One of the most used of my hand planes is my Stanley Bailey Smoothing Plane #3.
I love it!

 

Though a little saw dusty at the moment here it is in is glory. Lol

 

 

A few years back, when planing the edges of stock sometimes I found it challenging to get it perfectly square within a few strokes.

So I made this fence out of torrefied maple.

 

 

It attaches to the plane body side. It can be mounted on either side by flipping it.

 

 

Three rare earth magnets and a couple of shelfing pins allow a "hook and ladder" method of attaching it to the plane body side. The shelving pins stop forward and backward movement while planing.

 

 

 

As time went on and my skills improved the fence wasn't used much and then I bought a Lee Valley Edge Plane which pretty much replaced it.

 

But my skills are such now that I pretty much don't use the edge plane now. Just once in a while. 

However....yesterday I used the fence on the Smoothing Plane again and it was a joy!

I'm glad I made it. 

Thanks for looking!

Feel free to comment, ask questions and " thumbs up 👍" if you like it!

Cheers!
MrRick

I've made plenty of jigs like this before I had the coin to upgrade.  Helps understand the mechanics of what the tool is doing or supposed to be doing. 

Nice add-on. 

Great, functional idea and simple design. Thanks for sharing Rick.

 

BTW, a really sweet and pristine looking #3. Don't see them in the wild like that around here.

Thanks lew!

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Great, functional idea and simple design. Thanks for sharing Rick.

 

BTW, a really sweet and pristine looking #3. Don't see them in the wild like that around here.

 

You're welcome Grandpadave52! A neighbor of mine who worked at an antique store gave it to me. But it was totally rusty and in really bad shape. I made an electrolysis tank and cleaned it up. I reworked all the mechanisms, brass, and parts. Took out all the pins. I reworked everything. I reworked the sole to flatten it. I also reworked the blade. The tote and knob were painted some ugly purplish color but I could see some beautiful wood grain through some peeled areas so I stripped it. Turned out to be Rosemary. Just stunning!!

All the work was worth it. 

Edited November 2, 2025Nov 2 by MrRick