Which planes to get?

[Hasin Haroon]

Hey Tim, what's your budget? If you are ok with spending for a Veritas/Lie Nielsen, you can get a couple planes that will come to you ready to work as finely tuned specimens right out of the box. Otherwise you'll have to spend some time fettling and learning a little bit about what makes a plane great. And either way you'll need a sharpening set up that works for you.

If I had to pick 2, I'd pick a low angle block plane and a jack plane. Any jack plane would do, but a low angle would provide some extra versatility.

[Jim Koepke]

The things on my list to make in the near future are outdoor furniture, mid century furniture, and probably a host of cutting boards. That's not to say that I wont dabble in other things at some point. I can see myself needing to smooth a top or take the wobble out of a cutting board.

The two planes in the links are quite different. The #5-1/2 has a wider blade and may be less useful than a #5 jack plane with a 2" blade.

If you are planing on making cutting boards with end grain surfaces, the #62 is a good choice. You might want to consider an extra blade or two to camber one more like a scrub plane's blade for knocking down the wobble of a cutting board and another to have a higher angle bevel to fight tear out in difficult woods. A low angle bevel up plane excels on end grain. That was my main reason for buying an LN #62.

If you choose a bevel down jack plane you may want one extra blade to camber for the quick removal of twists and other wobble makers. A #5 or #5-1/2 are not the best smoothers, but they can do the job.

Jack planes, as in "Jack of all trades" are very versatile and are able to do almost anything that they are needed to do. They are not as good at smoothing as a smoother, nor are they as good at jointing as a jointer. But in trained hands they can do the jointing a smoother would be hard pressed to do and can do the smoothing a jointer would have trouble doing. That is why they are one of the most common planes found in yard sales and other such markets.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

The two planes in the links are quite different. The #5-1/2 has a wider blade and may be less useful than a #5 jack plane with a 2" blade.

Where's the "YMMV"? :-)

[Jim Koepke]

Where's the "YMMV"? :-)

LOL!

jtk ...

[steven c newman]

Surprisingly easy to spend someone else's money, isn't it....YMMV

[Jim Koepke]

There is a way to make a message have less than 10 characters.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Surprisingly easy to spend someone else's money, isn't it....YMMV

And fun!

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

At least one person suggested a router plane. This might be one of the least useful planes for a power tool user. I have never needed a router plane because I have a router and a tablesaw and can cut dadoes and rabbets with either or both depending on what makes the most sense.

Well Pat, it might depend on how you like to work. For example, I cut dados on the tablesaw. Sometimes they aren't quite a uniform depth. So I originally bought a router plane to correct that. Granted that my dadoing routine was crappy, but time and again I've personally found that little router plane to help me in this scenario.

Doesnt work for everybody, but it sure works for me. YMMV.

Best regards,
Fred

[Roy Turbett]

If I had to pick 2, I'd pick a low angle block plane and a jack plane.

+1 This past weekend my neighbor came over and wanted to make a threshold for his wife's rustic "she shed". I am currently without a power jointer so I used a No. 5 jack plane to flatten one side of a twisted 2 x 8, ran it through my thickness planer, and returned to the jack plane to smooth the top and add the bevels.

The plane I used is a Stanley Bailey "Sweetheart era" that I picked up at a yard sale for $20 and it came with three irons that were ground for different uses. One iron has a radius grind that is good for rapid stock removal, one is ground flat for use with a shooting board, and the other has a slight camber for smoothing. I used the rounded iron and the cambered iron for this project and completed it in about the same amount of time it would have taken with a power jointer.

I usually have a small block plane in my tool pouch because it is so handy for getting things to fit and does a great job on end grain.

[Pat Barry]

Well Pat, it might depend on how you like to work. For example, I cut dados on the tablesaw. Sometimes they aren't quite a uniform depth. So I originally bought a router plane to correct that. Granted that my dadoing routine was crappy, but time and again I've personally found that little router plane to help me in this scenario.

Doesnt work for everybody, but it sure works for me. YMMV.

