Hand planer question

Hi everyone, I am new here and thank you all for the information. I am interested in getting some basic hand planes and a spokeshave but cannot afford new ones such as Veritas. Does anyone recommend getting older ones on ebay? If so which would you recommend?

Hey, Curtis, welcome aboard.

I think most folks will recommend older Stanleys, those up to the 1960s or so as being the best to try for on ebay. You might need to check out the "Type Studies" on several sites on the net to determine which are which on ebay. Other brands that are good are Miller Falls and Sargent. Older Craftsman and other store brands like Keen Kutter were made by one or more of the above so they can be good buys also.

Ebay is a crap shoot at best, especially for someone just starting to look at old tools, and generally any planes you get there will require some level of tuning (called fettling) before they can be used well.

There are also several vintage tool dealers with good reputations and fairly reasonable prices. You might spend a few more bucks getting something from one of them, but the extra confidence in receiving a good product, fairly appraised is worth a few extra dollars.

I would recommend 3 books .

1. Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic Wood Working Tools by Michael Dunbar

2.Classic Hand Tools by Garrett Hack

3. The Hand Plane Book by Garrett Hack

Also get a copy of Antique & collectible Stanley Tools. You may have to get a used copy but it will be something you can refer to as will all the above books.

There are probably other books out there that some can recommend.

Check out the Library & see what they have.

Once you figure out what you want, got to http://www.brasscityrecords.com Walt Q. is a stand up guy and will help you out. Tell him what your looking for and he can probably fix you up. I can personal endorse Walt with no qualms. I have bought from him and never been disappointed. And he says if your not happy, just pay shipping back.

I have bought off EBay with good results so far. Just don't buy from someone that obviously doesn't know anything about planes unless your gambler!

I just want to speak up for Walt Q. I am also a satisfied customer, and would recommend calling him up to chat as he will help you decide what will serve your purpose.

Ditto for Walt Q. If you get in touch with him and tell him what you are looking for, if he doesn't have it, he will go on the look out for it at the swaps and such he visits weekly.

Lynn Dowd of Dowd's Tools is another with whom I dealt and another all around good guy.

Hey Chris, welcome to the forum!

What type of work are you wanting to do? That may make a difference in plane recommendations. If you are wanting to just get the feel for them and to some basic work, I'd suggest looking for a Stanley 9 1/2 or 60 1/2 block plane and a Stanley #5 bench plane. Spoke shaves are plentiful in various configurations. As the others have said, Walt will likely be a good start!

Thank you all for the input. I will check with Walt. I am interested in doing just about all types of woodworking. I think I must have ADHD because I get excited about projects but get flustered and screw up in the process. I would love to build a dining table and chairs, (nice chair Jerry Palmer!!!), coffee table bookcase and more. So far I have only built stools, cedar chest and adirondack chairs.

welcome to the fold chris

heres another vote for walt at brasscitytools hes a stand up guy and i deal with him often

Hi Curtis welcome to the family.

Why not trying to make your own ones? you can get Hock irons for about 50 bucks and I can assure you that they are not so difficult to make and they work!
So far I've made a spokeshave and a plane, both were my first attempt to that and I must say that they have become my favourite tools.