Greetings!

If you read our April newsletter, you might recall that we began a bathroom remodel. Yep, way back then. We’re still working on it – and making progress. The fancy, custom-made bathroom cabinet will be installed in a couple of days. There are more lights in this bathroom than any other room in the entire house. You could perform surgery in there. And since Linda broke her toe on July 4, we’ve needed the light just to wrap the little piggy together with its neighbor. So, it was already a good idea to go overboard with LEDs, switches and dimmers.

And yet, regardless of our efforts at summer fun, Hock Tools is busy. Probably because of your efforts, and all the social media platforms you use to cyber-connect around woodworking. For a small business such as Hock Tools, all this sharing and enthusiasm is rewarding because handtools are sometimes the subject of much social media discussion, analysis, postulating, and often brilliant commentary. I am grateful and delighted that woodworkers take the time to use Hock Tools and then share their experiences, not only with us, but with other woodworkers.

I hope you enjoy our article To Plane or Sand . Please click on the links to woodworker input on the subject. And, please look at our photo album, which came to our attention via James Wright. He sent pics and worked up an enthusiastic video to help you build your own low-angle, bevel-down jointer.

Of course, if there is anything you need from Hock Tools, please let me know.
Ron Hock 
Hock Tools
(888) 282-5233
(707) 964-2782




Plane or Sand/Sand or Plane:
The Not-so-Exquisite Dilemma
Meet the Context Super Hero as she explains the difference between sanding and planing, and what's the context for using each to get the surface you want!
Retail 3-2018 Context Super Hero
Context is everything, and what fits one context may not fit another. This is true of using sand paper or a plane to prepare a wooden surface for finishing. 

I read somewhere on the know-it-all Internet that 1.) a single pass with a plane removes more surface than a single pass with a sander, and 2.) that although a sander leaves a slightly rougher surface than a smoothing planer, many stains and finishes will penetrate better on a sanded surface than a planed one, and 3.) a plane can leave marks from the blade edge that can be difficult to remove except by sanding.

What? A single pass is the criterion for whether a woodworker chooses a plane or sand paper to smooth a surface? 

Please picture the Context Super Hero flying in, landing gingerly on her toes, then dropping her heels to walk properly. All smiles, she says, “I say this is where context comes in, and Context Super Hero is here!” And, then Context Super Hero continues to explain:
More, More, More!
Once you've read all about the Context Hero and the plane or sand dilemma, check out what Wood Whisperer Marc Spagnulo and blogger Chris Wong of Flair Woodworks have to say on the subject:
Retail 3-2018 Plane or Sand Flairworks Photo
Hock Tools Photo Album
You give us reason to live
with all that social media sharing!
and in the using. You'll have even more fun when you click on the Wood by Wright video below. James explains his process, shares expertise and tips, and gets into a bevel-down build-off with Rex Krueger !
A sweet-heart of a video on building a low-angle, bevel-down jointer
by James Wright of Wood By Wright.
One of the best things about woodworkers is that you enthusiastically share your woodworking! You cheer for woodworking, and you cheer for woodworking hand tools. You build each other’s skills and confidence with how-to videos on YouTube, you share your progress on projects and your expertise. You ask questions on forums, and argue the fine and not-so-fine points of technique. You blog, you Facebook, you Instagram, and now you podcast – all the you-name-it social media. 

It's a full-time wow!

As you probably already know, and fully exemplified by The Wood Whisperer , YouTube (and that's just YouTube!) is filled with solid know-how for woodworkers, like this one about building a low-angle, bevel-down jointer from James Wright of Wood By Wrigh t .

On top of that, at YouTube, you don’t have to apply or pay tuition! You just watch, learn, then replay it again and again. Now that’s you-name-it-social-media made easy for you!
It's Easy to be in the Hock Tools Photo Album!
The photographs you send of the tools you make with our blades and kits inspire us at Hock Tools, and they inspire other woodworkers. 

T h a n k Y o u 
f o r 
C h o o s i n g 
H o c k T o o l s !
3 6 Y e a r s 
o f 
E x c e l l e n c e
Ron Hock is President
of the Board of The Krenov Foundation.
Continuing the Legacy
of James Krenov 
with Awards & Scholarships for Woodworkers.

  If you would like to receive
newsletters from
Click on TKF's Logo . Thanks!