It’s been about 18 months since I became truly troubled at sending people out to spend hundreds of pounds on a single tool. Just how could I get the price down after sending people to eBay to buy up all the stock available? The prices rocked up ten to fifteen times within a year simply because until that time this important tool had been altogether abandoned. When I introduced it for perfecting tenon cheeks in addition to mere dadoes it transformed hand-tool woodworking for so many who seemed always to misalign their saws on tenons. Today, everyone assumes that the router plane is a normal method but until a few short years ago no one ever used a router plane for this task. Because of the increased prices of secondhand and then the lack of availability of new versions, I pulled together my own version and made my prototypes followed by the production model — I will never go back to any of the all-metal versions again. I said it back then and I will say it again, this is the best router plane in the world. What’s even better is that any and all woodworkers can make their own in an afternoon’s work.
When we first released the router plane kit we felt we couldn’t promote it because we were still in the early days of sourcing the stock. We now have good stocks ready for shipping out which you can purchase here. In my videos, I show you how to make the blade and the retainer bar but with the kit, there is no metalwork needed.
In my view, every woodworker should own one of these simply because they can make the bulk of the plane from their own wood and any combination of woods they choose. I have used mainly beech because I have it in stock but oak, ash, cherry and many more will make a wonderful lifetime router plane for everyone to add to their assembly of tools to enjoy their woodworking with. For me, the router plane is a non-negotiable tool. I wish I had progressed this when I wrote my book Essential Woodworking Hand Tools but I am planning a downloadable addendum to slip into the book soon.
You can indeed place your order here and look forward to some updates or upgrades for you to add a depth stop and then alternative versions too right here on my blog. I will keep you posted!
