Hand Plane Questions

Hi there:

I know everything is relative, but in general,

a) are good quality wood hand planes as good (or better) than good quality metal ones?

b) by buying parts separately can someone (more experienced than me) make wooden planes that are as good (or better) than good quality store bought ones?

Thanks,
cynthia :wave:
 
toni, can make a plane that will be superb!!! i have one of them:) and as for woodies vrs steel. i prefer steel because of the majority of my use. a wooden sole plane can get worn easier than the steel ones..and i like the heft of a steel plane better than a wood one but i do use toni's plane more as i gravitate to plane's usefulness more and more..
 
Never used one, but from everything I've read they can be just as good as the metal ones. Unfortunately they can be just as expensive. They 're kind of neat, and making your own plane is really cool to me.


Hock has some wooden plane kits if you're interested in trying one. Probably others out there too. I've never tried one though, not sure how hard they are to build from scratch or from kits. I'd think the smaller ones aren't to bad.


http://www.hocktools.com/Kits.htm#KS
 
a) are good quality wood hand planes as good (or better) than good quality metal ones?

Just as good, and maybe even better in some instances. In commercial models, the Primus brand is particularly good. User-made woodies are just as good as the user who makes them. Mine are only okay, but there are many others out there who make truly great ones.

b) by buying parts separately can someone (more experienced than me) make wooden planes that are as good (or better) than good quality store bought ones? [/QUOTE]

See what I said, above. Yes, you can make very good ones.

Another thing you could do is buy a few old 'transitional' planes - the ones with metal fixturing and wooden bottoms - and either re-sole them, or even make entirely new bottoms for them. I've done several that way, and they're great planes if done right.

Having said all that, I still gravitate towards my metal planes for nearly all my work. That's why I have nearly a hundred of them :D - and also maybe a dozen woodies and transitionals. :)
 
Cynthia this subject would probably be hotley debated in Japan. If you look up Stu's videos he posted at some time on You tube a video of a visit by Garret Hack to Japan to a bunch of woodworkers. Stu filmed much of the visit. In Japan they use mostly woodies since i have yet to see a metal one. But the work with a plane differently to western folk. Japanese wooden planes can attract bigger bucks than most of what we can get from LV or LN.

You talking about one of the most emotive subjects amongst Hand tool woodworkers. Its all a matter of preference and ones skill at using the different types. A woody you need to manually set the blade for cutting thats a bit trickier than a metal one with an adjuster. On both you need to know how to sharpen the blade and i mean sharp. Once you have experienced this though its hard not to fall in love with hand planes.:D
 
100 of them?
:D :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :thumb:

Yeah. This is about half of them:

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I have never used a wooden plane. I have seen Toni's; it is great.

I love my Veritas planes. They adjust so easily and so quickly. Take the iron out, hone it, and put it back in all properly adjusted in a couple minutes.

Seeing Toni's wooden plane makes my finger itch to make one; his is beautiful and tactful (if that is a word). It is like a beautiful wood bowl---ya just gotta get you hands on it...looking isn't enough.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
I have both and use both, but I get more use out of my non-woodies.

One thing you seldom here Japanese plane enthusiasts mention is that for the truly top end work, the carpenters here have two sets of planes, winter and summer, this is because of the huge swings in humidity here in Japan from winter to summer. Often if you find an old wooden plane (Kana in Japanese) here that is badly cracked, it was most likely a winter plane that was put away without the iron being removed. In the summer due to the excessive humidity, the wooden plane body swelled up and as the iron is not going to give, the wood did. This kind of thing could take many years to happen, repeating cycles of humid and then dry. Having two sets of planes and all the pampering that comes with wooden planes is why they are only used by a very few specialized carpenters and by enthusiastic hobbyists.

A Japanese friend of mine uses this analogy;

The Kana is like an F1 car, when it is set up right, in the hands of a very talented person, there is nothing better on the planet, but it needs a very talented person to drive it and set it up and keep setting it up, like an F1 car.
The western style metal plane is like a Ferrari, Corvette or Porsche 911, for the vast majority of us it will go faster and handle better than we can drive and you can get away with jut having periodic maintenance done on it, but in the hands of a very talented driver they can reach heights that us mortals can only dream of.

I know that some will chafe at the idea that the Kana in it's truest form is better than a western metal plane, but I think they are, with a qualification.

The Japanese traditionally do not work highly figured wood, the don't work tiger maple etc, they work straight grained wood, and a well set up Kana will plane this wood to a sheen that is hard to believe unless you have seen it first hand.

I guess they are kind of apples and oranges :rolleyes:

Now the western wooden planes like Toni made or others, they are very useful for making a plane that is a one off or for something that you will not use daily, and in this case they are better than steel planes because you can make them into whatever profile etc you want, on the go yet.

Cheers!

PS no matter what kind of plane you use/buy/make, you have to learn how to sharpen the blades :thumb:
 
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