How To Plane Thin Stock and Make a Bookmark

[@johnsmith2076]

Old school pattern-maker in the 80s showed me his way of planing thin veneers even thinner. Wax your plane sole, sprinkle some chalk dust on a very flat and smooth board and lay the veneer on it. The friction between dust and board wins over the slippy waxed (or soaped) plane sole, and holds it steady against an ultra-sharp plane blade.

[@briholt100]

How much down pressure must you use? That's a fascinating technique but it makes me wonder why don't we use this technique versus dogs or stops? Probably go through a lot of chalk.

[@ninjadeathoverlord3254]

Two things I’d do. One, use more tape than you need so when you pull it off, you can just grab the tape instead of trying to get under the wood with a chisel/card scraper. And two, a hair dryer or heat gun will soften the tape glue, making it easy to get off.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I've used more tape a few times. But often the dust builds up on the tape and can actually throw the plane off making it hard to get an even thickness. And the problem with using a heat gun is that the glues and stays on the wood and is an absolute pain to try and clean off.

[@ninjadeathoverlord3254]

Oh, I see. The glue sticking makes sense, now that you mention it. But I wouldn’t have foreseen the dust build up issue.

[@broukoid]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo you can put thin paper (or maybe a blue tape?) on the exposed doublesided tape

[@dwightl5863]

Alcohol releases the tape too.

[@joetreloar215]

I noticed that you are using a metal bench dog. I found that cutting a piece of 3/4” dowel, flattening one side of the top, and using it as a bench dog eliminates the “Dinged my plane iron on the bench dog” blues.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I've never had any problem hitting the end of the aluminum bench dog. I've used my plans to work on aluminum a few times.

[@DonsWoodies]

A suggestion for you to try instead of the tape. I've been using this for years. Get one of the 12" by 18" red silicone mats from Woodcraft. Make sure it's clean, and thin pieces do not slide on it at all. I've planed down veneer to less than 1/64" thick this way and no sticky tape to remove afterwards. You do have to keep the mat clean because any dust defeats the 'grabbness" of the silicone.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I might have to try that.

[@NCharlesworth86]

Yoooo

[@joeleonetti8976]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo Please try it and let us know.

[@pazu8728]

Thanks for this tip.

[@estetubo]

Excellent job. Very nice idea. Admirable skills 👌

[@taitano12]

This is a great way to hone one's planing skills.

[@dannyhale7645]

Cool project. I bought a cedar bookmark years ago and I've often pondered how to make one. That curly white oak is really beautiful.

[@waterengineers]

I like the ice cream version!

[@merlinsatrom6678]

A “Holdyerplacer! Awesome!

[@GizmoDuck_1860]

I was honestly thinking about this yesterday, "Can I make a wooden bookmark? I bet James'll have a video on that, he's a cool chap." I also laughed way too hard when the plane was used as a bookmark 😂

[@Dragon_With_Matches]

Great idea! I have some weird and thin scraps that look to good to burn. This will definitely work for them!

[@glencrandall7051]

So you found out that someone invented the book mark ahead of you. I guess you'll just have to learn to live with it.Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂

[@robertgarrett9204]

I'm liking the solid colors. I'm going to give it a try this afternoon, thanks for the inspiration.

[@Hansenomics]

This video answers the question “how do I plane really thin stock by hand”. Now we know.

[@att20831]

I love this video, really timely as I've just sharpened my plane and was amazed at how much better it planned to for a box. Very satisfying. Will forgive this a try... Thanks Andy (from England)

[@kreech68]

It's interesting to see which planes are used along the way. I suspect that some of them are being used "just because". (low angle, custom LV, older Stanley, etc...)

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

they each have different things they do well and don't do well.

[@Cubic5]

I would love one for a kindle.

[@frenchcreekvalley]

Just a thought about the tape---- Make the tape an inch or two longer than the work. That way you can work up the edge of the tape without having to worry about hurting the work piece.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

The problem with that is it gets loaded up with dust and shavings that get in the way.

[@frenchcreekvalley]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo ---Good comment--- Okay, just leave the release tape on the "UP" side. That's what I'll do the next time the issue arises on the power planer.

[@ianpearse4480]

I love the ice cream version. Although I prefer nutty! Well that is my wife says. Yes they did invent it just before the drill hammer and the point sharpy stabby thing, you know the point compass! It lives in the end of my finger, well it did yesterday. LOL.

[@DHSvol]

I’ve been making bookmarks for a few years but haven’t gone any thinner than about 3/32” for fear of breakage - great tutorial! I like a “shark fin” shape on both ends of mine.

[@standswithfish]

Thanks James! I'm going to go make one for my audio e-book.

