Howdy,
Newbie quesiton for neanderthals and their sympathizers: I have access to stanley No. 4 and No. 5 hand planes. My goal is to be able to mill poplar hardwood four-square with hand tools. I have budget enough for either a used No. 40 scrub plane or a used No. 7 jointer plane. Any recommendations?
Bonus Question (extra credit): If I buy quasi-smooth but not flat, lumber from a place like Home Depot, can I get away without using a scrub plane?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
John
# 7 jointer, You'll wish you had it if you buy the scrubber. Besides, by the time you get done with that # 7, you may have the money for the Scrub.
Maybe you could smooth with a # 4, then use a scraper.
Tom in KY, Neander and all :-)
"Mighty Quinn" wrote in news:1137268841.490983.139550 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
I use the jointer plane much more frequently than the scrub. What you build, and where you obtain your semi-raw materials would influence what you should do next. If you buy BORG materials, I don't see that the scrub would be all that useful to you yet.
Patriarch
Go for the #7. If you later decide you need a scrub, you can cobble one together without too much trouble. Don't need a lot of manufacturing precision. Of buy another old iron for the #4, grind it convex, and move the frog back to open the mouth when you need a scrub.
Making a workable jointer plane, while certainly doable, is not an easy novice project.
Besides, I think you would get more use from the #7.
Yes. But get the flattest you can, and cut to near final dimensions before flattening to minimize the amount of material you have to remove.
You can put in a blade that's ground convex, set the chip breaker back and open the mouth all the way on either the #4 or #5 and pretend it's a scrub. You can't add 6" inches to them and pretend they are jointers. In fact you can even wait until another #4 mysteriously shows up in the shop (which it will) and dedicate whichever one is worse to the task.
-Leuf
Or if you can find one, an old #8.
On 14 Jan 2006 12:00:41 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, "Mighty Quinn" quickly quoth:
#7. And pick up a copy of Alex Bealer's "Old Ways of Working Wood" while you're shopping, maybe $2 on eBay.
Definitely.
---------------------------------------------- Never attempt to traverse a chasm in two leaps
I did just that, and it serves me quite well (although every time I see a scrub plane, I lust after it, but then, I have two jointers already).
Get the best one. If you can't afford lots, at least get one you can hang onto and won't be looking to replace within a year. Neither is so expensive that you can't plan to afford both fairly soon.
You'll probably find the #7 to be more valuable to have. This isn't because it's more useful (I use my scrub plane far more) but because you can easily make your own scrub plane. Get a dog-rough $5 yard-sale #4 (a #3 is even better), open the mouth up and sharpen the iron (even a recent Stanley iron is good enough) with about three times as much crown on it as you think it could possibly need. Then refinish the handles, because if you're scrub planing you can be putting a ot of work into that plane and you want a finish (Danish oil IMHO) which doesn't wear your skin off.
Obviously don't do this to a decent plane, or a Sweetheart iron...
Pardon my ignorance, but what's a "scrub plane"?
I have a nice Record #5 jack plane, and I've considered getting a jointer plane for surfacing tabletops, but my #5 does such a nice job I can't justify the co$t...
plane for surfacing tabletops, but my #5 does such a
It removes lots of wood down to the dimensions you want, or just before. It's got a very thick blade and wide open mouth. It's a "material remover" from hell.
Makers:
Buy this book:
If you look at this book at the same site, he's using a scrubber right on the cover:
wood remover. Steve's massive irons are incredible.
OK well there is another one, I had forgotten.
Thanks. Judging from the photo on the cover of the book you referenced, it looks like the iron is sharpened to be "round" (convex), no?
That's exactly it. It's called a "crowned" cutting edge. It can be sharpened on a concave slipstone by hand, and a 'spinning or not' leather strop, use rendered beef fat (small amount) and cheap emery cake abrasive in the leather.
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