what for #4

[rickluce]

I recently read an article that stated every serious woodworker must have a #4 plane...bias aside, what are my fellow woodworkers using there #4 planes for. Your responses will be appreciated.

don

[Andy Dingley]

Not "must have", just "will inevitably collect". They're the wire coathanger of woodwork - leave a dark cupboard alone for long enough and they'll spontaneously breed in there.

As I posted just last week, one hangs outdoors on a string and pulls a gate shut.

[charlie b]

Planing 4x4s?

#5 for planing 5x5s etc.

The #18 is ludicrously heavy and takes four to six grown men to use. The curlies are used to make Shaker boxes and. if the wood's really nice, veneer.

Did I take all the mystery out of bench planes for you? So obvious isn't it?

Of course the specialty plane numbering system is still a mystery to me though I've got a 45, 47, 71 and a few others. Steve Knight should start lettering his planes - using the Greek alphabet - just to be different. Is your marketing director listening Steve?

charlie b

[Guess who]

I use one set low for surfacing small bits of wood, and set a bit deeper for doing edge bevels. I like the size and feel. "Chacun a son gout."

[woodworker88]

Everything. I only have a stanley bailey #4. I hope to get a stanley block or lo angle block soon. Maybe even a 10" jointer

[AAvK]

HEH!... everybody jokes because that plane is the most common on Earth and is still being made by four or five companies, 6? 7?

Lie-Nielson, US (excellent) Lee Valley's Veritas brand, Canada (excellent) Clifton, England (excellent) Stanley, England (so-so) Anant, India (who knows) Groz, India (who knows) True Values "Master Mechanic" garbage brand, China and probably Great Neck's garbage brand, China

And wooden bodied smoothers made by HNT Gordon in Australia and Steve Knight of Knight toolworks, US. And several Japanese makers.

The Stanleys and other less known brands in that size are practically a_dime_a_ dozen on eBay. You could get a fairly decent looking one there for very little, I have two #4 Stanleys, one of which I paid $7.99 (+ S/H) on eBay.

The "smooth plane" #'s 3 and 4 are for initial work, use them to take down the highest hills on the surface, then a longer plane, #6 to level the hills to the valleys, then the longest jointer plane, #'s 7 and 8, for final work, and a perfect surface.

This is what electric jointer and planer/thicknesser machines do these days.

Of course, just to remove matrial on a small piece, the #4 is perfect for that too. One must have a "stop" on a bench, for the wood to go up against on one end, it is also desirable to have it fully clamped. Good luck!

[Joe_Stein]

[Richard Clements]

I use mine for everything from rounding the rod to my shelf/curten hanger to smoothing glued up panels

[Guess who]

...or a good wood vice. I came across a great one for $5 at a house sale.

...or a shooting board, or other form of guide.

I have to admit that although I do like it, I came across mine at a yard sale for $2, rusted, but no deep pits. So I spent a day cleaning it up, and repainting the metal, and she's again a tool. Came across an old Sargent No 3415 the other day, and just finished cleaning that one, and trimming the 15" x 2 3/4" wooden base slightly to get rid of some scratches. Still some work to do, but it's got to go on the back burner for a day or two. Damn, I love yard sales, flea markets and junk shops [sometimes called antique stores].

[Morris Dovey]

I wondered about that, too. It turns out that baby oil is the residue from making baby powder.

(-:

-- Morris

[Robert Bonomi]

When you're too far from the green for a #3 ??

[CW]

Not much. Most usefull sizes, for me, are a block plane and a #5.

[AAvK]

Yeah... and Stein means Stone too.

Alex

[AAvK]

Baby oil comes from Babies of course, DAMHIKT, but I do not know about the extraction process.

Alex

[mac davis]

mine's doing a great job holding a stack of sand paper.. haven't had a wrinkle or crease in years..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Juergen Hannappel]

[...]

extraction process.

That is described in the classic short story by Ambrose Bierce "Oil of Dog"...

[Joe C]

Robert,

Don't you mean too far from the green for a #5????

I think I found the problem with your golf game.

:-)

jc

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 12:12:19 +0200, the inscrutable Juergen Hannappel spake:

extraction process.

ROTFLMAO!

one can't help but love the deep, dank, dark output of a skilled wordsmith.

I wonder if the "dead baby jokes" were Bierce's doing, too...

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[Dave in Fairfax]

AAvK wrote: snip

Sorry, the longer planes take the tops off "waves" in the boards. The shorter ones are then used to finish the work.

Dave in Fairfax

[Highland Pairos]

ROTFLMAO

SteveP.