Grizzly Premium Hand Planes?

[Jim Koepke]

It's not uncommon to push (or pull) your plane at an angle, to get that slicing cut that reduces tear out and generally makes things easier.

Moving a plane at an angle in effect lowers the blade angle. If you ever road a bicycle up a steep hill by going in a zig-zag route, it is easy to visualize.

Paul Sellers says the only plane you ever need is a No. 4 Stanley. And he's not wrong.

Paul Sellers says a lot. He likely hasn't gone from here:

Big Hunk of Wood.jpg

To here:

Smoothing.jpg

Using only a #4.

jtk

[steven c newman]

I used to, using a Stanley No. 110....usually to flatten hardwood glued up panels...

Sometimes, it isn't about who made the plane....it is the HOW the planes get used.....although..some out there will blame their tools....

90% of the wood I work with is Ash....

[Rafael Herrera]

thanks for the response, I get how planes work and done the circles enough times. What I dont get not ever having a high plane if they are needed to do the work he is doing there take a full consistent very thin shaving from end to end. i guess I could go to lee valley one day and ask to try some planes. What type of plane is he using at 3 minutes in or what brand?

He's planing maple with a LN smoother. He may or may not be using a frog with a higher than 45 degrees bed. Before the chipbreaker was invented a higher iron angle was used to handle difficult grain. Since it was invented, around 1750, a double iron can handle difficult grain easily. LN sells accessory frogs with higher angles to use with their planes. Another alternative is to go to James Wright's website (https://www.woodbywright.com/shop/wedges), there you can find a kit, invented by a friend of mine, to raise the bed angle of a regular Stanley plane.

Getting continuous shavings is not just in the realm of boutique planes, high angle or not. It takes some practice, but anyone can manage that with any well setup Bailey plane. Wooden planes are also capable of this feat.

https://youtu.be/yWKvlKUYuNI

[Frederick Skelly]

Another alternative is to go to James Wright's website (https://www.woodbywright.com/shop/wedges), there you can find a kit, invented by a friend of mine, to raise the bed angle of a regular Stanley plane.

Thanks for the link. Wright has a number of interesting items for sale.

[Warren Lake]

thanks for the info, the additional plane parts look well made and priced fair will take a better look.

The hand plane thing, Honduras easy wood and too long time wise. Hes also using a wood plane and while I have them im more concerned about the metal high end planes and how much difference they really are if so. Id run that board over the jointer and if needed a hand plane effect id hand plane it. Im more interested in the you tube I linked as hes doing difficult wood and getting excellent results.

[George Yetka]

I would base choice on how much you will use it. If it wont get used very often I would look into which ebay planes to buy. Restoration isnt bad I did a very poor quality late model stanley my father had owned for fun. As a machine woodworker they dont see much use but I break them out occasionally and they are nice to use.

A #5 was my first and I bought veritas. Then a veritas block and 4 -1/2 smoother. Looking forward, and backward, I should buy affordable planes as they dont see much use and moving forward they would see less and less as they get more specialized. Both veritas and LN are beautiful and I will not listen to myself and eventually get shoulder and router planes that will sit in a drawer.

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes, it isn't about who made the plane....it is the HOW the planes get used.....although..some out there will blame their tools....

There were some makers of planes with more knowledge on making a buck than on making a usable plane.

There were a few good makers of metallic planes in the U.S. like Stanley, Sargent, Millers Falls, Union and Ohio Tools. They also made planes for others like Keen Kutter, Winchester, Sears and other large retailers.

Though having owned a few planes by most of the makers my choice has been to mostly stay with the Stanley/Bailey planes merely for the convenience of parts availability and interchangeability.

YMMV.png

jtk

[Rafael Herrera]

thanks for the info, the additional plane parts look well made and priced fair will take a better look.

The hand plane thing, Honduras easy wood and too long time wise. Hes also using a wood plane and while I have them im more concerned about the metal high end planes and how much difference they really are if so. Id run that board over the jointer and if needed a hand plane effect id hand plane it. Im more interested in the you tube I linked as hes doing difficult wood and getting excellent results.

I wouldn't call Honduras mahogany an easy wood, but that's not the topic of this thread. If you're looking for a justification to buy a premium plane, I'm not the right person to ask, I get the finish I want to the standards I set with my old planes. I haven't been persuaded to get a boutique plane yet.

