Replies

1. 
   Peter36 | Apr 26, 2005 10:28pm | #1

   Hi Frank. Essentially there is no difference between the smoother and the jack. They are just different lengths and widths. The longer the plane the better it is at removing irregularities and the shorter it is the easier it is to smooth [hide indescrepancies]. If all I owned was a block plane and a smoother I would choose either a #7 or a #8. The jack in my opinion is a bit of a compromise plane. It is short enough to smooth and long enough to joint. You already have 2 smoothers so I wouldn't buy something so short. Hope this is of some help.        Peter

2. 
   Midnight | Apr 26, 2005 11:17pm | #2

   Frank... it's difficult to advise which is best for your needs without knowing what your needs are....

   Traditionally Jack planes are the workhorses of a plane collection. When prep'ing boards by hand, jacks take over where scrubs leave off, their purpose is to refine the rough shape of the board, getting rid of the worst of any cup or twist and leveling the board enough to let the long bed jointing planes to their stuff...

   In the absence of a scrub plane, a course set Jack with an aggressively cambered blade can be pressed into service as first tool to hit a rough sawn board, but it's gonna take a while using it to get enough shape into the board to let a jointer at it...

   To my mind, there isn't really enough of a difference between a smoother and Jnr jack to make buying the 5 1/4 worthwhile; narrower blade, only just longer and roughly the same weight to me spells large(ish) smoother rather than workhorse...

   I'd tend to agree with Peter... I'd go with something much bigger for your next plane; if you want a jack, go for a full blown one... either a 5 or 5 1/2 or their low angle equivalents. Failing that... as Peter said...a good 7

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

3. 
   alanplanesaw | Apr 27, 2005 04:35am | #3

   I have to agree with the others -- all depends on what you want to use it for.   The jack -- no. 5 -- is a handy all around plane.  The 5 and 1/4 was made, I understand, to market to high school shops.  If I had only a 4, a 5, and block plane, my next would be a jointer -- a 7 or 8. 

   The longer the plane, the flatter your long board will be.  Same concept as the longer bed on a jointer.

   A short plane has more opportunity to create ever so slight hills and valleys in a board. 

   have fun

   Alan - planesaw

4. 
   Teddy523 | Apr 28, 2005 06:23am | #4

   Thanks all for the info on bench planes - I think I'll go for the Veritas #6 fore plane