Make Your Own Plane-Adjustment Hammer

Use a black-iron T-fitting and a square-head brass plug to fashion a hammer for adjusting plane irons.

#293-Tools & Shops 2022 Issue

If you use wooden planes you’ll need a hammer to adjust them. Here’s how to make one with a hardwood end for setting the wedge and a brass end for adjusting the iron—all for under $20. You’ll need a black-iron T-fitting for 1/2-in. pipe, and a 1/2-in. square-head brass plug. To make the wooden end of the head I turned a square piece of hardwood down to 1-1/4 in. dia. to match the outside diameter of the T-fitting. Then I turned 3⁄4 in. of that end down to 13/16 in., which let me screw it into the end of the T—where it threaded itself as it went in—and then sawed it off to length. I did the same thing to create the hardwood handle, shaping the handle a little to suit my hand.

—DAVE SUTTER, Greenwood, S.C.

Illustrations by Dan Thornton
From Fine Woodworking issue #293

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Starrett 4" Double Square

Head is easy to remove, replace, and lock down; narrowest blade, at 5⁄8 in., made it easier to fit into tight places; hard to read under bright lights.

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