[@sharikburgess1734]

You can also use the hnt gordon 1mm bench dogs, I've used them heaps for planing veneers

[@aarondaniels629]

The book prop is a dad joke in itself hahaha great work

[@margaretkrantz1469]

Thanks for this!

[@TWC6724]

Cool project James 👍

[@WoodenBoatBen]

Ooooh, good Christmas gift idea!

[@JeanMinutile]

Good job, now I won't be able to throw away any scraps even the thinnest of them !!! 😂

[@nickguitar737]

That's a great idea and brilliant video. I might do some this year!! Thanks

[@johncotton866]

Thought you were going to glue up a lot of thin pieces of wood and then plane off thin sheets to use as mark books. Enjoyed seeing a different way to make bookmarks. Keep up the good work.

[@LZP123]

You stole my idea hahaha! I made bookmarks but took the opposite approach. I made some thick-ish plane shavings (0.2 mm maybe and don't dare ask what that is in imperial or i shall hit you with my yardstick yes we still call it that NEVERMIND) and glued them onto a sturdy piece of paper from both sides (regular white glue). I speculate that it makes the bookmark sturdier along the grain? I haven't tried your method though so I can't say. But I feel its less work because you only need two good shavings from a block. Anyways, yours turned out beautifull! Great idea with the triple colors, something of a damascus pattern bookmark haha. And great tip with the double sided tape of course!

[@stufarnham]

Curly white oak for the win!

[@thegingerdrumtech4253]

Great video, i always learn something on your videos

[@MCsCreations]

Really beautiful work, James! Amazing bookmarks! 😃 But, still... A pyrography machine would help a lot! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@RonHoglund]

I like the curly oak.

[@andreipopescu983]

You just gave me a great idea. Thanks

[@alanfarnworth2802]

those look great

[@paulgush]

Nice tip! I'm going to make some wedge shaped spacers to mount brass foot rail brackets, and this is just the tip I need to plane some material down to nothing on one side. Can anyone think of why such a bracket (combination bracket with a foot on the floor and an arm to the wall) wouldn't have the feet and hands at 90 degrees to each other? Without a spacer at the wall, the toe is up 1/8" when the heel is flat...

[@myrawright282]

You are just so very funny!!! ❤️ Love you, Bud!!

[@neoanderson5027]

Great

[@RichardBuckman]

This is the funniest start ever =)

[@Ramplcro]

Instead of double sided tape you can use masking tape (one on bench, other on piece) and superglue (in between).

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That is a fun trick. I found it doesn't hold quite as well I've had a break free a couple times. But for most things that works very well.

[@mattf9096]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo The best result is the wider tan tape for stickiness and surface area. Most people have the blue tape by default but it just doesn't grab as well for this use case. Also, its possible that the glossy finish on your bench doesn't allow the tape to hold as well so try clamping in an unfinished piece of wood and taping to that instead.

[@Vincent-S]

I wonder if the flat planes the Japanese use for Kumiko can work too. They have a special little spring loaded presser in front of the mouth to prevent flexing of the pieces. Though the tape would still be needed I bet because good luck making a planing stop less than 1/32 lol

[@kreech68]

funny - "hold your placer" - lol - thanks

[@CooperViolins]

An easier way to do it is use a piece of wood longer than you need and clamp one end down instead of using tape. That's the way I plane violin ribs 1mm thickness. For figured wood like that oak use a toothed plane blade and then a scraper to remove the plane marks.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

If your wood is that long to begin with your first great.

[@CooperViolins]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo yeah violin rib blanks are a bit longer than what you show there in the video.

[@myrawright282]

Do I see stocking stuffers? ❤️

[@dazlin6447]

Outstanding. 😀

[@MrMNRichardWright]

The white oak, of course, is the finest in the land

[@Hellcommander245]

I still prefer the child's hand approach to book marking.

[@haqvor]

But is it the child marking the place in the book or the book marking the place of the child?

[@wisewoodworking2739]

I prefer the c clamp

[@andyhastings5950]

A careful use of a heat gun to just warm the surface to about 120°F will do the trick in softening the adhesive. Go at it in 2 min duration heating cycles, two heat and two soak cycles. Test before reheat.

[@pettere8429]

The old school variant would be to hide-glue the piece down?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That is one of the options. The most the time you would make it bigger than you would want and glue down one end then just cut off the end that is glued down

[@navret1707]

I really like white oak. Failing that, red oak works. ✌️

[@dpmeyer4867]

Nice

[@joshl90]

Would a heat gun help to remove the taped piece?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Maybe, but it would make it a lot more messy.

