Needing a shoulder plane (suggestions)

[Eric Schatz]

I'm looking for a good X-mas gift from the wife. I'm in need of something rabbiting. Also, I'm looking to keep it around $100. So far I'm looking at the Stanley Sweetheart 92 shoulder plane. It's $90 so there's that. It would be the first new plane I own. I'm comfortable fetteling and truing it up (which the reviews say are super necessary).

I'm needing this to true up box lids that sit inside of the top and other similar things. Not really planning on using it for shoulders much. I just use a chisel for that work. The box tops are longer and need more precision than a standard BE chisel.

Any thoughts on the plane or maybe an alternative? I would love a LN Rabbit block plane with the nicker but it's just outside of my price window and also I've got a good old no-name block.

[David Weaver]

I don't know how big these box lids are going to be, but shoulder planes are generally a pain for anything that involves removing a large amount of wood. They do not clear their own chips like a rabbet plane does. I think you probably want a rabbet plane instead.

I can't really give you a suggestion on rabbet planes because they're usually old and require some refurbishing to get in shape. I'd look for one in what looks like pretty good straight condition and with a skew iron if you're going to use it for lots of cross grain cuts in addition to the long grain cuts.

[Eric Schatz]

Ok, I've got a Stanley 46 (the combination plane with the skew cutters). I have 8 cutters but not the little ones (the ones I need!). It's an OK tool but not a great one. I usually hog out the rabbit with a Table Saw (verboten?) and then clean up all of the edges with a chisel. The 46 is not a smoothing type of plane. It rough's out pretty well but I have a hard time setting it to make very precise and finish type cuts. Maybe I need to fiddle with it more.

BTW I bought all of the cutters,the plane, depth stop, nicker, and fence for $40. : )

[Jim Koepke]

Eric,

My Stanley #93 gets used often for things like what you describe. As David said, they will not be convenient when you want to remove a lot of wood. Mine usually comes into the job when just a slight bit of trimming is needed.

As for fettling goes here is something I wrote years ago about old shoulder planes. It may or may not be of help:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...g-and-Fettling

jtk

[Prashun Patel]

I find shoulder planes a little awkward to use when there's not a high cheek to register against. I'd be more inclined to save up for a router plane with an edge fence or a jack rabbeting or rabbet block plane.


What other things did you want to use the shoulder plane for?

Last, here's a case where people either love or hate a shoulder plane. For this reason, I'd buy one that'll be easy to resell like the Veritas or LN's. If you want to resell it then you might have an easier go than the Stanleys or Woodrivers (another option for you)

[Jim Koepke]

BTW I bought all of the cutters,the plane, depth stop, nicker, and fence for $40. : )

Now that makes me jealous.

jtk

[Brett Luna]

It's out of the price range you specified but I'm really happy with the gently used Veritas medium shoulder plane I recently bought from a Creeker. Perhaps you could drop a hint to you wife that an LV (or Visa/MC) gift card wouldn't be amiss. You could put it toward a shoulder plane as I did last year. The gift card from my wife went toward my #4 smoother.

[Fidel Fernandez]

I have a combination stanley 45 and I can fit and use the Veritas small plow blades without any trouble. Have you tried them the Veritas blade?
That will be cheaper that buying a new plane.
If it is like the 45, the trick is let it slide. You will push it forward and lateral against the wood. I made the mistake to push down on my forward motion and I had trouble.
Let it slide and it will cut really nice.

Also, I learned to look on the wood orientation to build my drawers, so If it all possible don't go against the grain.

Ok, I've got a Stanley 46 (the combination plane with the skew cutters). I have 8 cutters but not the little ones (the ones I need!). It's an OK tool but not a great one. I usually hog out the rabbit with a Table Saw (verboten?) and then clean up all of the edges with a chisel. The 46 is not a smoothing type of plane. It rough's out pretty well but I have a hard time setting it to make very precise and finish type cuts. Maybe I need to fiddle with it more.

