I have had my woodworking opinions on certain things changed over the last few weeks, primarily on large power tools and hand planes. When I started buying tools both bench and hand I purchased a band saw, small one mainly because my dad used to have one and one Christmas made a large number of profile boats, tugs and such which is one of my fondest memories of childhood. I also had a list of things I wanted that made a larger 14” band saw difficult to accomplish. As I do more woodworking and see the limitations my 9” is giving me (I probably should reword that) I will be making a 14” band saw my next big purchase instead of say a joiner or bigger wood lathe.
As for the hand tools I have no joiner and was under the false opinion that a planer would work to give me a flat surface, I have read differently, in that I guess if it is twisted or bowed you just end up with a nice smooth twisted board the thickness you want. As I have been watching videos to find ways to correct this without a joiner I have watched several videos on hand planes and have fallen in love. I have a large family and am not Rockefeller by any means so I cannot run out and buy them all but I did go on eBay and get a vintage STANLEY RULE & LEVEL CO. BLOCK PLANE, I have no idea if this is good or bad but hey it is my first plane. I intend to buy a smooth plane soon and the either a rabbet or joiner and the the other one after that.
I do want to thank all those touting the eBay and other places for things such as hand planes if not for all of you I would have never looked at eBay as I have avoided it at all cost til now and am now addicted and should seek help.
-- two men walk into a bar the third one ducks, which are you??
7 comments so far
chrisstef
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5212 posts in 1173 days
#1 posted 374 days ago
Indeed its a slippery slope my friend … im weening myself off the hand plane addiction but wit htag sale season comin up im itching again. I just restored a 1970’s rockwell jointer and now i dont know how i worked without one. Im not saying that jointing a board with a hand plane isnt fun but it aint easy either. The block plane you scored is probably a good one, next id go for a #5 the jack plane. Itll do just about anythign you want, none really really well, but good enough in my opinion. Ive found lately that a mix of hand tools and power tools is really for me.
-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty
jacob34
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388 posts in 431 days
#2 posted 374 days ago
I watched a video on for woodworking.com where the guy talked about using them to clean up the marks from power tools and to ease into tenon size and rabbet joints I thought it was a brilliant blend hand and power tools. only thing that shocked me was the fact that he talked about not sanding because of the smoothness of using a plane. As for the jointer plane I just do not have room for another bench tool, when I get a larger shop I will probably revisit that issue.
-- two men walk into a bar the third one ducks, which are you??
chrisstef
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5212 posts in 1173 days
#3 posted 374 days ago
Yea i use my #5 or #4 to clean up the mill marks after the table saw. A shoulder plane makes easy work of sizing tenons for sure, i personally dont have one, but i use a block plane across the grain and a chisel to clean up the area where i cant get to. Its not the best practice but it gets the job done. Ive turned to card scraper in lieu of sanding for the most part. I hate me some sanding, not as much as painting or diggin holes but id rather not sand if i can avoid it.
-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty
jacob34
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388 posts in 431 days
#4 posted 374 days ago
card scraper is also on my list of pick em ups
-- two men walk into a bar the third one ducks, which are you??
Bertha
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13111 posts in 860 days
#5 posted 374 days ago
I would have quit woodworking if I hadn’t discovered planes. I’ve got all the fancy big stuff but the planes and other vintage tools are what keeps me in the hobby.
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Once you get the card scraper, you can start looking at the scraper planes:)
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-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog
jacob34
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388 posts in 431 days
#6 posted 374 days ago
is one better than the other? scraper vs scraper plane that is?
-- two men walk into a bar the third one ducks, which are you??
chrisstef
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5212 posts in 1173 days
#7 posted 371 days ago
scraper planes make me drool … essentially they do they same thing one just requiring a little more horsepower than the other and a good strong set of thumbs.
-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty
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