Survey time - what is your favourite plane?

[Tyke]

Many years ago before I came down with the "disease" I did not own a hand plane. I was content to life in the "power tool" world.

A few years ago I thought I should do a "test" and purchase a hand plane - just to try and get a feel for what the Gallumpers were doing.

I walked into a since-bankrupt Woodworking store and stated I wanted to purchase a hand plane - what did they recommend? The answer was "I do not use these and so cannot give any advise".

Despite the lack of advise I purchased a Record No 5 Jack plane.

I shaved a few pieces of lumber but had not caught the disease at that time.

I later saw the Lee Valley Tools catalog. I looked at the pictures of the other planes which I could purchase. I dreamed of some of these. The dreams became purchases.

I now own a LV Low Angle Smoother, a LV Scraper Plane, a LV Medium Shoulder Plane, and a LV Router Plane.

So I admit, I now have the hand plane disease. I foresee no antidote in the near future. The #6 and Low Angel Jointer are fighting in my brain to be the next purchase. Oh the mental torment.

I love the Low Angle Smoother and recently purchased a high angle blade so now I can make this work almost like the Record #5. OK not quite the same. I purchased a Ron Hock A2 blade for the Record plane from Lee Valley and it transformed the planes performance.

I have to say that I love the Medium Shoulder Plane. It is not practical to use all the time, but I love the feel when it is relevant for a task.

I cannot imagine going back to the "only using power tool" days.

How do you feel?

Dave Paine.

[kk]

...

My L-N No 4 with York pitch frog... always seems to take care of the problem wood nicely for me.

I do gross dimensioning with power tools but the joinery and finishing are generally taken care of with hand tools.

John

[Roy]

I'm just starting to learn....

Stanley #4 type 11 Stanley #80 scraper itty-bitty Miller Falls apron plane

All the above from junk/antique shops or eBay at $5 for the MF, $13 for the #80 including shipping and about $30 for the #4. I'm frugal.

I've got another 8 or 10 around that I haven't used enough to have warm fuzzies about.

Regards, Roy

[Dave Balderstone]

If I HAD to choose:

-- the #8 I inherited when Grampa died.

-- the custom jack/jointer Steve Knight made for me from purpleheart

-- my LV low angle block

[Mark & Juanita]

LN #4 and my LN low-angle block plane get the most use. The LN scraper plane is #3. I'm still struggling with my Knight smoother. I know it's a good plane, but I'm just not there yet with getting it adjusted well enough to give me the results I want.

Yep. Planes and scrapers as best possible

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Edwin Pawlowski]

P-51D without a doubt. Sleek, fast, powerful Everything you'd want in a plane.

[Lobby Dosser]

Favorite is a Stanley 71. It doesn't get much use, but I like the look and feel.

Goto plane is a Rali rabbet plane that has seen more use than any other plane I own. If I need to take off a whisker here and there anywhere on anything, out comes the Rali.

[George]

My favorite is the one that does the job at hand. I have a pretty good stable of choices. Looks go to the LN low-angle, use hours to the old Stanley smoother (someday an LV), unless I'm in turning mode, when my scrub sees a lot of duty tuning up a blank for balance. Bark side is a hornbeam Polish model, clean side an LN which doesn't need any sole grinding.

[Tom Banes]

Stanley Bedrock 603 C with a Hock blade.

LN small rabbet plane that I use as a pocket bench plane.

Knight coffin smoother that I'm learning to adjust. When I get it right (I'm up to 2 times right out of 10 tries!) it is a fantastic wispy curl maker.

[RicodJour]

Horizontal. Particularly when I'm napping. ;)

My Stanley 112 scraper plane - newest acquisition, so of course it's my favorite.

R

[alexy]

An old Stanley #8 that Patrick Leach sent me when I requested a "user". Not a thing of beauty until you start pushing it across the wood. Original iron. Used mainly to take one shaving to perfect the edge coming off of the tailed jointer or final few thou of flattening of a surface after getting darned near flat with my most used plane--a corrugated bottom K5C (Keen Kutter copy of stanley #5C)

[George Berlinger]

I have my Dad`s old plane;

Miller Falls #9......made from 1947-1949....he bought it new. And I have my Father-in Laws old plane a ; Craftsmans ...looks like a #4....1960 era......

[Teamcasa]

"Edwin Pawlowski"

F104 - Best looking plane ever built!

SR17 - Runs a close second

Dave

My veritas low angle block gets the most use. LN#6 fore is my favorite to use.

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[B A R R Y]

I vote that award to the B58 Hustler.

Looks mysteriously like a B1!

But my current favorites are my own single engine Beechcraft C23 Sundowner and my Lee Valley Low Angle block.

[Scott Lurndal]

I would award this designation to the XB-70, rather than the widowmaker.

(FYI - It appears the Air Force took the parts warehoused for the third XB-70 and built a carrier plane for a two-stage-to-orbit project. AvLeak had a good article on it last week.)

Indeed.

scott

[Frank Drackman]

1. LN # *
2. LN Low Angle Block

3 Old English Coffin Smoother

[RicodJour]

Shouldn't that be Olde English? ;)

R

[Enoch Root]

I'm partial to one I made. A single iron (no chip breaker) "Krenov" type just shy of seven inches, with a 2" wide (corners rounded so that's somewhat reduced), 1/4" thick blade, and the primmest little lizard's lip of a mouth: it does very nice things in well behaved wood, and acceptably in even wild maple.

I'm going to try it again using the york pitch for the blade bed (or maybe a bevel up version for more flexibility) and hopefully have something good for the most difficult wood. I have a big slab of cocobolo I got just for tools.

er

[Teamcasa]

Scott

Its hard not to call the XB-70 anything but a very dangerous plane- 50% crash rate. Still it is an exotic looking plane. Dave

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[David]

This is like asking which one of your kids do you love the most! :) My favorite plane is the one I reach for for the task at hand. All of them are Veritas planes...

Dave