This weekend course teaches you to sharpen, tune, and use hand planes. Working with truly sharp and well-tuned planes marks a turning point in the development of a woodworker to the next level of proficiency. Not to mention it’s also one of the great joys of working with wood. This course is part of our Weekend Essentials series but may be taken separately. This course will remove the mystery from bench planes and teach core competency in their use. You will learn how to sharpen, tune, and effectively use bench planes and leave the course with a newfound confidence in your abilities. Plus you'll have had a great workout! This weekend course is designed to build core competency in the use of bench planes. Students will leave the course confident in their ability to sharpen, tune, and use hand planes. Day 1 will focus on sharpening, plane anatomy, and basic uses. Day 2 will take those techniques to the next level and teach you how to dimension lumber using bench planes. The following techniques will be demonstrated and practiced: Plane Theory Anatomy of a plane Plane physics and geometry Basic planing techniques Sharpening Grinding and initial honing Sharpening with waterstones Freehand sharpening Comparison and use of various commercial jigs Tuning What makes a good plane How to clean up and restore old planes Plane types and their uses Fore planes Jack planes Block planes Smoothing planes Specialty planes Dimensioning lumber with hand planes Learn to thickness stock Flatten a board Joint edges Square end grain Smooth to a mirror surface Required Tools: Personal protective equipment Pencil Paper or notepad Close-toed shoes At least one bench plane (#1 through #8). For example, a block plane, smoothing plane, or jack plane Prerequisites: Bring enthusiasm and an open mind. This class is designed for complete novices up through experienced woodworkers who would like to tune up their skills.