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First hand planes

3K views 32 replies 21 participants last post by  PhillipRCW 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am a complete virgin to hand planes, but I really want to pick up a few to start getting into it. I use a local saw mill for a lot of rough lumber and would like to finish some by hand rather than a planer every time. What would the top 3 planes be to start with? I don't want to spend a ton of money to start, but a budget of around $250-$300 is where I'm at right now.
 
#3 ·
If you want to put work into them restoring a set of Vintage Stanley's made between 1910 and 1940 would be a good start. Other good brands are Union, Millers Falls, Ohio, Sargent). Stay away from post 1950 mass produced planes.

Lee Valley, Lie-Nielson make top tier modern planes but you would have to raise your budget
Woodriver (Woodcraft) would be a bit lower in cost, but you may have to do some tuning work.

Sizes 4, 5, and 7 or 8. ( Smoother, plane for rough stock removal and jointer plane)

Block plane 60 1/2 (Low angle block plane with adjustable mouth. )
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
A #5, a #7 and a #4 are the essential planes for finishing rough lumber. Consider a google search for a Chris Schwarz discussion on coarse, medium, fine as a decent foundation.

For new in that price range, getting all three may be tough. Wood River planes are good workers from what I've read. LN and Veritas will be out of that range. And there's always vintage. Towards that end, to get where you want to be quickly, consider a reputable seller of used hand tools. There are a few, but fellow LJ Don W always comes to mind and has constant inventory coming and going (timetestedtools is his site).

Good luck!
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
For that budget you will need to look at good vintage planes. For good quality new ones, you would have to triple the budget.

Since you are starting with rough lumber, these planes will get you from rough to finish surface.

#5 jack with a cambered iron (radiused cutting edge). This cleans up the rough sawn surface and is used to quickly take boards to dimension and work out cupping and twist.

Jointer plane to flatten faces and true edges. The #7 is the most commonly used jointer plane, but I prefer a #6 size most of the time with no issues. Bonus is that #6's usually cost half of what a #7 does.

Smoothing plane to get to the final surface. #4's are the most common and easiest to find. A #3 or #4-1/2 would be fine, too, but they tend to be more expensive.

Pricing. You should be able to find user ready #4's and #5's for anywhere between $25 and $50. A #6 will be a little higher and a #7 is generally $100 and up.

Three sizes will get you from rough sawn to ready to use. I would suggest adding a good low angle block plane, as they are incredibly useful.

Edit: or +1 to the others, especially Smitty's Coarse, Medium, Fine recommendation. With the budget left over from the planes, invest in a good sharpening system.
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
You can buy a used Stanley jointer plane, jack plane, and #4 plane for well within that budget, with a little money left to put toward some sharpening gear. If you don't have a block plane already, you might want to pick up one of those, too. At worst you can sharpen with sandpaper, but if you can swing it use a belt sander or grinder just for the coarse grit(s), then a double-sided diamond plate with medium and fine/super-fine grits, and finish with stropping on a piece of leather or hard maple charged with honing compound.
 
#9 ·
If you like cheap like I do, you should try going to estate sales. You can find some good tools at very low prices and you could probably find those planes previously mentioned. I'm always looking in the local paper for estate sales and auctions. But, you've got to get there early because antique collectors get to these estate sales before the coffee pot is done perking. I've found some of my planes for around $5.00 and they are good ones too!
 
#10 ·
Wow, yeah I definitely need to get more information on the planes. I think I know now why I like power tools so much.

There's some things I just don't see why people would waste their time with hand tools, but to take the rough lumber to smooth and ready just seems like it would be satisfying to me. I love seeing the final product scraped with a card scraper and look almost polished. Very cool. But rabbit planes and round overs, I'll just swipe it across the router table instead.
 
#11 ·
http://timetestedtools.forumchitchat.com/
http://www.supertool.com/index.htm
You might contact Don at his site or Patrick about buying planes from them, to get an idea about how much they will cost. Don, I think is a little less expensive for the beginner and he is very helpful and knowledgeable about information you need to get stated. I have bought stuff from both of them, and trust them both.
 
#12 ·
I just got my very first hand planes. I went through Time Tested Tools, and was put in contact with someone who sold me a world war II vintage Stanley #5 for $53 shipped. He cleaned it up and tuned it and sharpened it. This is useful so that I now know what a well tuned hand plane is like.

