My New Plane (years ago)

[Richard Gillespie]

Thinking how far down the slope I've slid, I remember my first plane. It was a Stanley #4 with plastic handles and a blue frog. This was purchased in the mid 70's. I proudly brought it home and started to work with it. I couldn't get it to work at all. I was clueless as to what was wrong.

I set it aside and let it sit for several years. Early in the 90's, I started seeing on TV, shows that featured hand tools and was given clues on how to improve the performance of my plane. I finally got it to work okay on pine. I got a video that included Mike Dunbar showing how to restore and tune an old rusty plane. That helped a lot but it only referred to the need for a very sharp iron. I worked and worked on that plane to bring it up to what I thought was acceptable. Also, I was very surprised to find that the frog was aluminum.

Later in the 90's I learned Scary Sharp for chisels and Irons and have switched back and forth between that and water stones ever since. That allowed me to use that old plane on hardwood. Then I started acquiring antique planes. The first two, a WWII era #3 and a #5, were inherited from my father. The rest (38 iron bodies, 3 Transitionals and 22 woodies) were purchased or are gifts from relatives. The difference was evident from the get go. All those hours to bring my first #4 up to a barely acceptable level. I have since gave that plane away to my son who is a mason. He has an occasional use for a wood plane. Some how I feel justified in giving that POS to a mason.

I still have the second plane I bought, a Craftsman block plane. That one is so bad I wouldn't give it to anyone. One of these days I'll get tired of holding on to it and will trash it or throw it into the metal bin at the dump. I assume that others have had this experience of purchasing tools in ignorance and getting burned. Thanks to this and other forums I now feel I have a basic understanding of the various levels of quality represented by new and old planes. I also feel I can sharpen and tune most of them.

Now if I can just learn to read wood grain properly. Sorry about the long post but it has been a long road.

[Tyler Howell]

The Only thing that would make this story better is a pix of your acquired wealth. Thanks for sharing Richard.

[Richard Gillespie]

Tyler;

The picture I added to my original post was taken about a year ago. I have added a number of items since then and it doesn't include a number of Miller Falls planes kept on another shelf.

Some of the items added were LV Scraper plane, LV Low Angle Smoother, LV LA Jack. LV medium and small shoulder planes. Those were given to me by my LOML for various occasions. My oldest son has also given me a wooden coffin smoother, matched pair of tongue and groove, two rabbit planes and a #3 round.

I'm so far behind in cleaning, tuning and sharpening planes I don't even want to think about it. Spring hasn't sprung yet and I hate working in a cold shop. When it gets warm I've got my work cut out for me.

[Tyler Howell]

Thanks Richard that's quite a history of collected treasures

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Richard, my first plane was also a Stanley--a number 5 contractor grade. Despite the plastic handles, it is a surprisingly good plane. I replaced the plastic handle and tote with bubinga, flattened the sole and added a Hock blade. I really can't tell the difference between it and a prewar model. I have since learned more and tried to add quality planes when the need arose.

I have one special plane my Grandfather left me--a nr. 5 with corrugated bottom and an orange frog. That lets me date it to 1929-1931 era. He was a furniture maker and later ran an antique shop. My Grandmother drove all over north Texas and Southern Oklahoma buying furniture from garage sales, off of people's front porches and out of their barns. My grand father would repair it and sell it. I remember the only finish he would ever put on the furnture was a mixture of boiled lineseed oil and turpentine.

I'm at the point where I really like LN products and will probably only purchase their planes to use. I still like to collect the different Stanley models and keep a lookout for them at garage sales and flea markets. Good luck on your journey.