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Thread: Which Plane - 5 or 5 1/2

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Lefort View Post
    5 1/2 is a great plane for your shooting board. Check out some of the Rob Cosman stuff.
    A low angle bevel up plane is even better on a shooting board.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  2. #32
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    If you have a rust bucket handplane, you can de-rust it and coat with automotive paint with good results.

    AND

    If I ever run across a 4 1/2 I will jump on it.
    Last edited by lowell holmes; 08-11-2017 at 11:00 PM.

  3. #33
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    The 5 1/2 is 2 1/2" X 15", the 6 is 3" X 18". I tend to like large planes. They smooth wide and long boards quickly.

    They have the mass to power through knots and such.

  4. #34
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    Older #5-1/2 WERE 2-1/4" wide irons....then they went to the same size as the #6, the #7....2-3/8" wide, as well as the #4-1/2.

    The #8 was a whopping 2-5/8" wide iron.

    3" between a 5-1/2 and a #6 in length....a #7 clocks in at 22", and the heavy-weight #8 is 24" long.

  5. #35
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    OK...Show & Tell Time.....
    IMG_1417 (640x480).jpg
    Starting off with the Stanley No. 5c, set it beside a
    IMG_1419 (640x480).jpg
    Stanley No. 5-1/2, Type 17.....not much longer, and a bit wider...
    IMG_1420 (640x480).jpg
    A Stanley No. 6c, Type 10....same width, quite a few inches longer..
    IMG_1422 (640x480).jpg
    Then sit a Stanley No. 7c down beside these "little " planes....followed by..
    IMG_1424 (640x480).jpg
    A Stanley No. 8 and a Millers Falls No. 11....There are smaller planes handy..
    IMG_1425 (640x480).jpg
    Stanley No.4c and a Millers Falls No. 8

    Width of the larger planes?
    IMG_1427 (640x480).jpg
    From a 2-5/8" wide iron down to that 1-3/4" Junior Jack's iron...
    Choice is up to you....
    IMG_1428 (640x480).jpg
    I tend to use about all of them...

  6. #36
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    The 5 1/2 is wider and removes a wider curl....I think its a matter of what feels best in your hands, not what the research show,,Just my thought,
    Jerry

  7. #37
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    John,

    Some general comments, but first of all there are guys here, and several of those have already chimed in, who have more experience with significant hours use of the various sizes of planes than I do.

    That said, I have a thought or two on your questions, and some comments on what has been said.

    The first thought is a suggestion. Jim Mercer, at Woodcraft in Oklahoma City, is highly skilled at tuning planes, and that is putting it mildly. He offers a class in tuning handplanes. The schedule is on their site. It is not a free class, however I believe that it is worth every cent of the cost. I hope to take it in the future. They have a plane in the store that he has tuned, and you can try it on a piece of what appears to be hard maple. You will be utterly amazed at how well it works, it cuts curls that you can see through, and with virtually no effort. It is frighteningly sharp. I am not bad at sharpening my chisels and plane irons, but am not remotely in his league.

    If I were you, I would stop in at Woodcraft when Jim is there, he is the manager and there most of the time, and let him look at your planes, the ones that don't work well, and do it well before the date of the class. If you need to get a different iron for the plane you plan to take to the class he can advise you, and you can get an iron well before you have your class, that is if you decide to take the class. In my view if the iron is beyond hope you should have a better iron before taking the class. He is a good guy, and extremely sharp on hand tool woodworking and planes. In my experience he probably would be willing to look at both of your questionable planes. He will tell you the truth about what you have, I believe. I think if you have a hopeless plane he will advise you such. Jim knows planes.

    After you take the class you will be able to tune up all of your planes and get them extremely sharp. I do agree with one of the above posts, in that a well tuned up Stanley Bailey should preform in a premium way. The Baileys are good planes.

    If you travel, and get through the Texas panhandle every now and then, let me know. I have both a #5 1/2 and #5, and will be glad to let you give them a go. Let me know well in advance though, so that I can sharpen up the 5 1/2, as only the planes I use most of the time are sharp, and currently the 5 1/2 is not sharp. I do get to OKC once in a great while too, and you might be able to try those two when I am in OKC.

    I would agree with the several above folks, the #4 or #3 are better choices for smoothing than are a 5 or 5 1/2.

    Generally speaking, you can tell a lot about what planes the test of time has chosen, as the most generally useful show up most often on sites like the auction site. There are far more #5s than #5 1/2s listed for sale at any given time. That tells me that a lot of folks who only bought one plane, or even those who bought more than one plane, went with a #5. It is lighter, easier to carry if you were a carpenter who had to carry his tools to the job in a tool box, and is suitable for many different tasks. That is NOT to say that for some jobs the #5 1/2 isn't better, and some folks prefer it, but generally speaking there are a whole lot more #5s out there.

    Does this mean I would choose a #5 over a #4 for smoothing.....nope....but I have used a #5 for smoothing.

    As per the usual, I have no financial interest in Woodcraft, nor am I in any way associated with Woodcraft or any of the staff there.

    Stew
    Last edited by Stew Denton; 08-16-2017 at 2:13 AM.

