That’s a beautiful plane, Stewie.
Let's just say, for example, that you need these new tools to create that new _________ for your bride. I bet you would get forgiveness for good behaviour. Now, if you need them for yourself, the boat will probably never happen.
Stewie is right.
Combination planes are inevitably compromised. They don't rabbet as well as a rabbet plane or moving fillister, they don't plow as well as dado planes, they don't bead as well as dedicated beaders, they don't do T&G as well as a pair of match planes, etc.
With that said, with some practice a combo is "good enough" for many uses, and if you genuinely need all of those capabilities on a limited budget then it may be the only viable option. That's why I asked if you actually need to do stuff other than rabbeting in post #7.
Really, I think that you need both bevel-up and bevel-down shooting planes. That way you should be able to keep one when the property is divided.
Oh, and don't forget a miter plane for when you use a miter jack instead of shooting (you do have a miter jack, right?)
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 10-29-2017 at 9:02 PM.
Brian, I have a Stanley 45 that I have only used a limited amount over the years, and a Record 778 that I have just acquired, tuned up, and done the small amount of restoration work that it needed. Like the 45 I have used it only a little.
I say this, because I am not an expert, by any wild stretch of the imagination with either plane, and wanted you to know that so you would take that into consideration when you consider what I suggest. However, what I can say is that in my limit experience it takes some time and fooling (again based on my limited experience) with the combination plane, to get good with it, and the big combination plane has to be a lot harder to master than my 45.
For that reason, I would suggest that you get the one plane, and practice enough with it to find out whether it will do as well as you need, for cutting rabbets, and that will give you the answer you need.
In my case, the 778 is designed to cut rabbets, and is easier to fool with than the 45, but the 45 will cut rabbets too. It was designed to do such and other things, it just isn't quite as handy, and does not do quite as well. (The 778 was designed for that one job, but the 45 is designed for several jobs, as you know. As such the 45 has to be a compromise, compromises that the dedicated plane does not have to make.)
At any rate, I would suggest that you buy the one expensive plane and work with it until you make a decision to get (or to forgo) the second plane. It also buys some time for the lady of the house to get over the last assault to the check book.
Regards,
Stew
Last edited by Stew Denton; 10-29-2017 at 10:31 PM.