Hi folks. I'm relatively new to hand planing, and I have a couple quick questions. I can currently get by with a #5, a #4, a low-angle adjustable mouth block plane, and a small LV router plane. But I've heard something about a slope, and I can feel my feet giving out just a little...
Anyway, I've quickly realized that my #4 just isn't going to cut it, for two reasons:
1.) I have big hands and long fingers, and it just feels too small in my hand. Gripping a #4 with all four fingers around the handle is too uncomfortable, and I bump into the lateral adjuster with my knuckle. Trying to grip a #3 was ludicrous, so I'm no threat to collect all the bench planes.
2.) I play guitar (classical) and so... yes, I have long nails. This is a woodworking handicap, I know, but it's the major reason I'm drawn to hand tools and not power tools (I'm in love with having ten fingers, what can I say). Gripping a #4 with my index finger extended and pointing to the toe seems to encourage my guitar nails to dig into the meat of my palm. And if this is the lamest excuse ever posted on this forum, you have my permission to delete my account and banish me to sculpting with play-doh or something equally soft and non-threatening.
I'm guessing one option is to move to a larger size for my smoothing needs, but I have no idea if a #4 1/2 is large enough, and I don't want to start asking my #5 to be both a roughing plane AND a smooth plane. So my first question is: is the *handle* of a #4 1/2 larger than on a #4, or is it just the sole that's larger? Am I going to have more room back there?
I admit I'm most attracted to going to a bevel-up smoother, as I'll have some faster(er) blade-switching flexibility in addition to the extra space for my hand since there's no frog, as well as the capacity to add a custom handle without bumping into the mechanisms. But I'm probably missing something, right?
Are there any other big-handed woodworkers who have dealt with something similar?
Sorry if this is rambling or long-winded, and thanks for reading.
J