[@lincolndickerson1293]

… Woooooowww!!!! 😮

[@joeleonetti8976]

Thanks for sharing. Did you try the blue painter's tape with CA glue approach as well? Just curious if that would work better or not. Speaking of BLO, there is a great article in the recent issue 13 talking about linseed oil and how there are much different grades based on the source of the flax plants. Well worth reading. Same article talks about how turpentine can be vastly different. It may change your linseed oil approach. I'm looking closely at it. The oak one was my favorite one that you made. Speaking of oak. CS in the LAP 2022 gift guides had an inexpensive pockeknife made from Portugal. I got the one that has an oak handle. The oak has a lot of swirl in the handle. Can't wait till I get a chance to apply some Tried and True oil to it. Lastly, are you planning to go to the PAST tool collector show in Feb/March? It is near Monterey, CA which is a lovely area. If you want to attach a family vacation onto it, I'd suggest staying, after the show is over at the nearby place called Asilomar. It is basically Camp Curry from Yosemite (but nicer) that meets the ocean. Can also visit the Aquarium in Montery, do the little costal drive they charge for, and go down to Carmel CA.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

A lot of people like the blue tape method. I have found it does not hold as well as I would like. I was in LA yesterday. I don't think I will be able to make a PAST meet any time soon. But maybe.

[@peteannells4218]

Can you get a " U " shaped cut near the top (Archimedes drill and fretsaw ?) to make the clip that holds the page ?

[@grahammansfield2289]

Thanks for the video, which is as informative and entertaining as ever. Does the BLO leach into the page it's marking?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Thanks. Once the BLO cures it is fine. Usually 24 hours.

[@elguitarolerno]

Better than tape - cocktail sticks. Method) leave stock over length. Drill cocktail stick sized hole through excess wood and backer board (or bench if u ain't fussy) Hit cocktail stick through piece into backer. Plane till thickness reached Drill out cocktail sticks. Easy

[@ericcodner4302]

Could you post a link to the double stick tape you use, please? I thought it was here when the video was first posted but I don’t see it anywhere now. Thanks.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

It is just the cheap carpet tape from the big box store. Don't get the good stuff that sticks too well or has fiberglass in it

[@sween187]

You also could use dental floss to remove it from the table,

[@tomas5376]

Now, maybe you could Woodburn them!

[@kayura77]

❤️

[@ryanstieglitz8077]

Comment down below!

[@davidshaper5146]

What is this "book" you speak of?

[@TwinPhoenix666]

That zebra would really looks like zericote

[@DeDraconis]

Random question. When you have grain that goes in all directions through all of the wood, like it seemed that curly oak was, does that mean you don't have to worry as much about wood movement with it?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Yes and no. Movement is unpredictable but less.

[@ramonching7772]

If it's a bookmark. Time to buy from veneer maker.

[@What_Other_Hobbies]

I can’t believe you didn’t make blue tape bookmarks.

[@djl9731]

What is the finish you used? Thanks!

[@djl9731]

Nvm. Just heard the blo part.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Homemade boiled Lindsay oil

[@PJRayment]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo How did Lindsay feel about being boiled?

[@tanasha67]

Why not make a little cut out? Could be a letter or a little heart

[@chagildoi]

Comment down below

[@mnight207]

Bill Burr shows us how to plane thin stock and make a bookmark

[@nmssis]

Accidental Thinking: what if the double stick tape was longer (about 3 inches extra) than the piece you are mounting...then you can uplift the tape and will lessen the chance of breaking the piece...

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

The problem is it loads up with dust and can lift the plane.

[@nmssis]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo that's expected but it gives you a tab to pull on...just like them 3M wall mounts. Just a thought

[@douglasanderson7260]

I've built one of these things before, tried it on my kindle and it did not work. I personally just dog ear the page like a heathen.

[@haqvor]

The real question is, how do I mark a very small piece with a marking gauge without running it over my thumb?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

You can do half then the other half.

[@aarondaniels629]

I bet dental floss would help get the wood off the tape

[@ricos1497]

And make it smell minty fresh each time you open your book.

[@anpr5309]

Neapolitan.

[@JoshVDW1234]

Comment 😂

[@Keithmwalton]

Your dark zebra wood looks like wenge

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

It does but it is died.

[@ramonching7772]

And I think it's time to forget about using wood. Paperboard would be better than wood. For this application.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

But it wouldn't look as cool.

[@thijspluis9998]

The one wood is not zebra wood it is wengé

[@dwightl5863]

I agree with you.

[@dave_ecclectic]

HELLO. It's called *Veneer* ! I used a scrap piece for this very thing. I used another to cover the touch pad on my laptop since I couldn't disable it.

[@MartinPaulsen87]

Thank you for sharing.