Plane

[doozer]

I was just reading a thread about planes and it reminded me that I was going to ask you guys about them. I'm no expert with wood at the moment so take it easy with the technical stuff :o) (I've made book shelves and a cupboard but they have been bulky and lacking finesse).

I was up at the NEC a little while back for the home and house building show and I saw a French guy there selling the "Wonder Boy Plane" (or something like that) it was a small plane that took Stanley knife blades and came in a kit with had various attachments to convert it into different types of plane. I really liked the look of it but I thought I would find out more first so I didn't get one there and then thinking I could pick one up on line. So does anyone know what I am talking about and where I could get one? If you do know and think they are pants what would you suggest as an alternative?

If it's any help it was similar in design to this

but it looks better built.

Many Thanks Graham

[EricP]

I would regard them as junk for all but very simple work like putting a 2 mil chamfer on an edge of softwood.

I suppose sharpening is your problem? It certainly is mine.

This has been my salvation over the years:

decent oil stone or even wet/dry on a firm work surface works well with one of these.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A Stanley knife blade simply isn't rigid enough for a serious plane. Nor is it sharp enough.

[doozer]

I'm not saying your wrong but there was a lengthy demonstration which seemed to indicate that the blade was easily sharp enough. I admit that he may have sharpened it a little more before hand but I don't think so.

As for it not being rigid enough it was pretty firmly held in place so that only the blade portion was exposed. I would be surprised if strength was an issue.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

These demonstrations are always designed to show the product at its best. So nothing to do with real life use. ;-)

Well, just look at the average plane blade. It's supported as close to the cutting edge as possible. But is many, many times thicker than a Stanley knife blade.

[Paul Mc Cann]

In the back, the very back, of my tool cupboard is a Stanley replaceable blade rebate plane I bought many years ago. It never worked for me. Chatter was the main problem, which is of course down to both the thickness of the blade and the clamping system, frog etc.

[doozer]

Ok I'm convinced. I didn't buy one at the show simply because I have seen other people buy "wonder tools" that turned out to just be rubbish. I am of the opinion that after several hundred years of refinement the plane is probably close n as good as it's going to get.

Anyway can someone point me in the direction of some decent planes at affordable prices ;o) and perhaps tell me what to look for in a good plane?

Thanks.

[Andy Hall]

Have a look at

Navigate through Hand Tools --> Planes, Spokeshaves and Scrapers -->

Planes, Bench

I would avoid the really cheap Axminster own brand ones.

The Stanley ones are reasonable and I also read a reasonable review of the Footprint ones.

If you really do want a wonder tool that is not a "wonder tool" then look at the Lie-Nielsen planes. Whether you think that they are affordable depends on your budget of course :-)

[Andrew Gabriel]

^^^^^^^ Several thousand years actually -- the romans used them.

What do you want it for? Nowadays, I mostly use an electric plane, but they aren't suitable for everything. 20 years ago, I used a hand plane quite often, but on more recent attempts to do so, I find I can't use it any more. Not sure if it's because I've forgotten how to, or if it just doesn't suit todays fast produced timber with the grain going in all directions. I also have a spokeshave for going into corners.

[Chris Bacon]

Perhaps you'd care to expand on that superficially wrong statement?

[doozer]

I intend to try my hand at furniture making things like cupboards and book shelves etc etc for personal use. I'm just learning at the moment though so I am making little things like letter stands and trivets. If an electric plane + spoke shaves is the way forward I'm happy with that. The less hard work I have to do by hand the better :o)

[Chris Bacon]

Buy a couple of second-hand steel planes (e.g. "Record" 4 1/2 + a larger one), which are reasonable. Make sure you know how to sharpen and set them for various types of timber and work. Keep them sharp, too, this is very very important! I don't know what A.G. means above about "a spokeshave for going into corners", as this isn't what they're for. There are all sorts of planes and uses for them, but two (or three) will certainly do you for now.

[RichardS]

Haven't looked specifically for planes recently, but eBay used to be a pretty good source for reasonably priced planes if you know what you're looking for.

Patrick Leach's "blood and gore" webpages are a fairly good intro to Stanley Bailey planes - history and model numbers.

further reading, "The handplane book" by Garrett Hack has a lot of info on tuning and what to look for when buying planes, it's also a very nice coffee table book showing the beauty and diversity of hand planes. There is also a lot of info on using planes in there.

Other than that, just google around a bit.

has a fairly useful collection of links (tho if you're going to be reading around the subject you've really got to get the terminology right - replace the word "blade" with "iron" when reading this page!!!).

[Andrew Gabriel]

In that case, I'm probably using the wrong name for the wrong tool. It's a plane with almost no base in front of the blade, and handles sticking out either side.

[dave stanton]

And a lesson I learnt from my time served cabinet maker father. Never, ever, put a plane down on its base, always put it down on its side. THat way you dont ruin the edge of the blade. Get a clip around the ear everytime you do that and you never forget.

Dave

[Rob Morley]

That's a spokeshave, but it's intended to be drawn towards you for forming rounded edges - things like the spokes on old cartwheels, as the name suggests.

[Andrew Gabriel]

father's) is the Stanley #4, apparently manufactured from 1869-1984.

[RichardS]

Probably the most common of all hand planes. But, there are #4s and there are #4s....

I have two.

One is a brand new Stanley Handyman, given to me as a present a couplle of years ago - not up to much really fine-woodworking-wise, but with a little iron tuning and proper adjustment (as much as can be adjusted on a handyman) it does a reasonable job as a rough joiner's plane - shaving down tops of doors, adjusting high spots on joists, etc. Even at that, it's a bit of a pig to use.

The other one is a different beast altogether. Bought from eBay for far less than the price of a new one, its a '30s or '40s Bailey (straight slot on the cap iron rather than the later kidney shaped one, other patent date stamps and give-aways, but I can't remember the exact type number (read "revision")), with a "sweetheart" iron. Didn't need much cleaning up, but the iron needed a little sorting out. Sharpened it up using the "scarey sharp" method (sheet of glass & abrasive papers), tuned the cap iron a bit, adjusted everything properly. It's an absolute gem, planes like a dream and the iron keeps it's edge during extended planing sessions.

Electric planes may be functional & save a lot of time when doing rough joinery, but I wouldn't let one within a million miles of any finer work.....

[Andy Hall]

An electric plane is really too aggressive for that, plus there is an amount of "disconnect" from the work. A well sharpened and tuned hand plane is a much better proposition. In fact, it's worth getting two or three of different sizes depending on the work.

If you are looking to make things "mechanically accurate" then woodworking machines such as table saw, planer, thicknesser etc. are the way to go.

I find that I need a combination of both depending on the project.

Electric planes are suited to rough DIY work but are neither a sensitive device for hand work nor an accurate one for producing machined pieces.

[doozer]

Cheers, I didn't think an electric plane was the right tool for the job as they always looked to bulky for fine work. As for table saws etc etc I am getting round to them. I can't afford the outlay at the moment but as I move onto bigger jobs I think I'll just have to.