I am converting over to using hand planes for finishing my table top panels (usually Ash or Cherry).
After glue up I have been using a Veritas Cabinet scraper to remove the glue, then Stanley No 7(Type 15) for jointing/flattening, followed by a Stanley No 4 (Type 15) for smoothing.
There may be situations where I need to scrub/hog the panel first, depending on its thickness.
Options appear to be:
A Jack Plane No 5
A Fore Plane No 6
or
Scrub Plane No 40
Recommendations??
As for the No 40 — how can you tell its age(ie, what does one look for to establish when it was manufactured–they don’t have the same details that No 4’s have).
Thanks !!
John
Falmouth ME
Replies
I've only used a Stanley #40 as a scrub plane and it was very good at removing large quantities of wood quickly, going across the grain for the most part. It's much narrower than any #5 or #6 plane, likely by design, so that it takes less force to remove a decent amount of wood. The blade has a very small radius (i.e., a lot of camber) and the blade can be quite proud of the sole of the plane while not requiring an inordinate amount of force.
thank you!
I have a No. 40 but I find myself using a No. 6 with an aggressive blade set for most hogging. I get less tear out than with the 40. Less work for the follow on planes. My problem with the 40 could be blade profile or technique. I also like the heavier weight of the 6 and the knob and tote being farther apart, compared to the 40, for heavy cuts.
I have had several 40s go through my hands, haven't seen any difference other than different wood species for the knob and tote, looks to be rosewood and beech. Really a simple tool, not much to change. The Blood and Gore site for Stanley planes will give more info on which was used earlier.
thank you!
I have a Stanley #35 transitional converted to a scrubber. I filed open the mouth and put a tightish radius in the iron. I use it for hogging at 45 degrees to the grain. Cost me almost nothing and does the job.
thank you!
I have a 50ish year old (post-war) Stanley #5 set up as a scrub plane using a Hock blade ground to a 3” radius. As long as I keep it well honed it works very well. I use it primarily at 45 degrees across the grain both both ways for flattening. It’s also great for creating a textured finished surface, usually diagonally one direction.
thank you!
I'm not a fan of the 40. It's too narrow,too light, and too coarse. Too much tearout. There are only two variations in the casting that I know of, so there aren't a lot of variants, as with bench planes.
I don't care for the 6. It's both too big or too small.
I use a 5 with an 8" radius for scrubbing, or a wooden jack with the same radius, depending where I am.
thank you!
Stanley no. 28 transitional. I think I gave $5 for it at a yard sale. Ground the blade to an 8” radius. Works great at 45* to the grain even with a pretty heavy cut. For 90* work I just take a lighter cut.
Thank you!
I use a Stanley no. 22 "liberty" transitional plane with a 1 3/4" iron cambered to an 8" radius. It works great!
Very nice plane! I see that Patrick's B&G rates this plane well.
For scrubbing, I use a #6 with a super aggressive curve on my blade (8" or 10" radius)
I am seeing that a #5 or #6 seem to be good planes for this type of work. Thanks
I'm a hand tool woodworker and I don't own a bandsaw or a thickness planer yet so I rely on hand planes to thickness. Where possible, I start with S3S or S4S and if I can get it in the desired thickness so much the better.
I have a No 4 hand plane that has about an 8" radius camber on it. This gets used a lot. Recently I bought a Verritas formal scrub plane that has a 3" radius camber on it. If I have a lot of wood to remove, I start with the proper scrub plane then transition to converted No. 4 scrub. After that I use either my No 5 or No 3 to straighten and smooth the wood. Both the No 5 and No 3 have very little camber - just enough so that I don't leave plane tracks. As best I can tell, my approach is very generic to what many others are doing. Hope this helps.
Sounds great! Currently I am taking 4/4 RGH quarter sawn lumber and milling it with a jointer and a DeWalt 735 planer. The lumber is dimensioned to about a quarter inch or so of finishing dimension. I then let the wood sit for a week or so to settle down(The pleasures of living in the state of Maine!)Then I glue up the table top panel.
It is at that point that I switch over to handplaning to flatten and smooth the panel. May not need to scrub much using this method but there may still be an occasion to do so.
Perhaps I'm a moron, but "RGH" did not land for me. I'm opting for enlightenment over pride here, so please be gentle...
I read somewhere (not too long ago) that there's a term for lumber that's only been given what might be called "A lick and a promise" before you buy it, so that 4/4 lumber is actually about ¹⁵⁄₁₆" thick. It is cheaper, but you have to put more work into it. Author was from Maine, but is in the upper mid-west now.
I measured (with a digital caliper) the RGH Ash 4/4 and 8/4 plain sawn lumber I get from New Hampshire....4/4 measured 1.11" and the 8/4 2.08"
Is the RGH shorthand for rough?
yup
"RGH" means Rough....ie. When I purchase lumber it comes as a true 4/4 board. It is 1" thick. The surface is cut coarsely and not milled. You ordinarily joint the edges and plane the surfaces to a desired dimension.
Look at Highland Hardwoods (highlandhardwoods.com) in New Hampshire and their price lists show it this way.
Attached image shows a 4/4 RGH to the right and a panel created from resawing and then milled to 1/4"from that. The stack of wood supporting it was jointed and planed from the same wood to 7/8" using Dewalt 735 planer.
If I buy a S4S the board will usually be 3/4" thick and smooth
4/4 RGH Ash is $3.67/board foot; S3S 1" Ash is $4.32/board foot at that yard.
(I don't know if the S3S is truly 1": never purchased it)
Hope that helps
Sorry, I replied to the prior post before this one.
Highland is a great place. I go often.
I aim for about 7/8 or a whisker under for a lot of parts. Wider boards usually have to be 5/4 to get a 7/8 part. But I check the 4/4 pile, and can usually find some thick enough that they'll plane to 7/8.
I agree...I can get 7/8 out of a 4/4 IF the board is relatively straight and not cupped. Given I cut these boards down to 24-30 inches, I can get around the warping. I am AMAZED, however, that these boards change their shape when resawn in half. That is why I let them settle down before final dimensioning. I would have thought Ash would be more stable than that. I guess, there is just a lot of internal tension sometimes.
I had tried in the past to resaw 8/4 stock to make a wide bookmatched panel. More often than not, they warped like a Pringle. I don't even bother trying anymore.
Haa, yeah, I was thinking initials for something,
"Random Grade Hewn" "Rough Grade Hickory" "Really Greedy & Hungry"
I just needed to buy a vowel.
!!
I use an old Stanley Bailey #5 with blade ground at about an 8 inch radius. I learned this from an old article by Christopher Schwartz from his PW days but I cannot find the link. The plane I use was cheap from Craigslist and is now dedicated for this work. It hogs wood like crazy. I'm not good with hand planes but I can get a board all but flat in minutes with this beast. I like rough stock wood, some I make myself with logs, so use this plane frequently. As Chris would say, highly recommended.
I think I will go with the #5 with the radius you recommend....sounds good!
Just need to get a good price....will wait until there is a T13->15 at a good price available.
thank you all for your wonderful advice.
This conversation certainly exemplifies what a great forum this is!
Be Safe
John
Falmouth Maine
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