This sounds like a broken record, but a plane with a chip breaker setup correctly will plane any wood, difficult or not. Will a premium plane do it out of the box, maybe, the guy in the video is using it, he may or may not have tuned it.

The video shows someone smoothing a tiger maple board, whether the results are excellent or not is hard to tell, one has to feel and look at a smoothed board to see if one didn't get any tear out. Was the board sanded or scraped afterwards? It looks like he's finishing with the smoother, so maybe not. Any well setup plane can do that.

[Jim Koepke]

If you're looking for a justification to buy a premium plane, I'm not the right person to ask, I get the finish I want to the standards I set with my old planes. I haven't been persuaded to get a boutique plane yet.

Rafael, folks like you, myself and many others have the skills (some might think it a gift) to find an old piece of secondhand rusted metal and turn it into a fine woodworking tool. Some may not have the qualities or patience it takes to undertake such a task multiple times in order to acquire a selection of woodworking tools.

Then again, some folks may admire the fine fit & finish of a brand new "boutique" plane.

I like my LN #1 plane. It has often crossed my mind that if a Stanley/Bailey #1 came my way the LN might be sold. Now days it would pay a big chunk of the cost for the Stanley version on ebay.

LN #1 Completed Sale on ebay.png

jtk

[Rafael Herrera]

Thanks Jim. I suppose it's important in all this that one needs to have the patience and interest in refurbishing old tools. I kind of sound pompous, but I feel it's more important to develop skills first. Nothing wrong with buying boutique tools, if one wants them, just buy them.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

For over 40 years I repaired equipment, first in air traffic control centers, then on fast attack submarines and the last 34 years in radiology departments in hospitals and clinics. I took up wood working to get away from repairing stuff, to relieve stress, to create stuff and to have fun. The last thing I wanted to do was rehab tools. Recently I did buy a rehabbed spokeshave.

I didn't buy new tools for display purposes.

Some people just have no desire to spend their free time rehabbing hand tools and it is not an indication of their abilities or potential abilities.

[Cameron Wood]

Thanks Jim. I suppose it's important in all this that one needs to have the patience and interest in refurbishing old tools. I kind of sound pompous, but I feel it's more important to develop skills first. Nothing wrong with buying boutique tools, if one wants them, just buy them.

IME, new tools often need as much refurbishing (furbishing?) as old ones. I have one Lie Neilsen plane (rabbeting block plane), & it was almost usable out of the box, but still needed sharpening, breaking the sharp edges and more. Others can be basically a TSO (tool shaped object) that can be made into a working tool with a fair bit of work.

[Jim Koepke]

…The last thing I wanted to do was rehab tools. Recently I did buy a rehabbed spokeshave.

I didn't buy new tools for display purposes.

Some people just have no desire to spend their free time rehabbing hand tools and it is not an indication of their abilities or potential abilities.

I can understand this point of view. In my years of working my most enjoyable occupations were taking things apart and fixing them. Though now days I'm pretty much satiated on that though a little tinkering now and then is fun.

IME, new tools often need as much refurbishing (furbishing?) as old ones. I have one Lie Neilsen plane (rabbeting block plane), & it was almost usable out of the box, but still needed sharpening, breaking the sharp edges and more. Others can be basically a TSO (tool shaped object) that can be made into a working tool with a fair bit of work.

Some TSOs are next to impossible for making into a decent, useable tool. Some can be made almost serviceable, though frustrating when used for quality work.

jtk

[Warren Lake]

its good to understand stuff. With friends who restore and build custom cars, tool and die maker friend and others ive ended up with sandblasting mig and tig welding and fair bit of finishing learned from car painters. all of that helps in the shop.
As much as the old guys knew they didnt have those skills as the shops they were in usually had a guy who made and jigged machines and modified tools. Flattening the bottom of a hand plane is easy and quick. I have record and other stuff one person gave me and they look new. They were not flat on the bottom.

[Cameron Wood]

I can understand this point of view. In my years of working my most enjoyable occupations were taking things apart and fixing them. Though now days I'm pretty much satiated on that though a little tinkering now and then is fun.



Some TSOs are next to impossible for making into a decent, useable tool. Some can be made almost serviceable, though frustrating when used for quality work.

jtk

The term comes from the bicycle world, where department store bikes are called BSOs by bike mechanics because they can hardly be tuned up to a good running condition.

It's a useful concept in other areas as well...