How to Make Tracks for Drawers With Planes

Measure the width of the slots in the sides of the drawers into which the drawer tracks will fit. Cut strips of wood for the tracks by setting the fence on a table saw to the dimensions that you measured and ripping a board on the table saw. Test the fit of the track in the slot on the side of the drawer. It should be slightly too tight, so that after you plane it, it will be the perfect thickness.

Grind the end of the plane iron to make it perfectly straight with no chips. Set the angle of the tool rest so that the end of the plane iron rests on the grinding stone at an angle of about 22 degrees. Move the iron back and forth across the stone to grind it down evenly. Don't stop moving it while it's on the grinding stone or you will leave a nick in it. After grinding, hone the plane iron on a sharpening stone to make its edge razor sharp. Place the end of the iron on the grinding stone so that the face of the ground angle rests flat on the stone. Move it consistently in a figure 8 motion until the edges of the face are burnished to a mirror finish.

Plane all four surfaces of the strips of wood that you will use for drawer tracks. Remove a single shaving from one end of the wood to the other with a single pass of the plane to produce a smooth, consistent surface. Lay the plane flat on the surface of the wood, holding it with both hands and angling it slightly to that the plane iron cuts into the wood on one side slightly before the other side, making it easier to shear off the wood. Pull out any shavings that get stuck between the plane iron and the bed of the plane before making another pass.