  8. #38
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    Kees, the Jack of all trades, comes from it's general usefullness, and that a skilled man could do a lot with the #5. In this country, the phrase often went, when a general handy man described himself, "Jack of all trades, Master of none." The "master of none" part often went with the "Jack of all trades" part.

    The phrase often meant that the guy was a handyman and could do a lot of different skills in a general way, and could do many small jobs from different trades to an acceptable level, but would not take on large jobs that took a high level of skill. Such a man might be someone who did work for himself on his own property such as a farmer, homeowner, or business owner, it might be a maintenance man for a very small plant or large building, or it might be a man who worked as a handyman.

    A friend of mine did that kind of work for a while, and earned a living doing that. He knew a man that had earned his living that way his whole life. Men who do that kind of work generally charge a lower fee than does a master craftsman, and takes job that are small enough that a master craftsman generally does not want to take. Often the home owner or business owner knows a master craftsman is not needed for a small and relatively non-complex job, and he can save money by hiring a handyman that he trusts and also knows the handyman will do a good job.

    The #5 plane is a plane of that sort in this country, a "handyman" sort of a plane. Most carpenters I knew when younger, carried a #5 plane if they only carried one plane, and most only carried one plane. I only had one bench plane (and well I also had a block plane) for many years, a #5. I used it to plane down doors to fit properly, to plane down a piece of lumber to get rid of mill marks (or used a belt sander) for uses such as making window sills or door jambs, and many other general carpentry applications.

    That sort of usage was traditional, as 45 years before I started carpentering a lot of carpenters did not have a car, and they carried their tools to the job in a tool box, at least out in the small towns where I grew up. Consequently they could not take a lot of different tools with them. They carried one plane often, and that one plane was normally a #5. It had to be used as the fore plane, the jointer plane, and smoothing plane, and was called a Jack plane by the carpenters I knew.

    Traditions die hard, and I will bet a lot of carpenters still only carry only a #5 plane and a block plane for all of their planing work. The new man on the job learns from the boss if he has little experience, and when the boss was young he learned to do everything with a #5 because that was the only plane he had.

    In highly skilled hands a Jack plane could do all of those tasks, although clearly not as easily or well as the dedicated tool.

    The hobby woodworker who made things as a hobby and he made toy boxs for his kids and later his grand kids, very likely only owned one bench plane for his woodworking, he used it for everything, and the plane was a #5 the large majority of the time.

    A lot of #5s were sold in this country to folks who only owned one plane, home owners, maintenance men, farmers, carpenters, handymen, etc. That is why it was called a Jack plane. It has truly been a Jack of all trades, but master of none (well, it is a perfect choice for a fore plane) in this country, but in skilled hands a #5 can do a lot of fine work.

    Stew
    Last edited by Stew Denton; 08-16-2017 at 2:06 AM.

  9. #39
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    There is a 605 1/2 on the auction site. I'm tempted . . . .

    I don't need another plane.

  10. #40
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    I'm a beginner myself and I bought three planes with the same iron of the same width from Veritas - #4-1/2, #5-1/2 and #7, similar to BU family of planes where one iron is used in BUS, LAJ and BUJ plus shooting plane. I thought it is more flexible as I can switch irons with different curvature/angle between the planes.

    It turns out that it is not all that needed as planes become assigned to a specific task. It is enough to have an extra iron for jointer and jack plane instead.

    I like #4-1/2, as I work with wide boards mostly. I use #5-1/2 with curved blade as fore-fore plane, that is after narrow Veritas Scrub Plane but before #7. And I don't mind extra effort with wider blade since I don't do it all day. But I do prepare stock by hand only.

    In a similar sense, I might say #5-1/2 is Super Scrub Plane to me!

  11. #41
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    Used this today...
    jointed edge.jpg
    Was...ok for 24" edges....Type 17.
    jointed.jpg
    But, on the drawer sides, I used a #5-1/4 ( Millers Falls No.11, type 2)
    Board is Curly Maple...

  12. #42
    Around here planes such as #5 aren't as common as #4s, but if I were to go to the fleamarket today my batting average would be 250.And the prices reflect this.$20-$40 #5 1/2s are much more rare.

  13. #43
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    As always, IF you happen to be in my area....stop in. You are free to test out any of the planes I have in the shop. There are about 4 of the #5 sized ones, each set up with a slightly different edge. About the only size not in the shop is a #4-1/2.....mine go from a few #3s up to the big,old #8.....

    Stop in, sometime, and try them out. And, IF you have a "problem plane" bring it along, as well. When you leave, that plane will be up and running.......and no longer a problem child.

  14. You may have made your decision already, but I'll give you my opinion. I have a Stanley #4, Lie-Nielsen #4 1/2, Stanley #5, a Stanley #6, and a Lee Valley Low Angle Jack with a 25 deg and 38 deg iron. I love my LN 4 1/2 and have used my #4 significantly less since I got the 4 1/2. When I try and go back and forth between the two I end up going back to the 4 1/2. If you want a smoother and already have the 4, I would go for the 4 1/2. If you want a bigger plane for more refined work and have a 5 already that you want to use for rough stock removal, I would probably go for a 6 or 7 to flatten, or I would get a low angle plane with a couple different irons. Depending on how rough my stock and how big it is I will start with my #5 with a cambered iron, move to my 6 or LV LAJ, then finish with my 4 or 4 1/2.

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