An argument for hand planes....educate the newb.

[Joel Runyan]

Short version:

When the shaving in my calipers reads .01mm, and it seems like I could see my reflection in the wood if I could just get the angle right...


Rant:

It's all about ends. I never felt that there was much virtue in singing "This didn't take me much sweat or time at all, and now I get to sell it!" Machines are necessary to make money today, but the comparable hand skills seem to ask much more of a man, and are consequently more impressive in my eyes, and more indicative of the art. There's obviously a limit to that. It might be impressive if a man were able to build a perfect highboy wielding only a dull rock, his fingernails and a horse carcass, but I think most would say he was succeeding in spite of his tools and not because of them. (On the other hand, I can imagine sometime in the future one will just lay some boards on a table, press a button, and a few minutes later, that same highboy will pop out at the other end of the shop. What do we call the button pusher?)

In any case, I believe traditional (insomuch as the last few centuries are concerned) handtools are the perfect marriage of the human body and our capacity for invention. They get us as close as possible to the wood while still allowing us to work it efficiently. There's no better example of this than the handplane.

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes the tight fit trimming precision is what it is all about.

Sometimes it is what can be done with the rough stuff. Today I had to put a back on a fire wood bin. The wood I wanted to use was 3/8 thin scrap salvaged from a pallet. It was warped and rough. It did not need to be dimensionally flat, but I wanted it somewhat smoother and a little better looking. As much cup as some of the pieces had, a joiner or power planer would have been a tough job. A few swipes each with a wide plane had them acceptable in little time.

Though Lie-Nielsen and Lee Valley both make excellent tools, they are a little rich for my blood. They do have good resale value if you change your mind. So do old Stanley/Bailey and especially the Stanley Bedrock planes. If you do not mind the idea about having to learn the in and outs of rehabilitating the old tools, they can be had fairly inexpensively. No matter what you settle on, you will need to learn to sharpen blades. There are also a few reputable dealers of old Stanley planes that for a little more you can get a plane that does not need rehab work.

If you go the old plane route, you may as well learn a few of the tricks in the fine art of fettling, because some day you will want to play with the frog and adjust the throat.

I joke with people about using hand tools because mistakes are made slower.

jim

[David Gendron]

I'll make it short, Peacefullness, Joy, and beauty of the wood!!!
David

[Mike Null]

I agree with David. I have all the power stuff but I'd rather use the plane. There is nothing in woodworking that matches the feel, the sound and the look of a planed surface. Taking off a paper thin ribbon of wood is one of the joys of woodworking.

[Eric Brown]

Therapy. Sometimes I plane just for the sheer pleasure. Kinda like whittlin' I suppose. When I do make something with handtools, wheneverI look at it there is a special bond, an appreciation of the wood itself. With handtools you work with the wood, you don't get that kind of intimate feeling with power tools.

Eric

[Will Blick]

Ditto on the therapy.....

I would have not dreamed of saying that 5 years ago....

You Neanders are the best... love the reasonings... all make sense, no sarcasm...

I will add one... edge jointing boards to be glued up...
Yep, a power jointer will get you close enough for most people....but if clamp the boards together and clean up the machine marks with a jointer plane with a fence, you also get the added benefit of having the two boards perfectly aligned when glued as any slight errors offset each other.

[Dave Spaeder]

When it's about process, there really isn't anything like using a handplane. I think the only thing that gets me through the last phases of a project (glue-up, finishing) is the curiosity I feel about seeing the final product. But I much prefer the earlier stages where I'm shaping the individual pieces and doing the joinery. That's what keeps me going. And I love moving from handplane to handplane as I shape a piece, sometimes choosing logically according to practice, sometimes just by whim.

Other people have already pointed out the great benefits in control, contact, and quiet that using handplanes offers. For me, it's all that and great fun, too.

[David Keller NC]

"This is about what I figured. Now the problem is the fact that I only like the best tools...and LN are quite pricey."

I guess I get to repeat this a lot, but no they're not. LN and LV planes are very much middle of the road, price-wise. The only reason they look expensive is comparing them to an inappropriate standard - either unworkable junk produced abroad by Stanley and others, and the rather vast reserve of antiques from the teens, 20's and 1930's when every carpenter had a hand plane in his tool box, and used them.

These same handplanes from the early 20th century cost just as much, if not considerably more than, a LV or LN plane in equivalent wages. However, because there's not nearly as much demand for them on the professional side of things, and the supply is huge, an antique can be had for next to nothing.

However, to get the same performance and features out of an antique, you have to compare them to Stanley's Bedrock line of planes, and you will have to include a thicker replacement blade. Because of their collector's value, a antique Bedrock is a much more expensive plane, and by the time you figure in the replacement blade, you will be quite close to the price of a new Lie Nielsen.

[Chris Padilla]

Hit eBay...you might get lucky and get a good price on a slighly used LN or LV handplane.

[Mark Roderick]

All the reasons above are correct. But to look at it from a different direction, you might ask yourself why every maker of fine furniture uses hand planes (typically along with power tools). The reason they're doing it isn't because they're trying to be cool or old-fashioned or something, or even that they all hate the dust and noise of powered tools. The reason they're doing it is because hand planes work, meaning they do a job no other tool does nearly as well. And if it works for them, why wouldn't it work for you?

[John Messinger]

I very much like Wilber Pans analysis. I used a jointer once and lost any desire to own one. They are loud, very dusty, and take up a lot of space for essentially one purpose. I never had a need to joint many boards a day and thus could never justify the space or dollar cost.

Hand planes are far more versitile and can be used for many more purposes. I have a #8 Stanley "Jointer" plane which I use a lot. A #6 Stanley "Fore" which I have resharpened the blade to use as a scrub plane. I have 3 or 4 Stanley "Jack" planes which I almost never use. I carry a LN low angle block plane in my apron and use it constantly. I have a LN shoulder plane and a couple others that are very nice and I use them frequently, but I don't consider them necessary.

[David White II]

Hit eBay...you might get lucky and get a good price on a slighly used LN or LV handplane.

Or you'll be reassured by how well they seem to hold their value

[James Carmichael]

I used a jointer once and lost any desire to own one. They are loud, very dusty, and take up a lot of space for essentially one purpose.

I gotta take some issue with that comment. Jointers are not especially noisy or dusty as stationary power tools go. You wanna ruin your hearing? Try a lunchbox planer with that universal motor! A jointer with DC does not produce that much dust, and it's captured much easier than with a table saw or other tools.

A 6"-8" jointer does not have an enormous footprint. Mine's on a mobile base and fits neatly against the wall.

I love working with hand tools as much as anyone, but I'd sure hate to have face-joint very many boards without a power jointer.

[John Messinger]

Jointers are not especially noisy or dusty as stationary power tools go.
A 6"-8" jointer does not have an enormous footprint. Mine's on a mobile base and fits neatly against the wall.

Its all relative. IMHO Too much for my purposes.

... but I'd sure hate to have face-joint very many boards without a power jointer.

Fair enough. But you are definately not a Neanderthal!