New Tool Gloat

Originally Posted by Frank Fusco
... I follow the plane threads only out of a sense of wonderment that folks get so excited over them.

Vaughn McMillan said:

I'm guessing you've never actually used a well-tuned and sharpened plane?

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I find using a well tuned plane to be every bit as rewarding as boring a flat bottomed hole on a 22.5* angle with a quality Forstner bit. A good chisel is right up there with a crisp edged router bit too .

I am all in favor of folks who collect 100 hand planes. Some folks are nuts for football; I don't understand it (indeed most frenzy over sports leaves me with that sense of wonderment) but that's OK. I used to collect musical keyboards, now I gather tools and wood . Both take up a lot of room and bring a lot of enjoyment but I couldn't do both. Let's all have fun.

Most of us are in woodworking for the pleasure of it and not as a way of making a living. I fall into this group of woodworking. I find that I derive most of my pleasure from the sense of accomplishment I get when I realize that I have trained my hand and eye to perform a difficult woodworking skill. Running a board through a table saw, jointer, planer, router or any other machine requires some degree of skill, but nothing compared to hand planing, chiseling, hand sawing, etc. Others I sense, get a greater feel of accomplishment from the production of an actual piece of work, no matter how accomplished. There is nothing wrong with that, we are all different in what is important to us. There is no right or wrong in this. For myself, the goal is to produce beautifully designed furniture, wonderfully executed utilizing mostly hand tools that require an skillfully trained hand and eye to accomplish.

I have a long way to go, but the journey will be enjoyable.

i voted maybe `cause you asked if you got a good deal.....
i`m an old plane nut and really like pre war stanleys so i`d always advise someone to buy an old massproduced plane over a new one.....but that`s just me

Vaughn McMillan said:

Google around for "auction sniping" and you'll find all sorts of sites that will do that last-minute bidding for you. I use Bidnapper, but there are lots of choices out there. Some folks consider it cheating, but I figure it's all part of the game these days.



I'm guessing you've never actually used a well-tuned and sharpened plane?

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Vaughn, I tried tuning one once. But the spark plugs were stuck and I couldn't get them out.
Later, I'll enlighten all on my planes.

It certainly looks like it's in good condition so I would say you got a good deal.

Just a couple of additional comments: I don't use a #7 very much. It's mostly a jointer and I try to glue up off my table saw. I do flatten boards when I need to, but I have a #6 and some #3s & #4s that I use for that. If you're not going to go full neander you may not use it much.

Also, jointing a board with a hand plane is not all that easy. You not only have to get the board straight, you need to have the edge square (there's some tricks on having the edges square that I won't go into here).

Regarding buying a lot of planes, I only buy what I need and if I find I'm not using a plane, I'll usually sell it either on eBay or on the Creek.

Someone else commented on this, but sharpening is extremely important. A sharp plane works. A plane that's not sharp doesn't work - or at least not well.

I don't know your plans for using planes. I'm mostly a power tool guy but there are times when a hand tool is either just the best way to do it, or faster than setting up a power tool. And I do enjoy using hand tools - but I would never go full neander. At my age, preparing stock by hand is just too physical.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Mike

Gee Thanks Rob!

When I read your post about this, I decided to peruse ebay a little bit.

Just on a kick I put a bid in on a #7 and actually won it. I hardly ever 'win' anything on ebay, I usually do the Buy It Now

So now I have a significantly less nice looking #7 than yours on its way...

Oh Joy!



But, I'm sure with a little TLC, I'll be able to make it work....

Oh, 56$ and 15$ Shipping. So, probably about an average deal, I guess, but it does look a bit beat up.

Jeff Horton said:

And I second snipping programs. I use Esnipe. I decide how bad I want it. Put in my max bid and walk off. Let it do it's job. If I loose it, someone wanted it worse than me. And it's darn near impossible to outbid a sniper if they want it bad enough.

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+1 on that Jeff. I use EzSnipe. Just not worth it for me to get into bidding wars.

Brent welcome to my world. Except you kept control and knew about bidnapping programs.

I just wanted a user was not specifically looking for a collector type plane. You got a nice one there. Good luck with it. Probably all it needs is a sharpening like mine did and youre ready to go.

This plane worked out well for me. It was in better condition than the pictures showed and it had not been messed with. Good keeper. And it gave me more fun than i have had from a tool in years. It more than served its purpose to help me flatten my bench top both sides in short order.

Only warning i have Brent this planing stuff is way too addictive. I been trying to work out what it is. Just like most of us i have the regular jointer and planner machines. They are great when you put a piece of lumber through them and in short order its all perfectly milled (assuming your blades are sharp). But if you want to work the wood and get to know the piece then hand planing brings up a whole new feeling and experience besides the joy of accomplishment. Then of course theres the excercise part

Best of luck with that jointer Brent and i bet you will use it on the table top that you gonna be making soon. Isnt it about time we saw pictures and a post of the lumber arriving.

I've got a few planes out in the garage. A GRoz #5 (Whatever that is) a set of planes from the Grizz, some kind of jack and a block. Also have a couple of other blocks and some spoke shaves.

Just went out there and check them all out. Apparently at some point I did a pretty decent job of sharpening and setting them up, as I was able to whittle down my sawhorse tops pretty good.... They were the only pieces of wood already at the right height!

Looking forward to getting the #7 Jointer.

Now can someone fill me on on what kind of a 'smoother' I should get?

A number 4, Wait for my pst on making a woody.

Thanks Don now you tell us you going to show us how to make a woody. Now after i have already made my errors. Okay what the heck i can always make another one.