Smoothing planes.

I just finished refurbishing an old Stanley Bailey No. 3 that belonged to my father in law and I couldn’t be happier with it. They are one of the more common older planes listed on Ebay so it shouldn’t be a problem finding one fairly cheap. If you have a little time to look for a deal, that is the way to go in my opinion. I’m sure all the other opinions will follow shortly so stay tuned, and pay attention, because a lot of these guys have more experience with handplanes than I do.

-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY

No personal experience with an LN #4, but I sure do read a lot of positive comments from owners. I’ve been happy with my older Millers Falls, Record, and Stanley Bailey smoothers.

I think this is one of the most versatile planes today for all type of situations and woods.
Blade rests at 12 degrees, 2” wide, 3/16 thick.

-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.

If money is an issue, do you have a flea market near you? You can find planes from cheep to expensive, in all kids of conditions. I picked up two of the planes that I have for under $30 each.

-- don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things

My favorite smoother is a Veritas bevel up, similar to the photo posted by Moai.

I love the ability to quickly change the cutting angle and adjust the mouth. I keep three irons handy, sharpened at different angles. BU’s are so much easier to set up and tune!

I love all of my BU planes. I love them so much that I sold off most of my bevel downs.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

I would highly recommend the no. 4 bevel-up 50 degree smoother from Vertias, This baby will tackle softer hardwoods and difficult figured wood with no problems. I just recently purchase the 50 degree replacement blade from the 25 degree so that I could have the wide range of usage. This baby is a work horse bar none!!!!!!!! Blkcherry

Check out my review on the HNT Gordon Smoothing Plane
I really like mine.
http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/792

I have an antique coffin smoother that I tuned up. It’s fun to use, although it is not a quality plane .
I’ve been wanting to build one.

That said, there are several good ones, depending on what you want to spend.
You’ll never go wrong with any Lie-Neilsen

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

i have an old stanley and i like it. but once youve tried the LN or Veritas planes you never want to go back. they are just so nice and solid and very easy to tune. theyre just awesome. most of my experience is with LN and i love them.