Best regards,
Fred

Sure, you can certainly do that, but I would wonder why your dadoes aren't a uniform depth. There could be several reasons / root causes, and using the router plane could get you back to uniform depth, but, if you aren't getting a uniform depth because the piece you are dadoing isn't flat to begin with, having a uniform depth isn't really buying you anything. Lets say its a side for a bookcase. If it is bowed and that is the reason the depth isn't uniform, are you just going to clamp it flat during glue-up? Maybe you are referring to non-uniform depth as being caused by a dado set that doesn't cut a perfectly square bottom. Mine leaves tiny grooves coincidental with some of the points on the teeth. This doesn't bother me in my work, but if it did I'd use the router. Like you said, MMMV.

[David Bassett]

I'm thinking we need the OP to clarify just what his specific goal(s) is(/are). I read this:

... I'll put the caveat out there that I want to use a power tool whenever possible but I know that planes can be indispensable for various tasks even with a shop full of every power tool imaginable. ....

to say this:

... I am currently without a power jointer so I used a No. 5 jack plane....

isn't applicable. (Otherwise I think the advice is great. It shows how the Jack plane excels.) It seems to me this thread is so confused because there are a lot of correct answers to significantly different questions.

[David Ryle]

Pop over to your local Lowes and pick up one of their blue Kobalt planes,it's approx a 41/2, you will in all likelihood have to flatten the sole,a coarse sandpaper attached to a 16x4" piece of plate glass should take care of that,also remove the gunk that the iron is coated in. Why this one? It's readily available,cheap and regardless which source you use for a middle range plane some fettling is going to be unavoidable so why not! The one area that you will have to give some real thought to is sharpening. Given your preference for power tools how much hand sharpening have you done. You tube would be a good starting point for a tutorial.

[Patrick Chase]

Pop over to your local Lowes and pick up one of their blue Kobalt planes,it's approx a 41/2, you will in all likelihood have to flatten the sole,a coarse sandpaper attached to a 16x4" piece of plate glass should take care of that,also remove the gunk that the iron is coated in. Why this one? It's readily available,cheap and regardless which source you use for a middle range plane some fettling is going to be unavoidable so why not! The one area that you will have to give some real thought to is sharpening. Given your preference for power tools how much hand sharpening have you done. You tube would be a good starting point for a tutorial.

I think that the validity of this advice depends heavily on the value of your time.

The Lowes/Cobalt (and Borg/Buck, and HF/Windsor) planes are cheap for a reason. The bodies are poorly machined, the irons are thin and often warped, etc. Some of them can be tuned up to reasonable performance levels and others can't, but unless you value your time at minimum wage it's unlikely to be a sound investment to do so.

FWIW my preferred sources from least expensive to most are:

1. Classic Stanley/Record/Miller Falls/Sargent/etc plane from eBay or similar. If you're lucky these will cost about as much as Kobalt and co, but they're fundamentally higher quality tools to start with, that can more easily be turned into first-rate performers. As always with eBay you run the risk of getting a lemon.
2. Same as above except from a reputable tool dealer. People will be happy to give you references for their favorite dealers. This will cost you more than Fleabay, but in exchange you don't have to worry about getting a lemon or something different than represented, as the dealer filters those out for you.
3. Quangsheng (a.k.a. WoodRiver). These are well-made planes at reasonable prices.
4. Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen. High price, exquisite quality, great customer service, etc.

One key thing to note is that basically all of these with the exception of true "eBay lemons" can be tuned up using sweat alone (no aftermarket irons required) to be first-rate performers. As a rule the more you pay, the less effort you'll need to invest.

[andy bessette]

Pop over to your local Lowes and pick up one of their blue Kobalt planes...

Better not to get in the habit of buying cheap crap. Buy quality, even if it is used.

[David Bassett]

True, but I was working on a 2 x 8 which is wider than the 6" jointers found in most shops. Seems this is the type of application the OP is thinking of.

That's a great reason to want a jack, or a joining, plane and nothing like I read OP's scenario. That's why I suggest OP needs to provide more details about why he needs (/wants) a plane.