sets, to drive out the pins for the lateral adjustment lever and the yoke, and the nub. This made it a lot easier to sand that surface flat. One plane I restored had one pin bent so bad the yoke would barely pivot. I was able to straighten it back out. Thus far, they have not been difficult to put back in. II do round over the end I am driving through first. I haven't had to replace any of the pins, at least not yet. Not sure how to do that. I even found 2 planes where the advance/pull back knobs went the opposite way that the others do.... Having fun!

Ive really enjoyed your vids... keep up the good work

Most dudes shave a small 1 inch square on their arm, but this man shaved 1/3 of his whole arm in 3 seconds. Why don't my razors cut like that? Great video.

I have a bench grinder, but never bothered getting a wire wheel. I am cleaning up a no.5 Dunlap knockoff right now with a Dremel tool and abrasive wheels that have the same texture as the green scouring pads used for pots and pans. Works great! But it goes through wheels in a matter of minutes each.

Yet another excellent video. Thank you

Long live the bench grinder! I could not agree with you more on removing the fine wheel on the grinder, it's just useless. Once again, another great video from my favourite KZfaq channel.

Had me rolling when you showed JW down on the floor. Subbed.

That made me laugh. "Dude, you have got to be (Bleep) kidding me". The expression on your face really made it complete too. I'm all about the KISS method too. "Keep it simple stupid". ;-)

Also, one of the Very few to tighten a drill chuck the proper way. Use all three !

when I sand things on a drill press I use cheap dollar store foam as a sponge behind the sandpaper to soften the sanding. or else a firm sanding sponge covered in the required sandpaper

I dropped my grandfather's Stanley and snapped it in half. He had passed so sentiment was an issue I used a TIG and I believe some Nirod to repair it. That was over ten years ago. I have been able to get perfect service out it since. I consider myself fortunate.

“Found it in the dumpster, so the price was right” love it😂 great video! Ive been really wanting to restore some planes, but have been intimidated until this video. Time to head to an antique store and pick one up!

I started watching this video last week, and I didn't own a grinder, and had no plans on buying one. I came back to finish watching this video today and somehow I now own a grinder. I think this video may be responsible for the purchase. Not that I'm complaining. Now, I'm off to sharpen everything that I own that has a blade on it, and some things that don't yet have a blade, like maybe some forks, and spoons..

Hi Rex, not paying attention towards the end of this video and heard you say you were looking for an Old craftsman. Well hey, that's me I'm 72 and have been working wood for a lifetime. But no it's one of those newfangled bench grinders that you're talking about.

Rex and all, I purchased a Harbor Freight bench grinder at least 25 years ago. I’m on my second wire wheel and second stone but still runs great. The tool rest sucks and I should probably build something better just haven’t yet. Thanks for a great video.

First and foremost let me start by saying, Rex your dope! With that out of the way I use the fine wheel on my grinder a lot, I hate having a grinding wheel and then a wire wheel on the other side. It'll always be off balance. Go to harbor freight and pick up two grinders for the price of one at a big box store. I keep a fine and of course wire wheel on one, and a fine and a course stone on the other. I guess it really depends on how much woodworking and metalworking you do. I probably have as many grinders as Rex has planes. Love your videos brother

I laughed so suddenly and so hard, I spit on my screen... Rex, you are my hero.

Great video Gangster Rex! I really loved your comment"Dude, you got to he f***ing kidding me!" as it truly is deserved in that situation however, it is also proof that you are gangsta!

Over a long time I've watched this video several times. I bought a HF grinder cheap even though I already had another bigger grinder. I wanted more wheels available without having to change them. Glad I didn't pay full price. Compared to my late '70s Jet grinder made in Taiwan it is lackluster at best. It's only a 6" grinder and it takes a long time to spin up compared to the 8" Jet. When it's turned off, the HF stops pretty quickly. The Jet spins for a long time after it's turned off. The HF seems to lack power as well, with the 1/2 hp rating seemingly optimistic. Still the HF is infinitely better than having no bench grinder. As you said, it's plenty good for the light duty work most will do in a home shop including sharpening drill bits, deburring cut metal and the like. I did note that after using the HF for a while it seemed to break in, spinning up faster and developing more power.

awesome video Rex. I'm going to tackle my grandpa's old Stanley No. 4 pretty soon.

