scrub plane recommendation?

[Mike Allen1010]

I cut, surface and dimension all my stock by hand and occasionally use rough sawn lumber.

I've read a number of posts here in the Cave and other places from people who highly recommend using a scrub plane to quickly level uneven boards and glued up panel's. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions about the best kind of scrub plane for this work.

Should I set up one of my Stanley #5 with a wide mouth and grind/polish a curved primary bevel on the blade, or is there something about a "dedicated" scrub plane that would be better? I think Lee Valley offers a dedicated scrub plane -- I'm not sure what other brands or perhaps vintage woodies might also be available?

Any suggestions about the width of the mouth opening, perhaps replacement blades and the degree of blade curvature would also be much appreciated.

Again, thanks a lot for the suggestions!

Mike

[Chris Griggs]

Should I set up one of my Stanley #5 with a wide mouth and grind/polish a curved primary bevel on the blade

Yes you should do this, the extra length over a scrub is beneficial. You can set a 5 or 6 up to be very aggressive. A lot of guys love the scrub and have lots of success with it. This is one of those things that folks will debate back and forth about. I would setup the 5 as your hog and then only buy a scrub if you feel like the 5 isn't getting the work done.

[David Nelson1]

Folks have been rehabbing # 5's to do exactly what your talking about. I didn't go that route just found an old # 40 after all it is a scrub. There are about 10 to pic from on flea bay right now ranging from 8.99 with 4 days left to 199.00. All look like good users. Might be a bit rough if you had to push a five all day to do what a 40 will do.

[David Weaver]

This conversation came up last year. A scrub is not a great plane for surfacing rough lumber, rather it's intended to thickness (edge or face) lumber.

I have had two scrubs, tried both premiums (LV and LN), and still have the LV scrub, but I have to admit that I do not use them - instead opting for a cambered #5. It is not set up to take a cut as deep and narrow as a scrub plane would be, but it does have significant camber.

A board has to have massive twist or cup and be thick enough to tolerate significant removal of corners or high spots to justify the use of a scrub, and you will find that they are very hard on the edges of boards across the grain if you don't relieve the far side of a board and use one across or diagonal with the grain.

People dimensioned rough lumber for hundreds of years before a scrub was marketed by stanley.

I would, instead of buying a scrub, buy a slightly thicker iron for your #5 and open the mouth some. Off the top of my head I don't know what radius I use on my 5, i never measured - instead go by feel. It is probably half as drastic as a true scrub iron, but it is still pretty drastic.

If you find yourself with lumber that needs a scrub just to prep the first flat face, I would start looking for different lumber supplier.

If you get good quality lumber, you'll find that you can often skip even the jack and go right to a plane with moderate camber (fore, try) and then joint the face of your boards and smooth them.

[Zach England]

I like the Veritas. It looks awesome sitting in my tool cabinet. I tried using it once. It was too much work. I am far too pusillanimous for that sort of thing.

[Chris Griggs]

I like the Veritas. It looks awesome sitting in my tool cabinet. I tried using it once. It was too much work. I am far too pusillanimous for that sort of thing.

I looked up the word pusillanimous - this was literally the first definition that came up....


Definition of PUSILLANIMOUS : lacking courage and resolution : marked by contemptible timidity

I like that the word contemptible is included in the definition

[David Weaver]

I like the Veritas. It looks awesome sitting in my tool cabinet. I tried using it once. It was too much work. I am far too pusillanimous for that sort of thing.

Your veritas scrub and my veritas scrub are probably similar in their immaculate cleanliness and low wear.

Maybe in 100 years, people can remark about how good of shape all of the "old scrubs" are in, similar to what we say about stanley 55s ("surprisingly, very few of the irons have ever been sharpened!!!")

[James Baker SD]

I have the LN scrub and I like it. I am not a powerful man and the narrow blade of the LN scrub lets me take a deeper cut than I could with a wider blade. I have used it for a variety of tasks including flattening a wide slab that was too wide for my planer (using a sled to make the planer behave as a joiner) to squaring a horribly out of square door frame when I was replacing the door to my shop. On the door, most of the work was reaching above my head so the light weight of the LN scrub was really appreciated.

[James Baker SD]

Another thought. Put an ad on the classified page for "WTB scrub plane" and maybe one of those spotlessly clean LV and LN scrubs will make its way to you.

[Pat Zabrocki]

I use the 5 with a cambered blade but if you don't care for the heft of a 5, you could use a 5 1/4 too. Of course if you have to buy a 5 1/4 then you may as well buy the scrub but it is an alternative I would think.
pat

[Chris Griggs]

I use the 5 with a cambered blade but if you don't care for the heft of a 5, you could use a 5 1/4 too. Of course if you have to buy a 5 1/4 then you may as well buy the scrub but it is an alternative I would think.
pat

A scrub/foreplane is the one place I find corrugations to be nice for this reason. I use a 5C for coarse work and I think the corrugations lighten it up a bit - not sure about the whole reducing friction thing, but perhaps they do hold more wax than a not corrugated plane if you wax the sole. This is probably the only scenario where I like a corrugated sole.

[Trevor Walsh]

Short version, do what I do to fresh apple cider, "Jack it".

Longer and better version, I have the Veritas scrub which is a great tool, but recently I've been using a Millers Falls No. 22 (#5 sized Jack, Jeff) with a cambered blade and like that better. I don't have is set to take a huge chip, and the longer length is really nice. I've got a really good condition Ohio tools jack that I'm going to turn into my traversing/scrub jack. Then I'll sell the Veritas. Put that $100 to some better use.

[Chris Griggs]

Longer and better version, I have the Veritas scrub which is a great tool, but recently I've been using a Millers Falls No. 22 (#5 sized Jack, Jeff) with a cambered blade and like that better.

Isn't the MF No. 22 the equivalent of a No. 7, and the No. 14 the equivalent of a No. 5??? It was my understanding that the MF numbering system was based on their length. Just curious...

[Sean Hughto]

Different woodworkers will give you different answers as you can see from this thread. It's not because some are right and some are wrong, but instead is attributable to the fact that we tend to develop our own habits and abilities in our work. I use a good deal of wide rough sawn hardwood (maple, cherry, walnut, etc,.) stock. I would be lost without my 40 to true up faces. There can be a LOT of thickness to remove on a cupped or twisted board. The 40 aggressively removes the high spots and its narrow width is a benefit in pushing through deep cuts. It's not intended to be the plane that has a wide and long sole to register and produce flatness, but rather a tool to knock down the really high spots quick so that something like a 5 or seven can get to flat more easily and quickly.

[David Nelson1]

1+ what Sean said