Building a Router Plane
When I began woodworking, I always thought of myself as a power tool guy. Why would I do something by hand that a machine could do for me quicker and easier? I couldn't justify the extra time and effort that might go into planing something by hand or routing something by hand. Then I got into building guitars. I realized there are times when slow and steady is better than blow everything away real quick and hope for the best.
A router plane is a great example of a tool that is handy to have around for just such situations. However, a quick perusal of used/vintage tool stores illuminates a difficult issue that faces the modern woodworker interested in hand tools. Should I spend $200 on a 50 year old router plane that probably should cost me $50?
Luckily the legendary Paul Sellers has some thoughts here. Instead of buying, why not build?
The also legendary and excellent James Wright of Wood By Wright demonstrates building the Paul Sellers router plane kit: