Replies

1. 
   badoyn | May 19, 2005 06:00pm | #1

   You should check out The Hand Plane Book by Garrett Hack. Lots of useful info for any level of plane user. I too am a novice to hand tools and I learned a great deal from this book.

   Michael

2. 
   Mermoz | May 19, 2005 06:26pm | #2

   In addition to Garrett Hack's book, "Planecraft" available through Woodcraft, and sites such as http://www.lie-nielsen.com are other very good references. I'd suggest doing a bit of reading first, then check out eBay. Look for a Stanley No. 4, 5, 604, or 605. After you have your first plane, take a long time getting to know it, figuring out how to tune it and use it. Once you get the hang of sweeshing nice, curly shavings, you'll wonder why you put up with the loud whine and sawdust from power tools for so long.

1. 
   studly | May 19, 2005 11:42pm | #3

   I would invest my money on the Lie-Nielsen planes. Although you may find a bargain on ebay, I think most users would advise you to replace the iron and chipbreaker which would add another $60 to the cost and you will spend hours tuning the old plane. The Nielsens' come ready to use with a little time spent honing the iron. You would want a 601/2 block plane, #4 or 41/2 for smoothing, a #7 for joining and I think a #62 low angle jack is a great all around plane. It really comes down to --do you want to spent time woodworking or grinding plane soles and irons.

1. 
   Mermoz | May 20, 2005 12:33am | #4

   Studly's economic argument makes perfect sense, but I think an appreciation of the importance of how well the frog fits to the body, how the irons fits to the frog, etc. is worthwhile. I've replaced all my Stanley irons and chipbreakers with Hock's wicked cool products, and one master woodworker in my acquaintance finds fettling an effing frustration. But in the shop of another master in my acquaintance, you'll find no plane younger than the woodworker. So maybe it's a coin toss, with the choice being between up-close-and-personal knowledge and a few mo' dollahs in the wallet. Be well.

2. 
   WillGeorge | May 21, 2005 05:14am | #8

   The Nielsens' come ready to use with a little time spent honing the iron???

   Gee for the price should be OK out of the box!

   Sorry.. I just had to!

1. 
   Midnight | May 22, 2005 12:18am | #9

   Gee for the price should be OK out of the box!

   Sorry.. I just had to!

   Will... to date every one of my L-N;s has been good to go straight outa the box... 20 for 20's a decent average right...???Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

3. 
   Midnight | May 20, 2005 02:57am | #5

   Mike...

   determining the appropriate tools to have in your arsenal will depend highly on the amount of handraulic effort you want to put into the job...

   Based on the assumption that you're working with a rough sawn board, there's 4 planes that you'll need to shape, refine, flatten & joint and smooth...

   First tool to see the board should be a scrub plane, the handraulic equivalent of a thicknesser. This little bugger will remove stock with brutal efficiency and alarming speed. I'm not jesting when I say that safety glasses are essential with this plane; it doesn't take any prisoners. The end result is far from prety; that's not the task of this plane. What it does is remove cup, bow and deep gouges quickly by scrubbing off the offending stock. The surface it leaves looks like a ploughed field; sounds perverse I know but funnily enough, that rippled effect is ideal for the next plane...

   Refining the shape created by the scrub is the job of a jack plane. Jacks are multi puropse tools and will probably be the plane you use most often. When prepairing a board their task is to smooth out the furrows left by the scrub, leaving the board smooth(ish) and flat(ish) enough to start truing the board.

   Jointing planes are the biggest toys in the box, typically between 22 and 24" long; their sole purpose is to make things flat... very flat... with care you can flatten a 6' board to within a couple of thou fairly easily...

   When properly tuned, Smoothers will render a sander obsolete; they're simply not in the same ballpark when it comes to the quality of the surface they leave. Their job is to remove any tooling marks left by the jointers, producing a uniform high quality surface that's ready for finishing without additional tooling.

    

   Block planes are an essential part of any kit, their job being to make fine adjustments to the fit of a board or joint. They come in 2 varieties, standard angle and low angle; idealy you'll need both. Standard angle is for working along the grain while Low angle is best suited for end grain.

    

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

4. 
   wgs | May 20, 2005 06:45am | #6

   hey mike,,,,,people make cabinets for different reasons and for many reasons.As far as planes go one of the first things i intuitively did was to make a few of my own planes ,,i read krenov's "a cabinet makers notebook",,,,,and made some cocobolo planes,,,the process brought me closer to wood and the whole process of cabinet and furniture making.
   Lei neilson makes great planes and you'd be surprised how well you can get your old block planes to work with just a bit of time,,,as you go along you'll buy planes you'll use all the time and some you just like having,,,any chance i get to use one of my own planes i do ,,,if done right it will feel better and work better than almost anything you could buy on the market.

   mbiraman

1. 
   DrynDusty | May 21, 2005 12:41am | #7

   I got a japanese smoothing plane a few years ago (twenty something) and like using it a lot. It's about 10 inches long and can be used comfortably either pushed or pulled. It rarely needs sharpening and really zips through hardwood. I use that and my finely felted Stanley Low Angle Block Plane almost exclusively, together with a collection of scrapers.

   Norm

5. 
   Ricks503 | May 22, 2005 04:55pm | #10

   Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley are all good planes.

    

   Personally I like the planes of Steve Knight of Knight Toolworks.  He hand makes all of his planes.  His are wood bodied planes for the most part.  He sharpens all the irons and tests the planes before selling them.  A cute marketing ploy is that the last test he leaves the shavings in the plane so you can see what it will do.  His plane irons are cryogenically treated.  He also offers japanese irons for an extra premium.

    

   Check his website  http://www.knight-toolworks.com

    

   1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
6. 
   CajunDan | Jun 01, 2005 08:41pm | #11

   Mike,

   Which planes you need is primarily a function of how much and what type of hand tool work you want to do.

   If you dimension your lumber by hand (most don't), you will want a scrub, jack, jointer, and smoother.

   If you plan on hand joinery, you need to add a shoulder, rabbet, and perhaps a plough or combo plane. 

   For general use, you need a block plane, preferably a low angle. This will probably be your most used plane. It makes a good first purchase.

   I recommend you invest your first couple $100 in a hand tool course. You will learn how to sharpen and have a much better idea how YOU need to spend your money for the way YOU work.

   Regards,

   Dan