Just restored an old Bailey no. 5 with the help of a Harbor Freight grinder. Worked great. 4 more planes to go!

i have a benchgrinder with a handcrank ..... best of both worlds

I used my wire wheel to clean up my parts of a Stanly #7 I am restoring. At first I wasn't going to use the wire wheel on the plane body and chose to use fine sandpaper. I thought the wire wheel would scratch up the body too much. I would use a brass wire wheel instead but don't have one currently. I ended up using my wire wheel after seeing you use one. It did a fine job...again brass would be better. I did not remove a disk from my bench grinder. I built a purpose built wire wheel on an arbor. I geared down with pulleys running the wheel much slower and giving the smallish motor more torque. The motor may even be 1725 rpm so my wheel may be running around 1000...guessing. I find this slower speed better for restorations and rarely have wires shooting out. I am never in front of it anyway. My setup may be more dangerous as the entire wheel is exposed. This allows me to work on all sorts of things though. When I rebuild mine I aim to have two wheels attached, brass and steel, sticking out even further, and I may add two stepped pulleys so I can vary the speed. I consider a wire wheel an essential tool. I have wire brushes for variable speed angle grinder too.

A sand blaster works really well for sanding odd shaped wooden parts I use a cheap sand blasting nozzle it comes with a feed hose the blasting nozzle and a fitting that can be inserted into the bottom of a five gallon plastic bucket with a lid to keep your sand dry. You can get sand in various grits just like sand paper I sift mine through a fine screen it make quick work of sanding parts that hare round or oddly shaped.

Just about the only power tool I own thanks to the previous homeowner leaving one behind. This will actually give me an idea on how to use it.

Nice hat tip to James...and, yeah, he does awesome video. (Do you think he likes white oak, though? never can tell with some guys...) :-) This was a very good video, my friend. thank you for helping make woodworking accessible to more people.

Your expression after the “twenty minutes” sanding dude comment made me burst out laughing... thanks, from one northeast Ohioan to another.

I've restored two planes with a $15 ebay diamond stone, a strop, screwdriver, a metalwork vise, and a brass cup brush in a hand drill. takes longer, but goes to show you can get great results with minimal tools. not to mention the drill is a luxury since derusting can be done with a regular brass brush

I've got two bench grinders that I picked up at a garage sale for $10 for both. If you go to a garage or barn sale make a package deal and you can get better prices on a lot of tools. My wife got a full carpenters toolbox with antique saws that are perfectly sharp and the teeth set as well as planes and a bit brace with all the bits for stupid cheap. Just remember that if you want lower cost you'll likely have to put in more work. We had to drive around and look really hard to find the deals we found but they are out there. Our biggest deal was a full commercial grade 6in jointer that we lumped in with other tools and paid 1/10th what they would go for new for everything we got. We have a full woodshop with a lathe and chisels, band saw, drill press, mitre and table saw, a huge assortment of clamps and wood saws, a jointer, and even bench grinders, a welder, and 21 boards of 1x7x12ft cherry lumber for well under $2000 total. Put in the work and you'll make a hobby out of finding and restoring the tools as you will using them

Excellent video, thank you!

Was looking at grinders. An 8" WEN from HD with LEDs and tool rests for $60 looks like the best deal. the thing I would buy from harbor freight would be the variable speed controller so I could slow the bench grinder down. They are under $20.

7:35 Rex: Take all the small parts and put them in a little container so I can't lose them. Me: Take all the small parts and put them in a little container so I can knock it over and lose all of them in one go.

Great video! Thank you! Subbed.

I own a harbor freight 8in grinder. They are excellent with great reviews. Stupid cheap, all the power, the bearings are great, and the 20% coupon applies.

As much as I love these videos, I really wish that they were in 720p I mean come on rex you made this video in 2017!

I flattened the sole of a new number 5 on my edge sander with an old belt. That made it functional. It shortened the flattening process by about 6 hours. I prefer wooden planes. Flattening them is a lot quicker, and the sole can be squared to the sides.

At 39:10 when you said you'd look for an old craftsman at a garage sale for $20, I pictured you hauling off a sleepy, bearded old senior citizen, to be put to work in your basement 😀

OMG, loved that first comment on the guy using Sandpaper

Great! Thank you.

"Also, I'm just gangster" - Rex Krueger

Very informative I learned a lot thanks so much