Hand Plane Poll...

[Martin Cash]

I have been woodworking for fifty years and now have a large number of different handplanes.
If I had to go back to just two, I would choose the first two I ever owned.
My first was a Stanley 4 1/2 Smoother. I did nearly everything with this plane. After a few years I needed a longer plane for Jointing and tried a Stanley Number 7 and an Anchor Number 7.
The Anchor (Jernbolaget Blade) seemed so much more comfortable in my hand so I kept it.
So there you have it - a 4 1/2 and a 7.
There is almost nothing that I do today that these two wouldn't tackle, and I would find other ways of doing the jobs that the other planes do.
Cheers
MC

[Joel Goodman]

I would consider a LN BU Jack (with an extra iron honed at 38 degrees) which is LN's recommendation as a good place to start. It is capable of many tasks and is not fussy to set up. I would get a coarse and extra fine DMT Duo diamond stone and a Norton 8K waterstone. And add a simple honing guide from LN. IMHO this is a setup that will take you down the slope with minimum frustration and maximum productivity. Also call LN and discuss it with them. Another alternative is the LN 5 1/2 which is excellent but is perhaps not as good a choice for a first plane. The beauty of the BU Jack is that it's just an oversize block plane and is really simple. With an iron sharpened at a higher angle you can do a lot.

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

The party line here is "It depends", and for good reason. Roughly in order:

• There are two kinds of block planes: standard angle and low angle. Most people gravitate toward the low angle variety as they're more useful for planing end grain. Standard angle block planes are very useful but not necessarily something you want to go after. Good candidates here are a Stanley #60 ½, any of the Lee Valley low angle block planes, the Lie-Nielsens, hard to go too far wrong. The antiques are dime a dozen and the most fettling you'll usually have to do is sharpen the iron and maybe squirt WD-40 in a couple places (never a bad idea with an antique anyway).
  
• The bench plane is much more complicated. You don't indicate if you intend to use your bench plane for final smoothing--if you do, and you want to use an antique, it will require fettling. If you just want to use it for a first pass and follow it with a random orbital sander later, I would recommend an antique Stanley #5, or possibly a #5 ½, but basically whatever jack plane comes your way. The low angle jacks from LV and LN are excellent choices here but may be overkill. I only have the LV one and it is a very, very nice plane, worth the money, but you can get in deep trouble using the low angle iron on curly maple. (DAMHIKT)
  
  If you want to use it for final surfacing, that's a different kettle of worms. Almost all antique Stanleys can be fiddled with to make them excellent for this purpose but it sometimes requires a lot of effort. I notice LN has a 4 ½ with a high angle frog, which would be absolutely delightful if not for the $335 price. I hear excellent things about the LV Bevel-Up Smoother but have no personal experience. One excellent step, if you have an antique in mind, is to buy a replacement iron, be it from LV or Hock or wherever. There's nothing inherently wrong with the stock irons but these are usually better.
  
• For sharpening I use Norton waterstones. I started with the 220/1000 and 4000/8000 combination stones, and had to buy a replacement 220 due to excessive wear trying to lap antique tools. It should last you years if you don't develop a fetish for flattening chisels. I also use a felt wheel and buffing compound. There are much more complicated ways to go. There are much more expensive ways to go. There are ways to go that have a lower up front cost but wear quickly (sandpaper, for example). This is what I do.
  
• I have one shoulder plane, the LV bullnose, which is quite servicable. Usually I use chisels, or rarely my float. I don't feel competent to recommend something here.

[Danny Thompson]

The problem with the Rabbet block plane is that the blade can't be cambered, so it is more prone to leaving plane tracks..

I'd go with the LN or new LV adjustable mouth low-angle block plane.

You could go with a smoother, but the jack would provide greater flexibility. If you don't plan on buying more than the three planes, then I'd go with the LV Low Angle Smoother or Low Angle Jack, which are both bevel-up and can accommodate a variety of micro-bevels to achieve a variety of effective cutting angles.

[Sean Hughto]

How do you go about cambering your BU planes?

I ask because, stuff like this makes it sound like sort of a pain (sorry, Derek!):

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Woodwor...aneBlades.html

[Joel Goodman]

For use for smoothing a very slight camber to avoid tracks is all that's required as you are taking a very fine cut. I have no problem with a camber roller on the LV mk 2 or on the elipse style guides with a LN BU jack. For rougher planing I use a BD but there are several options for a BU including a toothed blade which takes a lot off and needs no cambering. I got the impression the OP was more interested in fine planing that rough and quick stock removal.

[lowell holmes]

There is an excellent article (actually two articles ) about hand planes in the current issue of Fine Woodworking.
I started with two planes and progressed to more than I need.

The second article really helped me with the proper use of the jack plane.

The Garrett Hack book on handplanes is entrtaining as well as informative.

[James Harrison]

A type that I have not seen mentioned is the ECE Prius wooden hand planes. They are rated very high. The ones with the adjustable throat run at 200 or more. They are something to look at and consider.
I have the LieN low angle jack plane and it is excellent. I have used it for hours flattening and squaring rough cypress lumber. I also have one of the old No.4 Bailey planes with a Lie-Neilsen blade in it and it works beautifully. There are some excellent video's on Fine Woodworking that show sharpening and using planes. It costs about 14.00 per yr. to become a member but it is worth it.

[Danny Thompson]

Steve,

Derek's technique is genius. I don't have a belt sander of the type he uses, so I had to try some other options inspired by his ideas. Three different cambering techniques in all:

Standard Roller Technique (the simplest and probably the easiest for slight cambering, probably all you need for a smoother, jack, or jointer):
Load the blade in a honing guide (a Veritas MK. II in my case, but it shouldn't matter) to take a 2º microbevel and hone the microbevel square on your middle level (say a 1000 or 1200 grit waterstone or a 5 micron microabrassive sheet). Then shift my fingertips to one corner of the blade (middle finger on the blade, index finger on top of it) and press progressively harder through the stroke for a good number of pull strokes (10-20 or more). It is important to press progressively harder through each stroke to achieve a curve instead of a facet. Check it, and if it looks like enough is taken off for your tastes, then repeat with the other corner. Then repeat--hone square, then hone the corners with increasing pressure through the stroke--with your higher grits.

I used this to camber a #4 Hock blade and a 25º LV BU blade.

The second easiest option:
Buy a camber roller for the Mk.II and do the same as above, although, with the camber roller you can take multiple passes with constant pressure, with your fingers placed at various places along the camber from stroke to stroke.

I used this for a 50º camber (set the honing angle to 50º) on a 25º LV BU blade and a 40º camber on a 38º LV BU blade.

The toughest, but cheapest option:
Hollow grind a curved bevel in the blade freehand. Then sharpen and hone the blade by turning your stone or sandpaper sideways, and freehand the curved bevel across the sharpening medium using a controlled swinging action of the shoulders. Tough to get right.

I used this on my very first no-name, big box store block plane when I needed a scrub plane, but didn't know what a scrub plane was. It worked, but was a pain.