Beginner looking to buy first hand plane

[Danny Thompson]

A word of warning on an old #4 or #5 as a first plane. Without a frame of reference, how will you know whether you are tuning it properly or when you've reached "good enough". My struggles triggered the following cautionary diatribe, with equally passionate responses: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ith-old-planes .

6 years later, I almost never reach for that #4, favoring the LN 102 Low Angle Block, Lee Valley BU Smoother, or LV BU Jack. If I were doing it over, I'd get one of these, first. Or, if you can, as others have said, find a mentor/coach/club, try out a few and make up your own mind.

[Anthony Rausch]

? ($40-60) ?
ahhh ?
that's the price of a plane blade.


One plane ?
Buy this :
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/low-angle-bench-planes/low-angle-jack-plane/
This IS an inexpensive hand plane.

These are "expensive" hand planes.
http://www.marcouplanes.com/

Don't fart around with cheepy Joe stuff. You will thank yourself if you bite the bullet now.

I'd have no problem purchasing this one as my second plane, but I need to know first if the hobby is for me. While it seems that LN and LV keep their value, I still don't want to have to rely on that if I want to get rid of it.

[Anthony Rausch]

A word of warning on an old #4 or #5 as a first plane. Without a frame of reference, how will you know whether you are tuning it properly or when you've reached "good enough". My struggles triggered the following cautionary diatribe, with equally passionate responses: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ith-old-planes .

6 years later, I almost never reach for that #4, favoring the LN 102 Low Angle Block, Lee Valley BU Smoother, or LV BU Jack. If I were doing it over, I'd get one of these, first. Or, if you can, as others have said, find a mentor/coach/club, try out a few and make up your own mind.

Good points. I browsed your thread.

Earlier yesterday I was searching eBay and was feeling antsy as I was watching bids end, but I thought to myself the same thing as you, I'll have nothing to compare to so how do I know what I'm getting.

I was hoping that these classifieds would have people selling older planes that they'd at least be able to offer an opinion on. So in essence I'd also be paying for their opinion. I've heard that these planes are sometimes picked up for $10-20 and someone who knows planes can either get it up to snuff, or know it's good to go. That's the premium that I'd want to pay.

Maybe my price range is off. If a no.5 condition unknown is $40-60, then I'm not interested. If it's maybe $80 for a no.5 that someone is willing to advertise that it's a good plane and that in the right hands good results can achieve, then I'll look in that range.

I will probably try and look around for a workshop in the next few weeks that I can attend and maybe learn some things before I make a purchase.

[Danny Thompson]

Rereading the earlier thread, a good option is rehabbed plane from a reputable rehabber. I wonder:

- Are Clint and Sandy still out there?
- Does anyone have another trusted source?

[Winton Applegate]

need to know first if the hobby is for me.

my answer was :

Oh.

So I get this message pop up:

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

I may as well add:
My feeling is you are headed here:
http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Revolv...oy+machine+gun

When you expect to be here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLFYvG6MsZU

no comparison really.

PS: be sure to wear your ear protection.

[don wilwol]

http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com/tools-for-sale-2/

I suggest a smoother and a good block to start with. Vintage is the way to go.

[Jeff Bartley]

Anthony,
I'll be restating some things already said but I'll frame my answer like this: if you're willing to spend $50 to try handplanes you should go ahead and get a Lee Valley or a Lie-Nielsen.........then if you don't like it (which is highly unlikely) you can sell the plane and lose $40-$50 bucks reselling it here or elsewhere. If you spend that $50 on junk and try to use an unfettled plane you'll be spinning your wheels. I takes a bit of knowledge to tune a plane......easy after you've done it but daunting to a beginner. And as others have stated; find some other woodworkers in your area so you can see the amazing finish a well-tuned smoother can leave on the surface of a beautiful piece of wood. Yes, you can learn on your own through books, SMC, etc (which is what I did) but it takes a lot longer. What's hard to explain in words on a computer is how sharp 'sharp' really can be.....so you'll need to see that in person. I would also encourage you to attend the Lie-Nielsen hand tool event: everything you need to know to get started with handplanes is there and you'll walk away having met some great people. Oh, and they'll have every tool Lie-Nielsen makes to test out.
If the going is rough at first don't give up easily, the reward is worth it!
Lastly, everyone that has suggest old tools here is not giving you bad advice, old tools work just as well, I just feel that to get a jump start a modern plane is a better choice. And last lastly: read David Weavers very good article about chipbreakers!! I think you can google search it. Good luck and welcome to SMC and hand tools!

