Hand Planes?? What do I buy??

What about shoulder planes? If your doing M&T work…..

The #5 will do a good job of rough stock removal if you set the blade correctly. You could get a couple of blades for it and sharpen one for fine and one for course work.

Chris Schwarz’s plane list for furnature making is

Hand planes:

1. No. 8 jointer plane

2. No. 4 smoothing plane

3. No. 5 jack plane

4. Low-angle block plane

5. 1-1/4” shoulder plane

6. Large router plane

7. Small router plane

8. Record 044 plow plane

9. Moulding planes: 1 pair hollow and rounds

10. Moulding plane, 5/16” beading plane

11. Moving fillister plane

12. Small scraping plane, Stanley 212 size

13. Bevel-up jack plane for shooting

14. Card scrapers, about 10

15. Spokeshaves, flat sole and round; large and small

I would think the first five would be my order of importance depending on what your doing….

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Wayne to the rescue!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Well, I’m not sure about rescuing you….. lol Not something you need.

Also, other planes such as a low angle jointer have not been discussed. You could use it for shooting, jointing and smoothing if needed.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

You’re adding things that I hoped would come up. I’ve seen the odd post as to why hand planer users have so many planes. There are so many specialty planes, and so many planes that do many similar things, just better at some than others. I’ve gotten away with a #4 1/2 and a low angle block for some time. There are some planes that I like, and and some that I need. It’s just tough to decide. I find that it’s best to pick something that I want to do with it, and then add the plane. Hence the Low Angle Jack that will grace my shop in the upcoming week or so. As I love Veritas planes and have good access to them, I think this is the baby I’ll get:

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

That will be a wonderful addition Tom. It is on my someday list. I think it is a slow night tonight. Everyone must be busy.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I’m looking forward to it. :) Yeah, seems a tad slow tonight. I want to go down to the shop, but I’m feeling a little lazy.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Hi guys,
this is a list of the planes in my shop.
an old Stanley block plane, don’t even know the number, had it for years.
a #75 which is worthless.
a #78 Duplex, it looks better on the wall a #192 rabbit plane, I works well and is well tuned but not used much
a # 80 scraper #112 scraper
2 #3 Stanleys
1 408 Sargent
2 #4’s, one sharpened at 30 degrees
1 Craftsman(409 Sargent) 1 #7 Craftsman(Sargent) 1 #7 Stanley #92 shoulder plane
shopmade Razee fore plane shopmade miter plane
There is a small spoke shave and over in the saddle shop there is a wooden spoke shave and 2 Snell and Atherton #6 heel shaves.
there are also 2 no name block planes that I never bothered to clean up.
I wish I had a router plane and a larger shoulder plane. I think I will just make them. It’s fun.
Tom

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Very nice group of planes Tom. Looking forward to seeing your next creation…

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I’m going to do a smoother. I’ve got some ideas that I am working out. I picked up a heavy LN blade for a low angle plane. I think I’ll turn it over and use it in the smooth plane. I haven’t looked at it much. We’ll see. I also picked up a knife blank at Woodcraft. Monty wants me to build a scabbard for one they have. I have a chunk of elephant tusk that I’ve had for 30 years so I decided to scrimshaw some scales for it. 30 years ago I was building knife cases and doing scrim for a custom knife maker. I haven’t done much for a long time but I still have an Exacto knife and some India ink. I should be finished with this kitchen in another week.Still one door panel to carve and some over heads and shelves to finish. I’ll post it when done. Still need to do the tile back splash.as welll. I’ll be glad to get it done.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Well, I’ve officially jumped into the Plane collection game :-)). I posted something a couple of days ago, asking if Wayne, or anybody else could tell me what I had. Turns out it was a Stanley 220. I bought it about 30 years ago, tried it once and put it up – until I started reading so much about the planes here on LJ. I got the old plane sharpened today – using my new Work Sharp – and put it all back together, took aim at a piece of innocent wood lying on my bench and then it happened – WOW, that felt empowering!!! I passed it over the wood and got that magic sound and very thin fine curl of wood!! That did it, I’m really hooked now. I could not believe the finish it put on that piece of scrap wood (of course you guys already know). Tom, that’s about as much fun as a cowboy can have with his boots on.
I logged onto ebay tonight and won 2 planes – a Stanley 60 1/2 Low Angle and a Stanley-Bailey #5 Jack Plane. Both appear to be in good shape, bought from the same seller that claims that he bought them and decided not to use them. I’m hoping that they will arrive next week. I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Oh, we know how it will go, don’t we, guys? Down the ol’ slippery slope again. All of a sudden people are shaping wood the way they want it instead of how the machine will allow it. My My.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I have a plane!! I have a plane!! And I’ve even used it :) My “plane collection” has begun with the Lee Valley router plane. What’s next? I’ll let this discussion and my needs guide my purchases.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

and my bank account, of course

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi Ms. Deddie;

