Which Hand Plane Next?

[Never Enough Money]

Although there is "never enough money" for a tool collector like me, I have permission from SWMBO to purchase another hand plane (she gets an equivalently valued item as part of the deal).

I already have the following: Lie-Nielson adjustable mouth bench plane Lee Valley Veritas Medium shoulder plane Steve Knight coffin smoother (it's on order) Lie-Nielson 4.5 bench plane Lie-Nielson small chisel plane

Now I'm considering: The new Lee Valley Veritas bullnose shoulder plane Lie-Nielson skew block plane an edge plane from LN or LV. a joiner from LN, LV, of Knight toolworks. ECE moving fillister

Replies from Mr. Lee and Mr. Knight are welcomed but will probably be considered ever so slightly biased.

Given that I'm doing a lot of tenon and mortises, rabbits, and dados, I suspect the joiner planes are a lower priority. Besides I have a electric 6" joiner. My router, joiner, planer, and table saw gets me most of the way, I just clean up afterward with handtools..... The woods I use are maple, lyptus, and occassionally zebrawood and white oak. Have not tried other woods (yet). I use a lot of the birch veneer plywood (the good stuff with 14 layers) for panels.

What say y'all? I'm itching to spend a couple hundred dollars but to maximize my investment.

[AArDvarK]

A Stanley 248a dado and groover ay? With all the blades? Alex

[Andy Dingley]

So save it, or buy some timber.

The only thing you seem to be missing there is a LV low angle block (I put more miles on this than any other plane) and a scraper plane (#112 or #80) to take the planer marks off your timber.

[patriarch]

[e-mail] (Never Enough Money) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

A cool set of chisels?

And how much use do you get from the LN small chisel plane? I bought one, because I really needed it for one special project, but haven't picked it up since, except to clean around it.

Patriarch

[John McCoy]

[e-mail] (Never Enough Money) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

If you don't already have a good block plane, I'd say getting one of those should be top priority.

If, on the other hand, you do have a good block plane (and I'm guessing you mis-typed "bench" for "block" in the first of your "already haves"), and you say you have a shoulder plane, so you might consider the L-N 98/99 pair. Surprisingly useful little dudes for rabbets & dadoes.

The L-N 140 would also be a good choice for adjusting larger tenons. Also useful if you ever intend to build a boat.

I haven't found too much use for bullnose shoulder planes. Maybe it's just me, but I've found it simpler to work up to an edge with a chisel.

John

[Robin Lee]

Given what you have now - my biased vot'd be for a skew block...

Wait a sec....we don't have one of those.....

:)

Given what you have now - my biased vot'd be for a skew block...

Wait a sec....we don't have one of those.....

:)

[patriarch]

"Robin Lee" wrote in news:LW22d.15537$ [e-mail]:

Why not? And any news on the next releases?

BTW, the LA Smoother is superb....

Patriarch, who hasn't talked himself into the new larger shoulder plane. Yet.

[mp]

Hmm....

I wonder if that falls into the category of "subtle hint".

[Never Enough Money]

Oh, I use the chisel plane mostly to pick glue out of corners. Also to help trim up pieces AFTER they are built. It is not used often but neither are my other planes. I only build about two pieces of furniture a year.

Just which chisels are you recommending?

[Never Enough Money]

I have a Veritas scraper, I forgot to mention... Thanks. I do not have a scraper plane, they look nice although I've heard they're tricky to use.....

Regarding timber, I've got stacks of "I'll use this beautiful wood someday" in my garage. So your other option ("save it") might be the best chioce of all....

[Steve Knight]

(G) looks like you got some pretty good advice a block plane is good choice and a joiner right now may not be needed. but I do make moving fillister planes and in a week or two a side rabbet plane

9G)

[patriarch]

[e-mail] (Never Enough Money) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You had asked recently about the LN set. I bought those recently, and have been using them on hand cut dovetails (practice, so far) and cleaning up mortices in an Arts & Crafts-inspired blanket/bench table. (That's been in process for at least a year.)

The chisels are, as everything else I've ever used from LN, absolutely a joy to use. The balance and feel are several orders of magnitude above Marples Blue Chips, which are acceptable for many tasks. I have no basis for comparision with premium options from other vendors.

If you really want a handplane, one of my favorites is a Stanley #3, from the early 1920's. Bought it from Patrick Leach early last summer. $90 + the shipping. Or a Stanley #6 fore, same vendor, unused until I got it, almost 50 years old. $135 + shipping. These two get used on almost every project.

Or, as Andy says, treat yourself to some premium timber.

Patriarch

[Never Enough Money]

Yes I did mistype -- should have been "Lie-Nielson adjustable mouth bench plane".

[Never Enough Money]

Is one in design?

BTW, the median shoulder plane you built me is very nice. I use it a lot.

