General purpose plane recommendations

[Jim Koepke]

Once you start taking shavings with a your first plane, like 98-99% of us who have gone before you, you likely will add to your kit a number of others.

Them plane shavings can be mesmerizing.

jtk

[Graham Haydon]

Hi Kent,

My advise to someone new with low experience with hand planes would be a brand new #4 from a source like LN, LV or WoodRiver. Buy a second hand #5 by a maker like Stanley, Millers Falls or Record.

The new smoother will be ready to go and provide a benchmark. The #5 might be ready to go too but easier to diagnose issues if you have one that works. After using them for a while you'll get to know what fits you best. Resist the temptation to splurge if you're looking to discover what works best for you but on the other hand they are attractive objects so splurge if you must.

[Steve Meliza]

Buying a LN plane is certainly not a bad idea if you're flush with cash, but I can't help but think that you could just as easily pop into Ed Lebetkin's tool store above the Woodwright's School in Pittsboro and get three or four excellent planes for the price of a single LN. I'm sure Ed would be happy to listen to your needs and then show you some quality ready-to-use planes. I purchased a Stanley #4 from him for $75 that needed a little touch up to the blade then was ready to use. I forget the exact type, but it is pushing 100 years old and has beautiful rosewood handles.

Think about it, for $155 you can take the Nov 15th class on hand planes which Roy Underhill will be teaching (Bill is out with health issues), then at the end of the day have enough cash left over to pop upstairs and buy two or three planes with the knowledge and experience to know which ones you want to start with. The more I think about it the more envious of you I am.

I have become an avid follower of Paul Sellers and a big believer in his methods as they work and are based on a lifetime career and a traditional apprenticeship. One thing to keep in mind about his tool suggestions is that he is trying to make woodworking approachable to everyone by using as few tools as possible and as inexpensive tools as possible. Sometimes he shows three ways to accomplish a certain task so that if you can figure out how to use the tools you do have rather than rushing out to buy whatever tool you saw him using. So while you do see him using a #4 for almost everything if you watch long enough you'll see he uses two #4 planes (one is setup as a scrub plane) and he will use a #5 for edge jointing. If you sign up for a free account you'll be able to view many of his free videos including the one on edge jointing. He also has a video on thicknessing rough stock which where the #4 set up as a scrub comes in. However, as others have pointed out he does the "donkey work" with machines so when he starts a project his material mostly needs machine marks removed and cut to final length.

You mentioned the Paul Sellers workbench which I am in the middle of building and will have finished soon. He purposely chooses 2x construction lumber for the low cost and minimal dimensioning required. It is a skill building project because you can focus on using just the #4 to create clean, tight joints and if you fail to get a seamless glue joint it isn't a big deal. In one of the workbench videos you can see that the leg was cut to length with a chop saw. Someone asked about it and he acknowledged the use of the chop saw and that they had intended to now show that bit, probably so that viewers wouldn't think they needed to rush out and buy a chop saw. I assure you that using his techniques shown in the video you can make those leg cuts by hand and with an excellent result. Oh, and trimming the end of the leg after sawing is done with a wickedly sharp #4 Stanley.

While I'm typing up this novel let me add that I've used several sharpening methods and jigs and was never happy till I tried the Paul Sellers method. I already had oil stones and a leather strop else I would try the diamond plates he uses. But none the less, on my oil stones I can quickly put on an edge freehand in a few moments that will cut end grain shavings of doug fir. And it wasn't like it look a long time to get to that skill level. I encourage you to keep watching his videos and give his methods and tool suggestions a try, they've never disappointed me.

[Kent Adams]

Thanks Steve, I had completely forgot Roy Underhill's school is practically just "down the street". I think I'll sign up for that class and take the new plane with me. Also, while there, go upstairs and check out the used ones. Someone mentioned it would be good to have a reference plane to start out with to see how one should perform if you're going to buy used and have no experience like me.

Edit: Class is full

[Allan Speers]

Kent,

I was gonna' mention getting a few used ones, but didn't want to dissuade you from your LN shopping spree. Plus, if you can afford LN (or LV) it's really a good investment. What you should understand about vintage planes:

Properly refurbed and set up, they are fine tools. The big differences with LV / LN are the thickness & composition of the blades, and the ease of adjustment. Also, with some (especially LV) there are subtle ergonomic improvements, but this is only a major factor with a very few models. Them old Stanleys made a heckuvalotta' furniture.

As and even PM-V11 blades can be retrofitted into most vintage Stanleys, and you are still WAY under the cost of a new plane.
As for ease of adjustment, that can't be modified. However, you can buy 2 good vintage Stanleys, with modern retrofitted blades, for the cost of one LN, and have them set up 2 different ways.

The downside is that it can sometimes take a LOT of time to properly tweak an old plane, and you do sorta' have to know what you're doing. Plus, if you put an A2 / PM-V11 blade into a Stanley #5, you won't get that back if/when you sell it.

If I had the money (I do not) I'd use only modern planes, with the exception of a couple of vintage woodies that I just love.