Resources and Suppliers

Last reviewed on 2026-04-24

Good planes, sharp irons, and solid technique are easier to come by when you know where to look. This page collects the books, tool suppliers, and parts sources that serve hand-plane woodworkers well. The list is not exhaustive and is not sponsored — these are the references and sources most commonly recommended within the craft.

Books Worth Owning

• The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack — the most comprehensive single volume on hand planes in English. Covers history, types, setup, technique, and use. A good first and sometimes only book on the subject.
• Handplane Essentials by Christopher Schwarz — a collection of shorter articles that covers the modern understanding of the chipbreaker, sharpening approaches, and the practical use of planes in furniture making.
• The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing — a classic on hand-tool technique more broadly, with significant coverage of planing in context.
• Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit, and Use by Toshio Odate — the reference in English on kanna and related tools.

Tool Suppliers

Premium New Planes

• Lie-Nielsen Toolworks (lie-nielsen.com) — flagship US maker of premium bench and specialty planes based on Bailey and Bedrock patterns.
• Veritas / Lee Valley (leevalley.com) — Canadian maker with a distinctive design language; PM-V11 steel, precise adjusters, excellent jointers and bench planes.
• Clifton — UK maker producing Bailey-pattern bench planes.
• HNT Gordon — Australian maker of wooden-bodied bench planes.

Vintage Planes

• eBay — by far the largest selection. Filter by seller feedback and read photos carefully.
• Hyperkitten Tool Company — curated vintage, inspected before sale, higher prices than raw marketplace but less risk.
• Patrick Leach's monthly tool list — long-running email list of vintage tools for sale, well known within the hand-tool community.
• Local flea markets, estate sales, and antique malls — unreliable availability, lowest prices, best chance of finding something unusual.

Parts and Replacement Irons

• Hock Tools — high-quality replacement irons and chipbreakers in standard Bailey sizes.
• Lee Valley — general parts, replacement irons, and chipbreakers.
• Lie-Nielsen — replacement totes, knobs, and some parts.
• St. James Bay Tool Co. — replacement wooden parts and specialty items.

Sharpening Supplies

• DMT — industrial-diamond plates, widely used for their flatness and durability.
• Shapton — high-quality Japanese ceramic waterstones.
• King — traditional Japanese waterstones in the budget category.
• Naniwa — another major Japanese waterstone maker, including the Chosera and Superstone lines.
• Rockler, Woodcraft, and Lee Valley — sandpaper in the grits needed for "scary sharp" sharpening on glass.

Online Communities

wplane does not host forums, but several long-established communities discuss hand planes actively:

• Sawmill Creek Woodworking Forum — particularly the Hand Tools section.
• Reddit r/handtools — active, knowledgeable, and beginner-friendly.
• WoodNet Forums — hand tool subforum is a good resource for plane identification and restoration questions.
• UKWorkshop and Lumberjocks — broader woodworking communities with active hand-tool threads.