Morning all,
Came up with some mad money and want to add another plane to my arsenal. I have a Stanley NO 4 (old refurbished w/hock blade) and LN Block plane, a LN Large scraper plane.
I mainly use planes for final work and not so much dimensioning lumber. With that being the case, what would you guys add next. Please let me know, I would like to pick one up on the way home tonight because my wife said I could work in the woodshop ALL WEEKEND!!!! Yippee!
Jeff
Replies
It would seem that the logical choice would be a tool that you need to do a job at hand or at least one you expect to be doing soon. If you don't need a specific tool then just buy whatever looks interesting, they are all useful for something.
John W.
John,
Would you believe that I may want to pickup a 41/2 or 5 LN which might perform better than my Stanley #4? It seems to work ok, but it doesn't work as well as some others that I see.
The reasons I ask are because I am fairly new to handtools but am getting addicted quick. Maybe some other folks here have gone through the process and would like to share their experience so I could save some money?
IE: Which planes they bought and in what order and which ones they bought that they should not have.
Woodman,
Sounds like you're traveling down the same path I've gone..although I like my power tools (including a Sawstop) I find hand tools more intriguing...my first plane was a new Stanley bullnose for cleaning up rabbets...seemed like a decent plane and I couldn't figure out why everyone put down Stanleys...then I bought a Lie Nielson 4 1/2 and a new day dawned...I then bought a LV low angle jack plane that I use almost exclusively for shooting boards...the LN low angle block plane (mine has an adjustable mouth but I don't think that's a necessity) was next and one of the most useful in my collection...recently I bought a LN medium shoulder plane that I also use quite a bit ...I've heard others who like the LV version better...I have a skew plane I use for the "140 trick" taught by Rob Cosman for making dovetails that I haven't found that useful and on a whim, bought a chisel plane I use for cleaning up glue on the inside of drawers...I'd put that one down a bit on the must have scale...I also have an ECE fillister plane that's useful for making rabbets...more fun than using the router....it's kinda funny that ayear and ahalf ago I had to think long and hard about spending $500 on a DeWalt planer and now I have more than twice that invested in handplanes..woodworking is a whole lot more expensive than my other hobbies (running and gardening) but it sure is enjoyable. Good Luck and have fun.
Neil
WM,
I would consider LNs rabbet block plane. It can be used for light rabbeting or triming after roughing the rabbet out on other tools, for general trimming work and even as an occasional shoulder rabbet or for tenon cheeks.
Best,
David C
For finish work, I use a #2 quite a bit.
If you wanna get adventurous, get a jointer plane and learn how to use it. Next to squaring/flattening stock, joining boards is the most common task. Learning to use a jointer will move you a long way down the road to hand tool skills.
Another plane I enjoy working with is an old Record rabbet plane. I grab that for all sorts of stuff -- even rabbets once in a while. ;-)
I love my LN 4-1/2, but that's almost redundant with your present tool.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Mike,
Even though I have a Stanley #4, I could not resist the weight and gorgeous machineing of the LN 4 1/2. I bought it at lunch!!! Oh well, at least I can admit Im addicted to handtools.
Jeff
The 4-1/2 is a nice plane, and LN certainly takes care to make beautiful, as well as functional, tools. You'll enjoy using it, I'm sure. IIRC, they made this model for a while in bronze. I wish those had been available at the time I picked mine up.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Woodman
How about a Stanley No. 1?
Send me a box, stuffed with $100 bills, and I'll find you one. :-)
Why do you want another plane? You already have one.
Why not a biscuit joiner?
How about DowelMax?
What about a Dubby?
Have you seen the Veritas all-metal router table?
How about a sliding table for your table saw?
A pattern makers vise?
More Bessey clamps?
How about a Swedish au pair who is also interested in woodwork?
There are so many ways to spend money.
Don't just automatically think you need another plane.
You can learn more if you buy more videos on woodworking.
But to watch them, you need a big screen TV.
Also a nice Home Theater sound system, and a nice easy chair. All those things are necessary for increasing woodworking skills.
Let me know which you choose.
Ah, what the heck, get the Stanley No. 1!
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
For versitility, I'd go with the Swedish au pair.
CajunDan, my friend,
My first choice is also the Swedish au pair. It just took me a long time to make a list.
Laissez les bon temps rollez!
CajunMel (not really, but I love the food)
There weren't too many Cajuns up in Connecticut when I grew up there.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
I would go with a good shoulder plane. I have a LN adjustable mouth block, a LN #4 Bronze smoother and just picked up a Lee Valley Medium shoulder. They are a must have for many joinery projects and can be used where other planes cannot.
A number 51/2 is most versatile, but you could get away with that number 4 for the time being for furniture making. So I advocate a router plane like Stanley or Record number 71 or 071 respectively. I have yet to grasp the Veritas version, but it looks mighty fine.
When you get a 51/2 you will find that most of the rest of the herd goes to pasture-especially those little block planes....
I'd go for a L-N No. 7, it can do just about everything well. In fact many British woodworkers use a jointer plane almost exclusivley.
"I mainly use planes for final work and not so much dimensioning lumber." Never to tune up a tenon? I'll second the shoulder plane idea -- it's certainly the most frustrating to not have for me, LOL.
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