What's your favourite hand plane?

Peter Rideout

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Nova Scotia, 45°N 64°W
I got a very generous retirement gift card for Lee Valley from my long time co-worker friends. I want the purchase to have lasting value and quality and be something special that I wouldn't normally buy for myself. I don't have many hand planes, but I'm moving gradually to more hand tool work, as many do. What's your favourite/most-useful plane?

Peter
 
I am only an occasional hand plane or hand tool guy.

One day long ago I posted about how I went to a woodworking show and tried out the Lie Nelson hand plane and how nice it was.

Then I proceeded to dog on the JUNK Stanley hand planes I had and how much better the Lie Nelson Was.

Surprised huh - me opening my big mouth --- well I did just that and I quickly got bombarded with counter arguments that I just didn't know what to do with my Stanley vintage planes. That sort of thing happens to me all the time - I just don't understand it.

Soo - maybe some of you remember Limey from woodworking.com - but Limey and I were friends. Limey was a hand tool guy and didn't have a single "expensive" plane in his collection. He had a LOT to say about that stuff. He called me on the phone and actually walked me through fetteling my plane over the phone - WHILE - I did it. He would not just tell me - he made me do it - over the phone.

I'm a scary sharp guy also - yeah I know - some oil stone or water stone guys cringe --- but I am a scary sharp guy. Limey was a water stone guy. We challenged each other and guess what ----- same results.

Sooo - I fettled my 1929 Stanley Baily #3. Whhooooeeeeee - that $30 plane is at least about 85-90 % as good as the $150-$200 Lie Neilson hand plane.

I love that little guy - we have a GREAT relationship - me and my #3.

So - my favorite -- Yep - my #3
 
I have quite a few planes...

My favorite Lee Valley plane is the Low Angle Smoother. It handles most wood - even gnarly stuff - very well. Other than LV, I have a couple Lie Neilsons, but most of mine are older Stanleys. My go-to smoother is usually either the LV, or else a Stanley #4½ with and aftermarket (LN) iron (blade) in it.
 
peter, i dont have yet:) but the one that glenn bradley likes is a bigger version of the one jim likes.. and i didnt know they made a smaller version like he linked to:) for me i use the older ones and have a couple LN's but if had spare change to get something specail look at what you have now and then fill in a gap with a good one in the next size or configuration. in my opinion it all depends on what you have now..
 
I have a lot of planes, but for some reason my favorite is my small block plane. It is a bronze LN 102 ("Lie Nielsen" for the Acronym Challenged) low angle block plane. It does not have an adjustable mouth like its big brother but it still does a wonderful job and is a joy to hold in your hand. I generally have it set up to take a coarse shaving, using it to do the grunt work and following it up with my LN 60 1/2. That said, it still can take a fine shaving in most woods. I use it a lot when chamfering.


If you don't know, it is the smallest plane in pictures.
DSCN0651.JPGDSCN0835.JPGBlock Planes.JPG
 
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The low angle smoother and the bevel up smoother are the same length, same blade position within the body, etc. I went with the BU smoother since the iron is the same as the BU jointer and the low angle jack. This gives me more iron variety for each body and saves me space. The BU smoother does not, however, have a flat side so you can't shoot with it very well.

If I had to pick one it would be the low angle jack. It makes a large smoother, a small jointer and a great shooting plane. On the other hand I tend to look at gift certificates as a means to buy what I wouldn't normally spend the money on myself. In that case I would get the BU jointer or the large shoulder plane ;-)

If you are after the most useful plane in my shop it is the little Lee Valley Apron Plane. It is the same scale as the LN small block (which is also a sweet little tool) that Bill shows in his first pic. Great for small trimming jobs of all sorts and skins end grain like a champ. I don't have room for 2 or 3 (or 12) of each plane so I try to make them work to earn their keep. My low angle block plane for instance. I have the knob, handle and ball tail for it and I pretty much leave it setup as a ball-tailed #3. The Bull nose plane doubles as a chisel plane and the 3 planes that share the same iron size I mentioned earlier get a full workout in my shop. Good luck choosing and have fun!
 
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Peter I think Larry has it right. Look at what u have.

One plane i use a lot is my jointer. Its an old Stanley but in excellent conditon.
My next plane of choice is my LV low angle Block plane. I love that plane. Adjustable throat, brass knob can be replaced by wood one they sell and you can also get a screw on tote if you want to use it in the conventional manner. The blade adjustment is excellent.
I also like a Jack plane. Years back Larry gave me a Canadian made stanley Jack and its also a go to for me.
Then comes the others but before u can use a smoother u got to at least get the wood flat hence my love of the jointer.

sent from s4
 
Very informative and thought-provoking answers. Just what I expected.
One plane that I've considered in the past for end grain work, adjusting tenons and such has been the medium shoulder plane, but I don't see much mention of it here. I know Stu has one that he speaks highly of, so maybe he'll jump in with a comment. I'm not in a big hurry to spend my gift money, still working on building some clean spots in the shop!
 
