planing without power tools?

[Mike Steinhilper]

I am in the planning stages of my next project. Trying to decide whether to use ply or boards. I have not worked with 'real' boards yet (other than stuff from HD or Lowe's). My question is: can I plane reasonably well with hand tools? obviously, it can be done, but how difficult will it be? Would I be better off with plywood until i can invest in a planer? I can edge joint fairly well with my router table...I think. If I decide to try it with hand tools, what do I need?

[Lee Schierer]

You would probably get a better answer from the guys over on the neanderthal pages. They are more akin to using tools without power tails.

You're going to need a good plane that is sharp, but I couldn't really tell you the best size plane for the job.

[Tom Jones III]

I recently had my first experience with hand planing. I needed a tabletop that was wider than my 13" planer. I bought a very cheap import #4 smoother ($25) and a book on using hand planes. At the end of the book was a chapter on making planes, the same plans you can find everywhere on the internet. I used these plans to build a #7 1/2, buying a very good $40 iron for it. I also bought a $2.50 scraper. It took a while to tune up the planes and learn how to use them, but the results were fantastic. I wish I had taken this route much sooner.

Looking back, I should have ordered a used Stanley #4 instead of buying the new piece of junk. I am extremely happy with my homemade #7 1/2.

[Tyler Howell]

As a recent convert Mike, Hand plaing is a wonderful adventure and a learned process.

Tom gives real good advice on starting with a good old work horse and learning all there is to know about it.
There is great advice in these pages on tuning and restoring hand planes. Find them is a challenge as well.
Take a class or find a mentor. You wont be sorry.

[Tim Sproul]

I've done a bit of work with hand tools. Not a pro or even remotely close. I like hand planes. I like hand tools in general. I HATE hand thicknessing.

I don't have a power jointer. No biggy. Get a flat face and a flat square edge via hand planes is easy. Thicknessing via hand planes is A LOT of work and quite difficult to get the accuracy of a decently tuned power thickness planer. Hand thicknessing is fine if you are hand cutting joinery. If you are machining your joinery, most folks are better off with a power thicknesser since most machined joints require really 4-square lumber. If you opt for it, you really want a scrub plane for the thicknessing part and sometimes for the jointing. A jack plane with mild cambered iron is good and a longer 'jointer/try' plane is necessary for getting flat surfaces.

[Timo Christ]

I don't have a jointer or planer.. i was planning to buy one (combo), and visited a machinery dealer to check the machine out which i determined suitable from catalog photos, a 10" jointer/planer import machine. It was important to see the thing in person, because i was absolutely not impressed by the quality and probable usefulness (short tables, weak motor). As i am not in the position to buy a big j/p yet (space and money issue) i determined to do without for now.
Right now i only have an Anant #4, but i'll also get the veritas low angle block and jack planes, a #7 and convert a woodie to scrub plane.
The #4 alone was a big help already with my recent projects (wardrobe, kitchen drawer cabinet).
The only big machine i'll get soon is a bandsaw, which makes it possible to saw to thickness as well.

Regards
Timo

[Mike Wenzloff]

Hi Mike,

By "real boards" I assume you mean 8/4 (2") stock you would then need to thickness, cut to width etc.?

If you have a bandsaw much of the work is done for you in resawing. You would joint and edge and run it through the BS to rough thickness and go through steps to flatten and square the timber.

If you purchase boards a bit closer to your desired thickness dimensions (say 4/4) and need/want 3/4" stock, there's not a lot of work with handplanes to do. Being careful to thickness and make two faces parallel as well as square edges (which are also parallel to each other) is doable.

There will be a learning curve. Practice on whatever lumber you can get that's cheap. For cost effective purchase of a good old plane, there are people I could point you to. I would avoid online bidding places unless you know what to look for and are committed to fixing them up.

Purchasing 3 decent planes (new) will set you back as much or more than a planer. Used and you'll be getting close. Only you can decide whether that will be money well spent and aquiring what skill it takes.

For many, like myself, it was both worth the monetary expense and the personal satisfaction. But I still have and use all the power tools at times, too.

Mike