How to use a Wooden Jointer Plane {Part 2: Flatten a Panel}

In the above video (part 2) you’ll see how to flatten a panel with a traditional jointer plane. Click here for part 1 (intro and jointing an edge).

Squaring up a board is one of the most fundamental skills in traditional woodworking. It involves (a) squaring the edges, (b) flattening the panels (faces), and (c) squaring the ends. Parts (a) and (b) should be finished with a long flat plane, like a jointer plane.

In my workshop I get a much greater satisfaction jointing board’s edges and flattening the panels using a wooden jointer plane.

Last year I took a wooden handplane making class from Bill Anderson at Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s School” in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

In the amazing three day class we built an 18th Century style wooden jointer plane, which was copied from one of Roy’s favorite jointer planes.  Pictured left to right: Stephen Slocum, Joshua Farnsworth, Aaron Henderson, and Bill Anderson. Look at those shavings!

I loved the class so much, and I love my jointer plane so much that I partnered with Bill and Popular Woodworking Magazine to film the DVD: “Building a Traditional 18th Century Jointer Plane with Bill Anderson”. It’s filmed on-location in Roy Underhill’s school. Thanks Roy! I wanted to film it in a way that almost anyone could learn how to make wooden handplanes. If you’re a regular follower, you would have seen the DVD release in last week’s post. If not, here’s the link to the DVD page.

I found Bill’s tutorial on using the jointer plane so helpful that I wanted to share it for FREE here at WoodAndShop. I’ve split the video tutorials into two parts:

• Part 1: How to use a wooden jointer plane to joint a board’s edge (click here)

• Part 2: How to use a wooden jointer plane to flatten a  panel (see the video above)

Let me know your thoughts in the comment box below!

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