Tough call. If I could only have one I guess I'm with Glenn and it would probably be the low angle jack, but then I have a couple of old #4s that get used for rougher work. My bevel up smoother gets a fair bit of use as well, but I could definitely do without it if need be and use the jack for most uses I use it for. On the specialty side if you're looking at treating yourself to something special the medium shoulder plane is a treat to use and works nicely for a lot of various cleanup tasks. Along the same lines I really like the low angle block plane (which is as close to a stanley 61 I have.. head to head the 61 a friend has works just as well so if you can find one of those in good shape you'll likely save a dollar or two); I also have a handful of other small block planes of various vintages and makes (yaah yardsales). I can't say their shoulder plane is substantially better than any of the old cheaper ones I've found (better maybe - but not really substantially better in a big way). The small plow plane is nice but unless you're a sucker for doing things the hard way (which I am at times) it probably wouldn't get that much use (in those cases though its a very nice tool - I'm more saying that most people are likely to used tailed tools for the things it does well - and its price competitive with most older variants as well which seem to have held their price well). The router plane is an under appreciated tool and can be used to a lot of things (like cleaning up tennon shoulders) that I should use it more for, I think its likely for most mixed use users it would be somewhere around #4 on my short list of planes.

I suspect that doesn't help a lot. I think there is some tradeoff between tools that you can't easily get anymore (or find used) that LV has nice replacements for vs those that are somewhat common to find used and work well. What those tools are seems to vary wildly depending on location (for instance finding a #7 or #8 around here is like finding ice in the sahara but #6's are moderately common and 4 1/2s are at many yard sales).
 
Very ...One plane that I've considered in the past for end grain work, adjusting tenons and such has been the medium shoulder plane, but I don't see much mention of it here...

I have that one, too, and it sees a lot of use. I got mine (as a gift) shortly after they first came out, so it's probably something like ten years old. I already had the LN large shoulder plane (Record clone), but it's a pretty heavy item, and generally made for hands bigger than mine, sot the LV Medium Shoulder plane was a welcome addition to my stable. It sees a lot of use, while the LN, and the Stanley 92, 93, and 94 pretty much stay on the shelf.

BTW, if you're considering a block plane, take a look at the Veritas Skew Block Plane. It combines the best features of a low angle block plane, and a shoulder plane. It's pretty much a modernized Stanley 140.
 
Im not a hand plane type of person, but I cant believe how much I turn to my 4 or 5 planes all the time to trim something, even something out....my small block plane gets used constantly.
next to that, I love my 3/4 shoulder plane.
I was using my Clifton smoother(I don't need a Clifton plane, I didn't know better when I purchased it), but Im using the smoother Jim Delaney gave me, its longer(#5) and I like its feel.I sometimes even out a bad board before I run it over the planer if its close to the thickness I want.
block plane #1, shoulder plane #2

I try to sharpen all my hand plane blades at one time, mostly get them all done until I start taking skin off my fingertips.
 
I have never been able to figure out the proper way to set a plane and use it. I have a couple planes that were my Dad's and I don't know how good they are or what they are. That all being said, I do have one plane that I use a lot. It is always handy when I am building. I got it years ago when I started building a sailboat (that is sitting in my garage waiting to be finished). I don't remember the brand or where i got it, but it is my friend. Here is a picture:

IMG_2016.JPG
 
My most used plane is a #5 Stanley. There is a reason that a #5 is a Jack (of all things) Plane. My favorite plane is a Veritas Low Angle Block Plane. If you really get into using hand planes you will find that you need several. That's why I recommend starting with a Jack, then add a nice low angle block. A smoothing plane, fore plane and jointer plane can come later.
 
I have never been able to figure out the proper way to set a plane and use it. I have a couple planes that were my Dad's and I don't know how good they are or what they are. That all being said, I do have one plane that I use a lot. It is always handy when I am building. I got it years ago when I started building a sailboat (that is sitting in my garage waiting to be finished). I don't remember the brand or where i got it, but it is my friend. Here is a picture:

View attachment 80804

That's a "Little Victor" - Lee Valley has a replica available: http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=56665&cat=1,41182

I agree that for trimming small pieces or detailed cuts and getting into tight little corners its a surprisingly useful plane for its size. I have a "junky" made in india bent body plane that's maybe 50% bigger than this that also gets a lot of work for small cleanup tasks, its not a precision tool per-say (the little victor can be) but does a fine job of shooting a chamfer or similar tasks (and works much better than you'd think it ought to looking at it).

The thing to remember about planes is that they are a held and guided chisel. The plane gives you two major things over just a chisel: more control and more power (not always both and there are of course lots of details) but in general you can approach most plane uses and ask yourself "how would a chisel approach this" and maybe even try the same cuts on a piece of scrap wood with a chisel and compare to the plane.
 
I did a little recon at Lee Valley the other day to handle some of their planes and talk to the guys. Unfortunately a couple of their knowledgeable hand tool guys were off that day. I'm leaning toward the medium shoulder plane AND maybe the low angle block.
But I've been thinking about Larry's comment on taking stock of what I have and building from there. That led me to thinking about tuning and sharpening. It seems I saw a tutorial not long ago about hand plane tune ups, was it here or in some magazine?
The current fleet is quite modest: a couple of # 5 Stanley's and a smoother, as well as a regular Stanley block plane I found lying in the road one time ( never set anything on your pickup bumper).
 
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