My second hand plane that I just received this week is a Faithful #7 from Amazon for $110. This plane is clearly not as well built as the Stanley, but I believe I can get it tuned up to work just as well. This plane seems to be in a sweet spot in terms of price and quality. I've seen enough positive reviews of it, but it's not super-expensive like the WoodRiver $300 equivalent. The only other one in it's realm is by Grizzly, for $80, and it doesn't review as favorably. Also, that one has a corrugated soul, which I am not keen on, though I have no experience either way.

After a quick use of the Stanley on the edge of a board, I realized that a fence on my plane would assist me in keeping the plane perpendicular to the face, and so I hope to build one of those soon.

After a time, I may look at some local antique stores to see if there are other planes available that I may be able to restore.

A good reference is Mark Spagnolo's (The Wood Whisperer) book "Hybrid Woodworking." In it, he details the combination of hand tools and power tools that he uses, and why. From this I have planned to eventually get a shoulder plane, a block plane or a rabbeting block plane, and a router plane.
 
#13 ·
I was in your shoes about 2 years ago and I purchased an antique Stanley #4. I was totally NOT impressed with the quality of this tool. I did some more research….and purchased the Lie Nielson #62 Low Angle Jack Plane. The only thing I am sorry about is I didn't make this purchase earlier. The quality is OUTSTANDING! and the plane is very versatile. I now have many of their planes, chisels and saws.

This is a very slippery slope! I have been replacing most of my power tools with good quality American made hand tools.

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/product/bench-planes/low-angle-jack-plane?node=4065
 
#15 ·
+1 for ckytle go for quality and forget the frustration.

Low Angle Jack Plane

Patterned after the Stanley No. 62, the Low Angle Jack Plane is one of our most versatile and outstanding planes. The massive blade is set bevel-up in the milled bed at 12°, giving you maximum support of the cutting edge and a low angle of attack. The precise depth adjuster, moveable shoe for adjustment of the mouth opening, and the hefty blade allow you to tackle the most difficult jobs with the power of a Jack or the finesse of a Smoother.

 
#17 ·
I am a complete virgin to hand planes, but I really want to pick up a few to start getting into it. I use a local saw mill for a lot of rough lumber and would like to finish some by hand rather than a planer every time. What would the top 3 planes be to start with? I don t want to spend a ton of money to start, but a budget of around $250-$300 is where I m at right now.

- PhillipRCW
My suggestion is this trio sells for $370.

IMO the top 3 planes are block, #4 smoother, and a #6. These are what I use for 90% of my work.

Sure, you can start looking for old Stanleys and maybe pick up all 3 for less than $100, but you will have to invest the time to get them working-and working right. Which means you have to have the experience to know what a plane can/cannot do and how it is supposed to work (which a beginner doesn't).

My suggestion to all beginners is start with planes with no guess work THEN you can go looking for the old Stanley deals.

My opinion is there's a lot of guys who have the old Stanleys and think they work great until they use a high quality modern made plane. I know because I was one of those guys.

Good luck.
 
#19 ·
Here is my take on this question http://lumberjocks.com/OSU55/blog/39841

Stanley Bailey #4 or 4-1/2 for smoothing, #5 jack that will serve as a scrub plane too, #7 for jointing and panel flattening, 60-1/2 block plane.

#5 Stanley's are abundant and cheap. Get one of those and attach a rough board with it. That will help you decide if you really want to mill lumber by hand when you have a planer 10 ft away. Don't get me wrong, I have a large contingent of hand planes, for use after the machines have had their chance.
 
#21 ·
Wow, I just noticed LN revised how flat their planes are from .0005" now to .002", that s a bunch.

- unbob

And doesn t matter at all when working with wood that moves more than that. It flexes more from you using the plane than that.

- jmartel
Hmmmm doesn't make sense when taking chips less then .001"! So, what is the maximum out of true allowable?
 
#22 ·
The plane flexes more than 0.002" when using it. It doesn't matter. Just because it's not flat to within 0.001" doesn't mean that it won't take shavings that are less than 0.001".
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
But yet the plane is the reference, as the work becomes flatter the plane flexes less also.
Kicking around these things, I found a point of diminishing returns going past a certain point of flatness that becomes more difficult to reach…...that point happens to be .002".
I think LN was a bit optimistic on .0005" for flatness say on a #7 or #8 plane, as a 24" straight edge with .0005" truth of edge is a real good one.
So, LN being able to get these planes consistent at .002" really is remarkable in itself.
 