I have a plane too! Nice post! I liked that.

Hi mot, that will make a nice addition to any shop! Looks fast!

I don’t see Lie Nielson mentioned. Do we have a problem with them?

Just curious, because I have a few of them. Should I throw them away?

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

I think I’ll make a plane or two this winter.
What blade do you folks feel is best overall quality?

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Lee…I love Lie Nielsen planes. I don’t have a supplier locally. The Lie Nielsen dealer is a terrific guy and an amazing source of information. The Veritas planes are about an hour away…I can touch them, and try them. Frankly, I’d love to have some LN’s in the mix…it’s just that I don’t feel I’m compromising with Veritas either.

FYI, in Canada, Lie Nielsen planes are available through Rob Cosman.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Bob…those Hock blades are held in high regard. http://www.hocktools.com/

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I have a half dozen or so Lie-Nielson planes. So far been very happy with each one. I can take a photo if folks are interested and post it in this thread.

Deb, I’m still looking for parts for you grandpa’s plane….. That would make 2 working planes. I would be looking for a low angle block plane…

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Lee. if you’re going to throw those LN’s. throw them toward Oregon.

I love to have LN’s but can’t justify the price when what I have is working very well. Veritas would be fine as well. As money allows I would like to upgrade to LN but there are a lot of things I need first.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Hello Guys,

I think (I must have read this on the web some time back but is definitely based on my own experience) that you can get nicely by with a low angle block plane and a low angle jointer plane, both with adjustable mouths. I can easily use my #7 plane for any job, jointing, smoothing, even roughing, as long as the piece is at least 6” long. For small pieces I can use the block plane for both end grain and regular planing. Veritas sells a handle and a front knob for their block plane. If you retrofit the block plane like this (can be done in a matter of minutes), you can smooth small pieces easily.

I do own a number of old planes: #5 (Stanley), two #4 (Mills Falls and Anand). Both the Stanley #5 and Miller Falls #4 are in good shape but I never use them. The Veritas #7 outclasses them by a large margin. It is a heavier plane but I like the stability (and the wokout I’m getting to be honest). I might buy a bevel up smoother plane just to have two large planes on the workbench, one setup for heavier cuts for levelling and one for getting a smooth surface. Now I get by using just the #7.

In fact, the #7 Veritas is so good, on boards that do not have reversing grain or knots, I can get a perfectly smooth surface that needs no sanding at all. Also, because it has the bevel up, it is easy to change the effective cutting angle: you change (or buy another blade) the angle on the blade. For very light cuts, I usually leave just a paper width worth of opening between the blade and the frog. This results in almost no tearout.

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

Mot and Wayne the Veritas plane that Tom showed on his blog is the plane I got for winning the Summer Joinery Challenge.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

But, Karson, do you like it?

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Very nice Karson.

Alin, I’ve seen a number of folks in the UK use a #7 as their main plane. I will have to play around with my stanleys some. Do you put any camber in your blade?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I swear by my #5 then my L&N Low-Angle Block Plane. I would not leave home without it!

Does anyone know were I might come by a part for a very early #8? Mine is a type-4 #8 probably manufactured around 1885-1895. The lever on the lever cap broke yesterday. :(

-- Chris

I would look on ebay first. Also, you can look for a parts plane or try Bob Kaune’s site.

http://www.antique-used-tools.com/comparts.htm

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I dont have ANY planes… :(

-- Women love me.....trees fear me

Your an abused woodworker David… : ^ O

I imagine one or two will find there way to you.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

What’s your address, David. I’ll contribute an old block plane. Once you can make it work you will be ready for a new one.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Yep, feel yourself listing. The inexorable tug of gravity? No, just the slippery slope…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.