The Best Jointer Plane you have ever used

[george wilson]

My favorite jointer is one I made in the 70's. It is 4" square,and about 30" long. I'd have to go measure it. The blade is 3/16" 01 steel.

It is a monster,but works very well.I used to have to plane the plough press at the book binder's shop. It was maple,and about 8" wide and 3' long. It holds books while the plough plane(which I made) cuts the edges of books nice and evenly.

I'd take the big plane over there and plane the big press in place.

This was before I became the toolmaker. I had no beech,but there was a big maple 4x4" in storage that was partially turned into a bed post on 1 end. It must have been at least 50 years old,and was very dense.After I made the plane,I stopped up the throat by clamping it against a piece of wood. Next,put painter's putty in the bottom of the mouth. Then,I filled the throat many times with raw linseed oil. This bled all the way through the plane out to both ends. It added to the mass,and made the plane very stable,and lubricated to slide easily.

P.S. I added some things,and corrected spelling. I was in a hurry when I posted this.

[James Taglienti]

Tony,
It was 25 bucks. The guy said he'd never grind a 7 or 8 again, but he'd do all the smoothers i wanted

[Prashun Patel]

Brian-
I'm resurrecting this thread. What did you end up getting? I am looking for a good jointing plane that'll be good on figured wood. My instinct is LV BU jointer, but I know there are others. I have a Stanley #7 with a Hock blade, but it's prone to tear out. I wonder if I should just put a steeper bevel or get a toothed blade for it???

[Brian Kent]

Prashun, I use my Stanley #7 most often and keep my Padauk home made job in the office as a display. But most often I use the Delta Drum Sander for anything that I can move.

[Chris Griggs]

I loved these threads (by that I mean Brians specific "Best [blank] you ever used"). I think they are what came up on google searches when I first got into handtools and led me to discover this place.

Lets all start reposting to these.

I only have one jointer. A Sargeant 424. Its very cool plane that I like owning,and works pretty well, though not remarkably in any way. Best jointer I've ever used....well, I sure did love the LN number 8 when I used it at a show. A good bit heavier than my jointer, but somehow better balanced and easier to use. If I was buying right now and money was not object, that's what I would get.

[Zach Dillinger]

My shop made 30" jointer, but my recently purchased 19" Scottish infill jointer is giving my plane a run for its money...

[Brian Kent]

Chris, could you post a photo of the Sargeant 424 sometime? I am not familiar with this one.
And thanks for the god word.

[David Weaver]

I hate to say it, but the LN 7 is the best jointer I've ever used (not because I have anything against LN, just because it would be nice to say something cheaper is as nice to use). It's not too heavy, but it's authortative. It's dead flat, the cheeks are square, and the iron holds an edge a very long time (like any good A2 iron) . It's the only premium plane I use regularly anymore, but it's so nice.

The most interesting jointer I've ever used is a single iron 28" long JT Brown jointer from the early/mid 1800s. Unfortunately, a blue dykem container dropped and ruptured several feet away and coated it with blue dykem.

[george wilson]

Then,your plane could be donated to the forthcoming Blue Plane Group. Soon to appear on TV.


Try leaving it in direct sunlight. Dykem will fade even in the bottle eventually. I have had that happen,and the bottles are only translucent white plastic. Might take a while. Be sure to rotate the plane at times. I'll bet it turns clear,eventually. Then,you'll only have a lacquered plane.

[Chris Griggs]

Chris, could you post a photo of the Sargeant 424 sometime? I am not familiar with this one.
And thanks for the god word.

Your wish is my command sir!

Its a Sargent VBM 424 (Sargeats version of the No. 8) made sometime between 1910 and 1918. I put up a thread about it when I first bought it....

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...mp-The-Pudding

Its got some okay pics, but doesn't have any that are zoomed out enough to show the whole plane. I'll try to remember to get a couple zoomed out photos and repost.

[David Weaver]

Then,your plane could be donated to the forthcoming Blue Plane Group. Soon to appear on TV.


Try leaving it in direct sunlight. Dykem will fade even in the bottle eventually. I have had that happen,and the bottles are only translucent white plastic. Might take a while. Be sure to rotate the plane at times. I'll bet it turns clear,eventually. Then,you'll only have a lacquered plane.

Heated basement across from the garage shop has carpet on the floor (no padding, just carpet) and the dykem was at the top of the tool rack. You would figure that one of those plastic bottles could fall four or five feet onto the carpet (or even a hard floor) and not break, but that turned out to not be correct. The plastic bottle broke like ceramic around the top/lid and sprayed everywhere when it impacted.

I'll stick the plane on a windowsill, the dykem on it doesn't bother me so much, but it sure would make it hard to dump the plane if I ever decide to. Thanks for the tip.

[george wilson]

These miserable plastic bottles,depending upon what plastic they are made of,can get old and brittle and nearly just fall apart. I wish Dykem and Starrett would have just stuck to screw top tin cans. I'd gladly pay the extra few cents. Cheaper than buying new dye,but maybe they planned it that way. I could outfox them by just adding lacquer soluble powdered dye. I do have to make my own shading lacquer these days. It used to be available nice and dark in gallon cans. Now all I see are those faintly stained aerosols. Maybe I haven't dug deeply enough. Easy to just make it,though,and my dyes are museum approved Orasol very light fast dyes. The old Sherwood Wms. stuff would fade.

Better take the iron out of your plane if it fits snug sideways. The plane could split if it shrinks much,or make it difficult to get the iron out.

[David Weaver]

All of them were snug like that when I got them (all of my wooden planes). Of course, I didn't buy any that had already split but some of them were a bear to get out.

[David Dalzell]

I have 4 jointers: Stanley Baily #7, 2 Krenov style, and one narrow Krenov style for edge jointing shop cut veneers. Of these my favorite is one of the Krenov types made of Purpleheart. It just seem to glide over the wood with a sweet sound and is very easy to adjust.

[Jason Coen]

my recently purchased 19" Scottish infill jointer is giving my plane a run for its money...

No, no need to post pics. We'll just imagine what it looks like...