First Plane?

[DonkeyHody]

OK Folks, they say confession is good for the soul. So I decided to come clean.

I don't own a plane. There, I said it. But I don't feel much better.

All this time I've been masquerading as a fairly accomplished woodworker (to my lay friends anyway) and I don't even own a plane. Oh I have lots of nice machines. Thickness planer, yes, power plane too, but not one honest neander plane.

Being self-taught instead of instructed, I have just blundered along, somehow managing to turn out some stuff that I wasn't ashamed of by making do with what I had.

I have decided that the woodworking gods must be appeased and they won't let my skills progress any farther until I have made the sacrifice and purchased a plane, and learned to tune and use it.

Question is, what should I buy, seeing as how I'm still a virgin (plane-wise). I'd rather not buy something from the BORG that I'll outgrow in a year. I don't yet have the skills to really appreciate a fine piece of equipment, but I'm willing to fork over the dough and grow into it. I just don't want to blunder into some specialty item that's not versitile enough.

OK, enough grovelling, what say you?

DonkeyHody "Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him."

[Swingman]

Really depends upon what you do in the wooddorking realm. I don't own many, but the most useful for what I do (lots of drawer fitting/tweaking where joints were supposed to meet, etc.) is a Veritas 'Low Angle Block Plane'.

Depending upon your age, basically the same that could be said about the females in your life ... tis' a thing of great beauty, and a joy to hold.

You might want to check out Steve Knight's site also, and get his advice based on your anticipated usage.

[DonkeyHody]

What I build depends on what SWMBO decides she needs. Almost always some furniture item. Fitting and tweaking are the uses I forsee now. I don't envision myself going neander and using a hand plane instead of my planer or jointer, or anything like that.

DonkeyHody

[squarei4dtoolguy]

The Borg has a Buck brand plane that looks similar to a #5 Stanley. Or if you would prefer something smaller, a #220 Stanley block plane was my first plane when I was 11 or 12. They're cheap, but they have precise adjustment of the cutting iron depth. Should be in the $20 to $25 range. The block planes can be used with one hand if you don't try to cut too deep.

Otherwise, a USED cessna 4 seat can be had for about the same $ as a new P-up truck.

Tom in KY, *-bay is a good place to look around and see what has been available all of this time that you have been planeless.

[Teamcasa]

"DonkeyHody"

snip

Knight-Toolworks

handmade wooden planes

You won't be disappointed. Dave

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[PCProffitt]

I'm sure there will be lots of opinions on this, but the one plane I'd like to have would be something equivalent to a Stanley 112 scraper plane. Knowing how much fun most people have with finishing, being able to get the surface smoother faster is a great advantage. So if any of you have a Stanley 112 (or even a 212) or a LV version that you don't want I'll be glad to send you my address and I'll even pay the shipping. Just send it on over.

[WillR]

Pull planes Taiwanese style -- and get their brass hammer..

are inexpensive for a set of four and very good. I find them very=20 fast to adjust -- after some practice.

See Lee Valley Planes here...

styles. I have tried most and they are all nice.

Note that you can get all the Taiwanese planes for the price of one=20 metal plane. I have used the planes on all my precision projects and am=20 very pleased.

We also have the contour planes, the micro planes and a Stanley=20 smoother, a block plane etc. The metal push-style planes mostly gather=20 dust now. They do still get used occasionally.

Even a push style plane takes lots of practice... The pull planes take a =

bit less. They are _not_ for "hogging off" wood.

You can just search for plane and see all the stuff. Their metal planes=20 are superb...

want the "router" plane for inlay, and a plane for M&T work. Metal or=20 wood. Send a donation. :-)

--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art

power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those=20 who have not got it.=94 George Bernard Shaw

[George]

LV low-angle block plane. It's the best all-round wood trimming device since the knife. You can even bypass two grades of sandpaper by running it on the surface of a board.

Could you get by with a Record or Stanley? Perhaps, but the LV is as close to a sure thing as you can get, and the others are risky at more than half the price..

Then, depending on your particular type of work, you get what you need. Smooth, of course is great for flat work, but the turner wants a scrub, and the guy with a mortising machine needs a shoulder or rabbet block....

[Leon]

I highly recommend a Knight Toolworks Plane. Like others have indicated Steve can assist with the type you should use. I have 3 of his and use the Smoother a lot. I do not have a problem with burning wood when ripping but every once in a while there are times when you have a piece of lumber that burns when you rip it. The smoother cleans that burn up with little effort and quickly. Drawer sides a smidge too tall? Use the smoother to tweak it.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

My first plane was a Stanley shoulder plane. I had a specific need for it, but it is used much less than my Lee Valley low angle block plane.

Doing it over, I'd much rather have a Lee Valley shoulder plane than the Stanley. It took a lot of work to tune and sharpen the Stanley, the LV was good to go right out of the box. Ed

[Enoch Root]

You don't (IMHO) grow out of planes from the Borg... you grow in to them as you learn to compensate for their bogosity.