[Never Enough Money]

BTW, Mr. Lee, I have about two business trips a year to Montreal. One of these days I plan to take the train to Quebec to visit your show room.... I was in Quebec city last January (very cold). Hiked around the old fort in the bitter cold wind but had a great time anyway. Both Montreal and Quebec city are real jewels.

[Rodney]

Can we take this back a step and state what order I should buy quality planes. I have no desire for anymore machinery. I currently have a bench type plane and a block plane both swiss made Rali brand. Do consider them high quality? They work ok, but need new blades (replaceable). I would like to edge glue better - jointer? Or will a shorter plane work as well? I just ordered a japanese bench plane from LV to give it a try. What is next? I really love the wooden block plane for 69.00 at LV(looks like a primus).

Should I replace what I have, or keep buying new. I do most of my work on a small japanese bench at floor level and only seem to use japanese saws and chisels. I am not bias it just seems to work better for me than standing.

If this post is out of line, I appologize - sorta new, but been lurking for a few months.

nebraska rod

[Jeff Gorman]

"Never Enough Money" wrote

: Although there is "never enough money" for a tool collector like me, I : have permission from SWMBO to purchase another hand plane (she gets an : equivalently valued item as part of the deal).

Is is perhaps better to avoid the embarassment of having to seek permission?

Why not negotiate a percentage of monthly income to spend as each other pleases?

But perhaps this is too intrusive?

Jeff G

[Andy Dingley]

Do you have a bench plane ?

My "toolbag box" of planes is a #4, a #5 and a block. Can't really imagine working without all three. The #5 is the default plane of choice for carpentry, not the #4. #4's are too short to do a really good job here and they're not even very good smoothers. I think we only have them because they grow on trees and breed under dusty benches.

If you're shopping, LV look like the best bet, or get an old eBay clunker and tune it.

[Conan the Librarian]

IMHO, you will want to replace the Rali planes if you plan to do any extensive planing. If you are doing edge-joining of anything longer than a couple of feet, you'll want a jointer plane like an old Stanley #7. (I do most of my edge-jointing with an old Stanley #6 (foreplane), but that's because it was the first longer plane I owned, and I just got used to working with it.)

If you plan to surface wood by hand, the longer plane will also come in handy for flattening boards. Then you'll want a smoother for getting the surface ready for finishing. (I really like the LV low-angle smoother, but some folks report having problems with low-angle planes on tricky grain.)

Also, if you do a lot of handjoinery, there are several planes that will come in handy, such as a rabbet plane (Stanley #78), shoulder plane (check out the new LV offerings here), plough plane (for cutting grooves; my personal favorite is the Record 044), etc.

Finally, you mentioned the wooden block plane. Given that it costs almost $70, I would recommend that you spend a bit more and buy the LV low-angle block. It has an adjustable mouth, tremendous mass, thick iron, very precise adjustment mechanism (based on the Norris style adjuster), side set-screws for ease of adjustment after removing the iron for sharpening, and a body that's well-designed from an ergonomic standpoint. It's become my favorite block plane, and I have ... er ... "a few" to choose from, among them, a crispy old Stanley #60-1/2 and #65.

Obviously, YMMV, as a lot of it comes down to personal preferences. In fact, given your fondness for Japanese methods, there's a whole world of Japanese planes that might be worth exploring.

But I'll leave that to folks who know more about it than I do.

Chuck Vance

[Conan the Librarian]

You've gotten lots of good advice, but I can resist.

Bullnose shoulder plane -- given that you already have a chisel plane, I don't think this is the way I'd go. The only times I ever use the bullnose feature is getting up close to joints for glue removal or other things that could be done easily with a plain old chisel. Since you already have the medium shoulder plane, I see no need for adding this one.

L-N skew block -- I've got that plane, and there are times when it is just the ticket. However, there are also long periods of time when it sits un-used. I'd say it depends on what you anticipated using it for. It's handy for cleaning up cheeks of tenons, but a chisel does that just about as well. It's nice for raising panels, but there are other ways to do that as well. So how did you anticipate using it?

Edge planes -- I don't own any of these, so I can't help here. I do own a Stanley side-rabbet, and I use that about once a year.

A jointer -- I get by just fine with old Stanleys for this. But, if you have your heart set on buying a new plane, I'd recommend the LV. Every time I've compared a plane of theirs side-by-side with a L-N, the LV has come out the winner in price vs. performance. I don't know about Steve's jointers, but just looking at them, I'd say that I wouldn't do too well with them. I like a jointer to have a tote and front knob. Maybe it's just me, but for edge-joining, I don't do well with a wooden plane with only a tote.

The ECE moving fillister -- I haven't used that plane either, but I see no reason why you couldn't get by with an old Stanley #78 (duplex rabbet plane). If you need to cut grooves, a plane like the Record #044 will work just fine.

I realize I haven't been a lot of help. Personally, if I had to choose from the planes you've mentioned, I'd probably go with the skew block plane. But don't expect it to replace a regular low-angle plane, and beware that you will encounter situations where it will tear-out horribly.

Chuck Vance