Help me buy my first plane

[Danny Thompson]

The veritas (Lee Valley) and Lie-Nielsens are the way to go. For a cutting board, why not
start with a medium-sized block plane. With your fund specs I would go straight to the
Veritas NX60, which has an adjustable mouth, low-angle A2 blade, and is rust-proof (- think).
Pricey, but sweet.

[Todd Bin]

If you want to start out with just one plane then I highly, highly suggest you consider the LN No. 62 Low Angle Jack plane. This one definitely deserves the "Jack" nickname because is indeed a jack of all trades. The plane is bevel up and low angle so right off the bat you can plane end grain. It also does a nice job of planing face grain but will cause tear-out on figured woods. So I would suggest you pick up an extra blace and grind a steeper bevel on it so that you get about a 50 degree planing angle. This will enable you to plane figured woods with little tearout. You can also pick up the toothed blade and use it similar to a scrub plane because with the toothed blade you can really remove a lot of stock quickly. Since it is a low angle plane you can pick up the "hot dog" attachment and use it for shooting (with a shooting board).

Oh yeah, did I mention that if you put the 90 degree blade in then it works as a scraper.

here is the link. (total cost: Plane, 90 deg blade, extra blade, toothed blade, and hot dog = $455)

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=62

[Dan Andrews]

As a person who is not new to hand tools, but is definately trying to get more skilled in their use, I have been adding to my arsenal of planes. The new old planes that I have recently aquired that perform just fantastically are a Stanley #5, type 11, a Stanley #27 transitional jack and a 6" Millers Falls low angle block. I learned a lot about them just getting them tuned up. New high end planes are no doubt great to use, and maybe someday I will. Right now I am enjoying using vintage planes that work so well.

As for specific recommendations, I will leave that to those with much more experience than I have.

[Matt Lau]

I'm not super experienced myself, but I've found out that you should check the sol for flatness.

Of course, my first planes were cheap Grizzly planes (note: don't buy Grizzly hand planes!)

[Erwin Graween]

Hi.

As others said. Go for a #5 or #60 1/2.

The #5 is really an all around plane. You can do a lot of things with it.
The 60 1/2 is smaller but also very useful.

You did not say if you already have many power tools (like a planer, ....). It could have an impact on what you could buy to start.

If you have the money go for the LN or LV tools, there great. Also, their value on the second hand market is quite high. SO if you don't like you can always sell them, without loss.

Buying old tools is great, but you need to know a little about the tools before starting. Also you need to know how to settle and tune a plane. cheaper, but harder thant buying a new tool 'almost ready to use out of the box'. But you'll find many articles here to find out how to do.

Hope it helps.

[Paul Ryan]

Bernie,

These guys are real helpful for us plane newbies. Some months back I inherited an old stanley #4 that needed some TLC. With the help from these guys I was able to get it to the usable stage. Planes really come in handy because you can do things with them that is hard and time consuming with a power tool. What I have noticed is there isn't any do all plane. I am by no means an expert but since I started with the #4 I have bought a stanley #5, 60 1/2 block, and a veritas shoulder plane. There are some real good deals on ebay if you are patient. I have been real happy with the old stanley planes I have purchased. I think more important than the quality of plane is how to properly hone and sharpen an iron. I had some trouble at first because even though I thought my irons were good to go, but the plane didn't function as I thought it should. After some more work with the iron I got them razor sharp. Now I look forward to finding reasons to use the planes.

I guess what I am getting at. Once you buy a plane you will need sharpening equipment if you don't already have it. So don't forget about saving some $$ and buying some good old used planes and use the saved money on sharpening.