BTW I bought all of the cutters,the plane, depth stop, nicker, and fence for $40. : )

[paul cottingham]

Fettling a shoulder plane will be tough. I would drop the money on a new 3/4 or 1 inch shoulder plane. Perhaps a hint to get you started along the way to the purchase? A good shoulder plane is a forever tool, and will have much better resale than one of the cheapies.
You can create a rabbet with a shoulder plane, but it takes some practice. I create a deep knifeline on the edge of where the rabbet will be and drop the edge of my shoulder plane into it. you can then progressively plane down, widening the resulting vee until i can plane flat, creating the rabbet. works well, but a dedicated rabbet plane is better. Again, I wouldnt cheapout on a rabbet plane either, as you will be fighting with it pretty much continually. This is especailly true if its your first.
As always, YMMV. If you are like David or George, you may have a natural gift for fettling. If so, I am immensely jealous.

[Jim Koepke]

I have a combination stanley 45 and I can fit and use the Veritas small plow blades without any trouble.

Eric mentioned he has the Stanley 46. It takes a different blade geometry than other combination planes.

Though it might work for his needs, it is an entirely different animal.

Eric, are you anywhere near the Portland, OR area? If so send me a PM and if you like you can give my shoulder plane a tryout to see if it fills your needs. There are also a few other planes in my shop that may do the trick.

jtk

[David Weaver]

I'd look for a skew rabbet plane with a higher pitch (like 55 degrees), and probably something in the $15 range, since it's a rabbet cutting thing. To be more clear about what I was saying earlier, a shoulder plane allows any coarse shavings to just pack into the escapement area above the iron. If you don't get the stuff out before it get packed, you literally will need to poke it out with a dowel or something.

On top of that, shoulder planes have a lot of stiction in a long rabbet, and aren't nearly as pleasant to use as a plain old rabbet plane.

The items that need to be decent in a cheap rabbet plane:
* as low wear as you can get
* the front and back should be coplanar on the sides (you can plane the side if they're not)
* the bottom should be square (you can plane that, too)
* the iron should be slightly wider than the plane, in an old plane that has shrunk some, you may need to hone some of the iron off the side
* the wedge should be in decent shape
* look closely at any moulding plane to make sure the iron doesn't look like it's a terrible fit. If it looks off, it's probably not the original iron.

[Judson Green]

BTW I bought all of the cutters,the plane, depth stop, nicker, and fence for $40. : )

What a jerk! Like a jab to the ribs!

I do like having a shoulder plane in the shop, it doesn't come out very often, but nice to have one.

[Judson Green]

Eric mentioned he has the Stanley 46. It takes a different blade geometry than other combination planes.

Though it might work for his needs, it is an entirely different animal.

Eric, are you anywhere near the Portland, OR area? If so send me a PM and if you like you can give my shoulder plane a tryout to see if it fills your needs. There are also a few other planes in my shop that may do the trick.

jtk

Be careful Eric, sounds like Jim's working on a trade for you.

[Curt Putnam]

I have the older Stanley 92, in essentially new condition. It makes the current thing they call a 92 look pretty sickly. It's small enough that my big mitts have trouble with it so I acquired an LV medium shoulder a couple years ago in a Cyber Monday sale. My advice is to wait and save up for the LV. Leave me a PM if you want to talk about the 92.

[Jim Koepke]

Be careful Eric, sounds like Jim's working on a trade for you.

Actually I do not currently have anything in the shoulder plane or rabbet plane arena that I would want to let go.

So if you are in the area you wouldn't be likely to pry anything loose from my accumulation.

Now if you were looking for some bench planes in less than fantastic condition, I might be persuaded to let a few go. Though at present I am thinking of building up my Bank of Tools Savings and Loan in order to fund a future purchase. My tendency is to save them and sell when there is enough on hand to fund the purchase. The money tends to slip through my fingers otherwise.

jtk