Dano's Primers
I frequent a number of woodworking forums, but my favorite is Woodworking Discussion Forum. There are a number of very knowledgeable woodworkers there who thoroughly enjoy the camraderie and exchange of ideas and tricks of the trade. Usually the discussions are pretty much reserved to answering questions, but folks also share photos of their projects and reviews of new tools and gadgets. Unlike many other forums whose members look down on woodworkers using other than the most expensive, top of the line equipment, folks of all levels of equipment are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Of course there are the occassional word fests and disagreements over the virtues of one model of tool over another, but these are generally humorous in nature.
There is a beginner's forum which is open to anyone who comes by to visit and wants to ask a question. There are several other forums which can be read by anyone, but posting is restricted to members. Becoming a member is free and takes only a few minutes and minimal information (a valid e-mail address). Other forums include one for advice on buying tools, for ideas on execution of particular projects, and advice on how to go about doing home improvements. There is also a forum on Turning and another new addition, Carving. The "Around the Shop" forum is general woodworking from stock preparation to finishing. There are folks from all walks of life who share a love of woodworking, but are also willing to give advice about all sorts of subjects on the "Just Talking" forum. There are folks with years of experience in other trades who give freely of their knowledge. Everything from electrical wiring to computer problems recieve advice from folks who do that sort of stuff on their day job.
Anyway, to the subject of this discussion, one of the guys who has frequented the forums is Danford C. Jennings. Dano, as he is known on the forum, is a pro of some 40 years in different woodworking trades. For many of those years he built custom furniture. Dano spent many years apprenticing in various aspects of woodworking. Formal apprenticeships are mostly a thing of the past in the U.S., so his experiences are very important to the continuation of custom woodwork. Many aspects of traditional woodworking are being lost to machinery used in factories. Everything from trim moldings to doors, windows and stairways are being manufactured now in factories. Furniture is the same way. Lost are the skills of the handsaw and plane. Hand made joinery has been replaced by machines. Dano worries that these things will be lost forever. So, over the last couple of years he has written and posted several "Primers" on basic and not-so-basic traditional techniques. These have been semi-preserved on the forum, but they become more and more difficult to retrieve as they are archived and at some point they may become totally lost as the database of archives gets larger and larger. I asked for Dano's permission to reproduce them and gained his consent and I present them here in this section.
So, with further adieu, I present to you, Dano's Primers:
Plane Basics A primer on hand planes.
Back on the Block About Block Planes. In this one I have added links to Patrick Spielman's Stanley Blood and Gore page, to the particular plane mentioned.
Cutting to the Chase A primer on Handsaws.
True Grit Everything you wanted to know about sanding.