Get a jack plane... it's a jack-of-all-trades kinda thing.

er

[Enoch Root]

In that case a (good) block plane would work.

er

[Enoch Root]

I bought that plane and had a negative plane aversion for long after. It was bowed in the middle of the sole raising the mouth high above the work and, as a consequence, I could only take too much or not enough material from the workpiece. I didn't know enough about planes to correct that, of course.

er

[David]

I remember when I asked this question of the Wreckers a 2 years ago. I ended up buying a LV low angle smoother. The cool thing about a bevel up plane is that you can transform them from low angle to York pitch (50 degree) by swapping out the blade. Fit, finish, durability, usability of the LV planes (Veritas brand) is superb. You'll never regret buying any Veritas plane. From that beginning, I got a medium shoulder plane, a scraper plane (use it a LOT), then a large shoulder plane and low angle block plane. Just got a 22" jointer. That's a remarkable tool to joint an edge or flatten a surface. I don't know how I got along so long without it. Santa will probably bring me a std. block plane and a bevel up jack plane (with the extra high angle blade ).

I used to wonder why guys had planes numbering in the dozens. Now I know why! Seriously, a block plane or a bevel up plane around 9-12 inches would be a good start. When you get tear out, pop in a high angle blade (you can only do that in a bevel up plane to make the effective angle change).

Dave

[Morris Dovey]

| Question is, what should I buy, seeing as how I'm still a virgin | (plane-wise). I'd rather not buy something from the BORG that I'll | outgrow in a year. I don't yet have the skills to really | appreciate a fine piece of equipment, but I'm willing to fork over | the dough and grow into it. I just don't want to blunder into some | specialty item that's not versitile enough.

I'd suggest a low-angle block plane. If you can afford two, get the LV low-angle smoothing plane, too. I've got about a dozen planes and these are the two most used.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[squarei4dtoolguy]

All of this discussion had confirmed what I thought all along. Those of us who do use hand powered planes usually have many. We just have our favorites close at hand when it counts. I have a BUNCHA' planes, I still have the little Stanley block plane. It rides to work with me every day. In my shop though, I like an old Stanley #5 Jack for smoothing and short board jointing (1 by Whatever material), an old Stanley 60 1/2 for end grain (it's a small low angle block plane), and a BIG OLD # 7 STANLEY JOINTER! On about the fifth pass I can bring a continuous curly from one end to the other on a 2x4. Wax the sole and the blade and set it shallow. You can hang the curls on your kids ears.

Tom in KY, Keeping the shop interesting for the little ones. I also keep a Stanley 101 in my tool belt. Still working on getting a cessna plane. ;-)

[Andy]

I'm fairly new to the world of hand planing as well, and I'll second the recommendation of a Steve Knight plane - I have his Pocket plane and his Jack plane, and they're both great. I'd recommend the Pocket or one of his Smoothers to start with - email him with what you need and he'll hook you up, and if you ask really nice, maybe give you a discount on your first one. Not only are they wonderfully functional, but they're beautiful as well... I have one in purpleheart and the other is padauk - wow. I've also heard nothing but really good things about Lee Valley planes, but have yet to get one. Andy

[Tyke]

You do not state what kinds of tasks you want to try with a hand plane. Asking "what kind of first plane" without considering the tasks is a very open question with no single answer.

Do you a) want to be able to flatten the surface or edge of rough cut lumber? b) do you want to be able to plane glued up stock? c) do you want to be able to avoid sanding? d) do you want to be able to remove small bumps from a piece? e) do you want to be able to clean up dadoes and tenons?

I think you get the drift. Many people have already given good advise on places to purchase your first place.

My first plane was a Stanley 9-1/2 (small block plane). This sat in a cupboard for a couple of decades since I thought power planing and sanding was easier. I was wrong. This is a good little plane for cleaning up small bumps, rounding corners and tasks where bed length is not needed.

For the kind of planing tasks which I do, I find hand planing almost therapeutic. Seeing the shavings is so much better than seeing dust in the air.

A couple of years ago I went into a woodoworking store to buy my first plane (technically second, but first for over 20 years). I also had not considered the types of tasks. I asked the sales person what type of plane I should buy and he was equally unable to answer.

I ended up buying a Record "Jack" plane (the company is no longer in business), equivalent to a Stanley #5 about 14 in long. This is fine for many tasks. I ended up getting a LV A2 blade. What a difference.

I then purchased a LV Scraper plane, a LV Low Angle Smooth Plane, a LV Medium Shoulder Plane a LV Chisel Plane (used in lieu of scraper to remove glue excess). I am now awaiting delivery of a LV Router Plane.

I love the feel of the LV shoulder plane, but its 3/4in blade and short body mean it only gets used for its intended purpose cleaning out dadoes or tenons.

The plane I used most is the LV Low Angle Smooth Plane.

I still use the power planer for surfacing rough cut lumber, but I now use the hand planes as often as I can.

Dave Paine.

[Dave Jackson]

(snip) I don't envision myself going neander and using a hand plane instead of

After using a few good hand planes, you may be swayed a little more towards neanderism . There are some things that are far easier to do with a hand plane. I'd recommend a shoulder plane to start, it'll trim those tenons to perfection. A low angle block plane is also a good uggestion. --dave

[DonkeyHody]

Thanks to all who replied so quickly. Truth is, I have gotten along without a plane for so long that I'm not really sure what I need one for. It's sort of like, before I bought my first computer, I wasn't sure why I needed one. But those who had them assured me that once I owned one, I'd find all sorts of uses for it and that I'd never be without one again - and they were right.

Those of you who speak so poetically about the joys of using a good plane make it sound like some majical experience akin to watching the sun rise. I want to experience some of that, and find out what I've been missing.

Right now, I expect a block plane would be more useful to me than any other, but I wanted to get a reality check before I plunked down the cash for a Lie-Nelson or even a Knight or Lee Valley.

DonkeyHody "Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him." - Thomas Carlyle