Do I need more planes?

[Moses Yoder]

I would suggest not buying anything until you know you need it.

[Marc Seguin]

I really like my Veritas low angle jack plane. I think rather than recommending a #5 stanley I'd throw my vote for the LAJ. With a couple irons it can do a ton of different jobs. I do have my Grandfather's #5 Stanley that I have set up with a cambered iron for my 'scrub' plane. But other than the super rough work, the LAJ does most of the rest. It's also brilliant for end grain with the 25* iron. Much better than any of my regular 45* bedded bevel downs.

[Frederick Skelly]

Adam, I think the others covered the waterfront pretty well for you. A couple small points to add - I have the suite of planes, from #1 to #7. I do use each of them, though some more than others of course. I probably use my #4 and 5 1/2 (Veritas low angle jack) the most. I build small boxes and medium sized furniture like end tables. For the boxes, that #2 and either the block plane or the #1 are very helpful.

Changing gears, do you remember this line in Ghostbusters? "The next time anyone asks if you're a god, you answer YES!!!!!" Welllllll, the same principle applies to the question of "Do I need more planes?" (Notice my signature line? Mr. C hit it right on the head!")

Fred

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I wasted a lot of time on projects trying to do things with planes that really were more appropriate for a saw. If you don't have a good pair of saws and a sawbench you might want to consider that instead of planes.

I will say a scrub plane changed my perspective on things in a way few of my other tools have. It is just flat out a lot faster and easier to clean up rough stock, or correct a twisted or cupped piece of stock. I have a #40, and it works much better for me then the results I got when I was trying to regrind a spare blade on my #5 and get that to do double duty. Others obviously have had better results going that route, but it did not work well for me. I think the narrower blade makes a big difference. When I found a #40 at a good price I almost did not buy it because I thought it was ridiculously small, but it works extremely well, removing material quickly and with little effort.

For planes I have a #3, #5 (two actually, but only one gets used), a #7, a Sargent 1080, a router, a rabbet (#78), and a low angle block plane, along with the scrub, a spokeshave, and a scraper. They all earn their keep in my opinion (except the spare #5). My ripsaw and bench along with the scrub have been added in the last couple of years, and if I had to do it over I would have bought them much sooner.

[john zulu]

After my 'sharpness epiphany' I am getting a little bit more enthusiastic about going down to the basement and getting some work done. I've been rather haphazardly adding tools to my kit as I've been going along; now I'm trying to decide if I need to look into adding some more planes to my arsenal, or if I can settle with what I have for the time being and make some stuff instead of spending my cash on tools.

Right now I have:

• LV #6 - pretty much all-purpose plane right now
• Krenov-ish style smoother
• random 3/4" dado plane (I have a knack for bookcases?)
• Stanley #78 rabbet plane
• Veritas large router plane

I've been wondering whether I should look into a dedicated waste-hogger such as a scrub, or whether I can get away with using the #6 to work as both a workhorse and a jointer by swapping out blades? Money isn't so much an object as space, I don't really have much more room for tools at the moment. They all just sit on my bench with the exception of my saws, which I finally made a basic till for.

Any opinions would be much appreciated.

A block plane to start with. I am not sure how did you work without a block plane so far
Scrub plane is a good choice to hogging wood off quickly. If you deal with hard wood then scrub plane will make a lot of difference.
Plow plane.
Shoulder plane.

What is your next project? Maybe we can narrow down your choices.

[Jim Koepke]

I keep forgetting that I have a Stanley #5 that's been driving me nuts - it's a pretty old one, from right around 1900. The blade that came with it was kaput, so I got a replacement from Veritas that doesn't seem to catch on the depth adjuster properly. That and the depth adjuster itself doesn't seem to work properly. I spend an hour or so looking at it occasionally trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, can't, and give up... I've yet to get a single shaving out of it.

Up to about 1890 Stanley planes had a right hand thread on the depth adjuster. The first time one of these came into my hands it was baffling. After figuring it out, I bought it. There is usually patent information stamped inside the brass adjuster nut if this is the case. It is difficult to see if there is any dirt inside.

Stew mentioned a few items which may be the cause of your #5's problems. Are you using the original Stanley cap iron or are you using one from Veritas?

If you can post pictures that may also be of help. A previous owner may have filed or snapped the tip off of the adjusting fork.

Moses offers good advice:

not buying anything until you know you need it.

This can save a lot of money and frustration in the future.

jtk

[Brian Holcombe]

I have a #4, low angle 5 and a #7. I have a very heavily cambered blade for the #5 for roughing (like a scrub) and another for shooting on a shooting board. It's actually not uncommon for me to use the #7 when I mock up a shooting arrangement on the benchtop for edge planing assemblies of thin wood or individual sticks of thin wood (I find it easier to maintain 90 in this manner on thin boards).

My special use planes, however, continue to grow and will do so for the foreseeable future. I have dovetail planes (side rabbet and ECE style), a dado plane, a shoulder plane and a router plane. I'll continue to add sizes and variety to this. Next is a plow plane, likely followed by more dado planes and then molding planes. I find a great improvement in doing tasks I previously assigned to a router table by hand.

[Adam Stevens2]

What is your next project? Maybe we can narrow down your choices.

Sharpening station is one I am thinking of. Probably another larger bookcase and, more ambitiously, a dresser (mine is falling apart and I'd like to go out on a limb a bit).

By "dado" plane are you talking a true dado plane or a shoulder plane?
If the latter, I have a medium and wish I had a large.

It's a true wooden dado plane.

Thanks for all the replies, much to think on!

[Kyle DuPont]

I had a problem with the adjustments on my 5 and the veritas iron and cap iron. It took me a little while but figured out I had the move the frog forward for it to work. It seemed very counter intuitive given the extra thickness of the iron but it was a dream after that. My 5 is from about 1902 and the mouth is tight with this set up.

[john zulu]

I would go with a plow plane. Sharpening station should only need the #6 plane. The book case will benefit from the plow plane.

[Jeffrey Martel]

The answer is always yes. An old #4 or #5 for a scrub, maybe a #8 for a longer jointer would work well.

[Robert Engel]

I would go with a plow plane. Sharpening station should only need the #6 plane. The book case will benefit from the plow plane.

Excellent suggestion. Its on my list, too. Thinking of making one after watching Paul Sellers video.

[john zulu]

There is no end to planes Just buy what you need for the next project. So far I have not needed a compass plane or dovetail plane.

[Eric Schubert]

I would also go with suggesting a low-angle block plane. They're good for smoothing end grain, they're compact, and they're quite versatile.

If you want something a bit different from standard bench planes, take a look at router or plow planes for cleaning up a blind mortise (or a hinge mortise), or for making dadoes and grooves.

[John Sanford]

As is so often my wont, I'm going to chime in with a suggestion off the beaten path.

Side rabbet plane. That link is to the Veritas model, Woodriver and Lie-Nielsen also make them.

I picked one up years ago, had almost no use for it, and then... boom! It is THE handy dandy tool for widening a groove/dado just a smidge. It's one of those tools that is so focused and exquisitely excellent at it's task. If you do a lot of dadoes and grooves, and also rabbets, it is well worth the money. (Woodcraft has the Woodriver on sale currently.)