[Kees Heiden]

How do you recognise if yor plane is good enough if you never have used a plane before? Easy, you learn as you go. At first your plane will be perfectly allright on pine, but not so great on oak. So you learn to sharpen better. Then you find that you can't take thin shavings well enough, so you flatten the sole. The the plane starts to chatter on very hard woods, so you work on the bedding and maybe add a thicker chipbreaker. Learning on the job. Somehow I learned this way too.

Overhere the first plane would be a Stanley #4. They are everywhere for cheap. And it is great plane, very usefull for all kinds of stuff.

[Matt Stiegler]

Also, the best plane in the world isn't very useful without the means to hold your workpiece firmly and ... stable-ly. A sawhorse worktop may not fit the bill, even if it's perfectly usable in other ways (like with power tools). It may be that you'll want to figure out a more stable workbench option before you race out to get your plane.

[Matt Stiegler]

Maybe my price range is off. If a no.5 condition unknown is $40-60, then I'm not interested. If it's maybe $80 for a no.5 that someone is willing to advertise that it's a good plane and that in the right hands good results can achieve, then I'll look in that range.

For what its worth, I paid $45 + shipping for my #5 type 11 in excellent shape from Walt a few years back. I think your price range is realistic.

[Anthony Rausch]

Also, the best plane in the world isn't very useful without the means to hold your workpiece firmly and ... stable-ly. A sawhorse worktop may not fit the bill, even if it's perfectly usable in other ways (like with power tools). It may be that you'll want to figure out a more stable workbench option before you race out to get your plane.

Noted. I was building my sawhorses today because I'll need it set up for my other projects but I have a stud mounted cabinet and worktop (approximately 2x8ft in my garage that I could mount some vices on. It would be very sturdy.

[Joel Goodman]

I would start with a small block plane. Either vintage or ideally a LN 102 ($95 in iron) or the Lee Valley Apron plane (get the A2 blade version $89). The LN and LV planes will work wonderfully out of the box and as you get more experience and more planes you will still always have many uses for them. You will learn how a plane should perform which will help you later on. Vintage planes are great but not so much for the first plane unless you have someone to show you the ropes. You will need a combo 1000/4000 or 1000/8000 waterstone (or some other sharpening system) and a cheap honing guide to start as well.

[maximillian arango]

Since I am a beginer, I will have a different perspective.

Get the cheapest early stanley that you can find that is not cracked, pitted with rust, and complete. I picked up a Stanley number five number type 11 as well, but in not the best shape, and it costed 15 dollars after shipping. To get this working I will learn how to lap the iron, sharpen the plane, and everything else to get it working. Will it suck? Yea most likely for most but I like this kind of stuff so it is fine with me. I just think it is too important to not know how to rehab a plane when using them. When you're using a plane you'll most likely have to tune a plane, you'll better understand that after rebuilding a plane. Would you rather learn how to work on cars with a civic or a 911? At least with the civic their is less risk if you make a mistake like with bob's plane.

Also start with a number 4 it will be more useful when you start and as you get better you will progress to a 5 then a 7/8 then specialty planes.

I've done a lot of reading for this, nothing I say comes from experience and it really is just my common sense. Also 300 for 1 plane or 300 for all your tools to start that needs a little help from you so then you learn how to tune/fix your tools which that learning experience will last you a lifetime.

[Chris Vandiver]

If you want to start your woodworking experience by restoring planes, then by all means, by an old plane. If you want to start working wood right away, then buy a new plane of some quality. Sharpening tools is the first thing you need to learn, so it might be best to start with a chisel. Buy a quality 3/4-1" chisel(wider is easier to learn to sharpen on), some sort of sharpening media and a book or video or maybe take a class if one's available. If you end up not liking the hand tool route, you won't have invested much and you can always use a chisel for carpentry type things around the house. There are a number of quality chisels available starting with Narex brand(available at Lee Valley and other places). Buck Brothers are also good, inexpensive chisels(available from Craftsman Studio). For your first chisel, I would recommend new over vintage(so you don't have to start by restoring it). That's my advice.

[lowell holmes]

Garrett Hack's book on Hand Planes is full of good information.

I still get mine out and read it occasionally. Another set of books that is good for beginners are by Tage Frid (rip).