Norman Pirollo from WoodSkills shared the woodworking tip featured in this video.
This video demonstrates two simple, plug-in bench stops that make hand planing more controlled and much less work, whether flattening a wide face or planing a narrow edge on end. The focus is on practical shop solutions that lock work safely to a bench using existing dog holes and simple wedges, rather than relying on a face vise.
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Why Bench Stops Matter
Bench stops provide consistent workholding that frees the maker to focus on the plane and the cut rather than fighting the workpiece. They are especially helpful for hand-tool tasks where a vise is unavailable or inconvenient.
Using stops that plug into the bench dog holes makes the accessories portable and repeatable, so a bench setup can be recreated on a second bench or moved as needed. This approach improves safety and accuracy while reducing the physical effort required during prolonged planing.
The Portable Planing Stop
Norman’s portable planing stop is a plug-in accessory sized to his dog-hole spacing and designed to lock solidly against the bench edge. Two dowels prevent rotation and the bench edge itself helps secure the stop so it resists the lateral forces of planing.
This stop works well for face planing and creating reliable reference points across long boards, and it can be moved between benches without permanent changes to the bench top. The simplicity of the design means it can be adapted to other benches by matching dowel spacing to the existing dog holes.
Bird’s-Mouth Stop for Narrow Boards
The bird’s-mouth stop is the complement to the planing stop when working with narrow or thin boards on edge. It plugs into the bench and, with small wedges, locks a board vertically so it can be planed along the edge without a face vise.
This setup is useful for edge jointing narrow boards or planing a board down to width, and it solves the common problem of keeping a narrow edge stable while working it by hand. Confirming grain direction before planing and wedging the piece firmly are key to good results.
Metal Plane vs Wooden Plane
Norman demonstrates both a metal-bodied bench plane and a wooden hand plane to show how the stops perform with different tools. Metal planes tend to produce very thin, wispy shavings when dialed in, which reduces the effort required and improves control over final thickness.
Wooden planes are lighter and offer a pleasing wood-on-wood feel, but their adjustments can be more sensitive and require slightly different technique to get the same shaving quality. Both plane types benefit from careful lateral adjustment so the iron takes a full-width shaving, which indicates the iron is tracking evenly across the sole.
Practical Plane Setup and Shop Habits
Watching the shaving is an important diagnostic: a full-width, thin shaving means the iron is laterally aligned and set to a light cut, which lowers effort and improves surface quality. Periodically clearing shavings from the plane mouth helps maintain a clear view into the throat and prevents clogging that can spoil the cut.
Norman recommends paraffin wax on metal plane soles to improve glide and reports using it for many years; wooden soles have natural lubricity but can still be waxed. Small taps with a plane hammer are used to set or back off the iron in both metal and wooden planes, providing fine control without tools for tiny adjustments.
Adapting These Stops in Your Shop
These plug-in stops are easy to adapt: match the dowel spacing to your bench dog holes and size the stop face to the work you most often plane. They’re a low-cost upgrade that pays off in speed, safety, and the quality of the finished surface.
Wedges, proper grain orientation, and a habit of checking shaving thickness and width are simple practices that make the accessories more effective and reduce frustrating rework. The concepts scale well for different bench designs and hand-tool preferences.
Overall, Norman’s approach shows how modest, well-designed bench accessories and disciplined plane setup can make hand planing far more efficient and enjoyable. These stops eliminate much of the hassle of holding work, letting the maker concentrate on producing thin, full-width shavings and accurate surfaces.
Support Norman by visiting his website: https://www.woodskills.com/.