#24 ·
I started with the same goal and budget as the OP and bought a Veritas low angle jack plane and it did everything I needed it to do, no regrets. I've since acquired a nice collection of Veritas and LN planes because they're such useful works of art. For flattening rough stock I use a scrub plane followed by a bevel up jointer or low angle jack.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
The ONLY time taking a .00001" shaving is even needed is the LAST pass with a smoother. If you want those thin shavings every pass, you will be there at the bench until you retire.

Sometimes, thin just don't count
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Those scallops were from a scrub jack, a Corsair C-5 with the iron ground to an 8" radius, ala C. Schwarz.
Not sure IF an Low Angle jack could even do this sort of work. Shavings of 0.0001 ain't going to cut here.
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Panel is getting flat and smooth. Plane is a type 17 Stanley 5-1/2 Jumbo Jack. Took about 20 minutes to smooth this 16" x 36" panel, with about one knot per every six inches of plane stroke. Won't even try to figure out how long it would take with something limited to a "See-through Shaving".....

A Look at what the iron body "arsenal" I have on hand..
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Stanleys and Millers Falls, with a Union made DE6c on the left edge. All have been tuned up, and special attention to sharp was given. All but the Corsair C-5 Scrub Jack can do the see-through stunts, but, I need planes to do the work, not just show off how thin they can cut. I do not intend to spend hours fine shaving a board down to flat & square. I need the tasks done as fast as they can be made. "No messing around.." as C. Schwarz would say.

Started off with a #4 smoother, and a #110 block long time past, My #7 is a wood bodied, 100+ year old Scioto works #81, 22" long, with a 2-3/8" wide, non-cambered iron. Cost was around $15 or so.
have a few jack planes, most were around that same $15 price point. Each of them have a slightly different grind to to the edge. From a full 8" radius, down to just barely at the corners. Have a T-4 Millers Falls #14 that can take full width, see-through shavings IF I need a smoother that long

The Smooth Planes are mainly Millers Falls. A pair of #9s are set up just a hair different. The #8 feels almost like a feather. And can take a full width see through anytime I need it to.

Have ONE low angle block plane, See-through is easy, IF it is sharpened up. The adjustable mouth blocks are the 9-1/2 sized ones. The 9-1/4 non-adjustable can also take just as thin of shavings, though. The low angle is a Millers Falls #1455. Bought it "New in Box" for about $25 + S&H. The others block planes averaged ….$5.

Seem to have a rep of taking old junk planes and making do. I do rehab the old junkers, but I also sell them to get the ones I like. The Millers Falls #9 with box was $17.

Not only does a plane's sole flex a bit in use, but the board you are working on will flex as well, and then rebound back up. Then in a couple days, the wood has moved yet again. IF the humidity rises or falls, the boards will swell or shrink with it. Wood is something you do not need measurement in the 0.001" range. Wood will move more than that during a session of work with a plane. You will expose wood to the elements by taking off the weathered top layer. Wood will react to this. Grain will rise up to laugh at you…

Was the old time planes flat on the sole to the "nth degree"? No. But, they were flattened enough to do the jobs they were meant to do. What you'll see on the older planes is not a lack of machining, but a lot of wear from use. Those new planes with their 0.002 flat soles? Comeback in 10-20 years of use, and check the soles again. Heck, come back in 5 years, even. Iron will cut wood, but wood will wear away iron. Or Bronze. Hey, you think there was a reason they quit making Bronze swords and started to make ones of Steel???

Anyway, a $300 dollar plane that does it all out of the box? Well, what happens down the road when it no longer does? Like when the edge gets dull…..Maybe LN will resharpen it for you? Or, just go and buy a new iron, throwing away the "dull" one as "junk"?

Rant is now over.
 

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#26 ·
Philip,

I'm very new to the game myself, but for the past year, I've been picking up pre-war Stanleys for $20-40 whenever I come across them (tool exchanges, ebay once in a while, garage sales…).

Most of them are SO rusted, but I try to avoid ones that have lots of pitting. I have to tell you, I've enjoyed so much refurbishing these planes. Knocking the rust off, lapping, even stripping the japanning off some of them and repainting. I've learned so much by doing this, and it makes me want to use the planes SO much more. And then when I see it work (and I really am a beginner when it comes to technique, so I think it's a trip to see my restored planes cut a thin ribbon).
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-Mac
 

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