There is nothing better than making tools for your shop. Building bench tools that are useful, well made, and pretty all at the same time is a gift to yourself. Join Gary to build a high-angle block plane. You can’t buy one at this bed angle, and there are already great low-angle block planes available. But this design changes the bed angle to create a tool that is unmatched when cutting through highly figured wood, knots, or surprise grain shifts. Learn how to make up a plane blank that will be used to make a plane body with a wedge pin to hold the iron in place. Students will shape and personalize their own tool. Another cool aspect of this class is that participants will learn how to harden and temper tool steel. Oil-hardening blanks of tool steel will be provided. Students will then polish and shape the blank, heat-treat them in class to harden, and then temper the tool steel to create a plane blade. This method produces a blade that can be sharpened and will wear well for years of use. MASW will supply everything needed in the way of materials: hand plane wooden blanks and tool steel. It’s a treat to be able to make your own hand tools. When you grab this high-angle plane in that special situation and it does the job well, you will gain a special sort of satisfaction.