Planning your next masterpiece? Great! Now all you need are the perfect boards. For the lucky few, fantastic material will just land on their bench, seemingly from thin air, but for most of us, we’ll need to buy lumber and that means a trek to your favorite lumberyard. For me, it’s often a highlight of the process.

Depending on the project, a local home center might offer exactly what you need, but for those who are more demanding, you may need to find a specialty hardwood lumber supplier to fill your needs. In this video tutorial, fine-hardwood dealer Rick Hearne explains the methods and tricks to buying great wood. Rick explains how lumber is graded, how to size up potential boards, evaluate knots & figure, and how to leave a lumber bin ready for the next buyer. Even experienced hands might enjoy Rick’s no-nonsense tips for navigating the yard. (4.5 Minute Woodworking Video)

Rick Hearne is President of Hearne Hardwoods in Oxford, Pennsylvania

This video reviews some of the most common, and popular, hand planes used by crafts people today. At first glance, the whole subject looks complicated, because there are dozens of major plane types and many different variations within each of those categories. But most accomplished woodworkers agree that there is a core list of planes that any woodworker should consider for their toolbox.

In this segment, I introduce and demonstrate five of the more useful handplanes used by contemporary artisans who work with wood. You’ll learn the characteristics and uses of the jack, smooth, shoulder plane, block, and jointer (try) planes. And you’ll see them put through their paces. Then you decide which planes you should buy or own. (7 Minute Video)

(Similar Terms: Rabbit, Rabbet)