Hand Abrasive Planer

I reach for my hand abrasive planer whenever I need to flush up hardwood edging to a veneered surface, sand a table top, or flatten figured wood. It never leaves tear-out like my iron planes and it never creates dips and divots like my power sanders can. I also use it to joint the edges of veneer to create an invisible seam.

It’s easy to make. Start with a block of well-seasoned maple or other hardwood. Make sure the block is flat and the edges are square. To make the handle, I traced the finger grip from my hand saw and then used my plane handle as a guide to shape the handle back where it connects to the maple block and the knob grip in front. Sized my sander for 4×24 belts. I just rip a belt in half at the seam and use a couple of pine blocks to fasten the belt to either end of the block.

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