Description
In the making molding planes with Matt Bickford workshop you’re guided through the process of making a pair of #8 hollow and round planes with side escapements.
Making Molding Planes
The class focuses on making a pair of hollows and rounds, but much of the tooling and processes are directly relatable to making any wooden plane or tuning any antique. Students start with beech billets and learn the many steps involved in creating these very versatile tools.
Some of the many skills addressed in this class:
- Making an accurate mortise with floats
- Fitting a wedge
- Mating an iron to the bed of your plane
- Profiling a sole
- Heat treating
- Addressing the iron’s various edges.
Course Dates:
April 20 – 24, 2020Due to Covid-19 this class is postponed- October 26 – 30, 2020 (New Dates)
Previous Dates:
- June 17 – 21, 2019
A materials fee is required for this class.
The shop opens at 8:30 am. Class begins at 9:00 am. A delicious lunch, snacks, and soft drinks are provided. Class ends at 4:30 pm – the shop remains open until 5:30 pm.
The class is limited to a maximum of 6 students.
Call or email to be placed on the waiting list if this class sells out.
Buy both this class and Matt’s Using Molding Planes class and receive a discount on both classes*!
About the Instructor:
Matt Bickford is a planemaker in Haddam Neck, CT specializing in moulding planes. Along with contributions to various woodworking magazines, Matt is the author of Mouldings in Practice and is featured in a Lie-Nielsen produced DVD with the same name. Matt has taught the skill of using wooden moulding planes across the country. This is the first time he will be offering this class.
Tool List
- Smooth plane
- One bench chisel between 5/8”-1”
- Sharpening stones: Coarse, Medium, Fine (i.e. 200, 1000, 10,000 -grit or medium india, hard Arkansas, strop)
- Adjustable square (4 or 6” double square is ideal)
- Plane adjusting hammer, not ball peen (1 side wood, one side brass)
Additional Tool Suggestions
- 3/16” Push Edge Float
- Push Cheek Float
- Pull Cheek Float
- Push Side Float
- 2-3 6” xx slim files
*Limited time offer – ends 9/30/20
rom1ulus (verified owner) –
Matt makes beautiful planes. In this class he, of course, showed step-by-step how to make hollows and rounds. More importantly he covered in detail the key steps he takes to make his planes function as well as they do. His trick for matching the irons to the soles alone was worth taking the class for. Really excellent teacher.
steven pearce (verified owner) –
An excellent class. Matt has taught the molding plane class many times before and so it’s fairly easy to complete a pair of #8 planes in five days. Even if you don’t want to make planes, he shows how to tune an existing plane. Lots of tips on “why won’t my plane work?”. The weekend class on using the planes completes everything. Much more information than in Williams’ or Herrli’s DVD’s. You really won’t need any tools for the class beyond a camera and notebook. Well worth the time and money if you’re interested in H&R planes.
The workshop is small but efficient and Chuck Bender makes the course fun. The food for lunch is excellent.
The location is in rural PA but easy to get to – just off the Northeast Extension. The Country Inn and Suites was being renovated but was fine for a week’s stay. About 20 minutes from the workshop. P.J. Whelihan’s Pub just across from the hotel has good food; not expensive and easy to get to.