High Quality Hand Plane?

[RobertE]

I got on a Montgomery Wards Master Quality plane habit and managed to find #3 thru #7’s and the smaller block planes Wards offered.
They were made by Stanley and are basically rebranded Baileys.
I was picky about condition and looked for pre-war examples.
Don’t think I paid more than $50 for one, except the #7 which was harder to find in nice condition.
Cleaned them up, checked soles for flatness, along with the frogs, sharpened the blades, set them up right, and they work wonderfully.
Plus there’s just something beautiful about that black japanned steel and rosewood totes and knobs.

 

[reddogge]

I have a couple of spoke shaves one curved and one straight, they work great if you can find some. The most important thing about a plane or any wood cutting tool is keeping it sharp.

I have two spokeshaves, one is a Stanley 51 a friend gave me, and the other is a Stanley 151 I bought in the 80s. I use them mostly for decoy work. It's the tool I go to after the drawknife and before the rasp and sandpaper.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

The blade is probably the most critical part of the plane. If it won't hold an edge it's worthless. I've had a couple of planes with soft blades that I replaced and made the tool a good one. Also important is the ability to sharpen the blade correctly. I thought I knew how to do that until I bought this:
Veritas Mk.II Standard Honing Guide - Lee Valley Tools
It was a revelation to use a plane with a good edge on it. The jig is well worth the money. Of course you need the stones too but for me it was worth the price.

 

[hawkenhunter50]

I think the flat, it can be used on a curve or flat and the curved cannot. The flat is also much easier to sharpen. If your only to have one definitely the flat.
Phil

Thanks for the info.

 

[ZUG]

Which do you find most useful, the flat or curved? What part of a build do you find each to be the most useful? Was just looking at spokeshaves but was unsure if 1 would be better than the other for building. Thanks

I find the flat one to be most useful. I do have a rounded bottom one but I find it is a pain to use - it wants to roll in my hand and also on the wood. I eventually ground the sole flat --

 

[ZUG]

I have two spokeshaves, one is a Stanley 51 a friend gave me, and the other is a Stanley 151 I bought in the 80s. I use them mostly for decoy work. It's the tool I go to after the drawknife and before the rasp and sandpaper.

I also have one each of those Stanley spokeshaves and LOVE them. I use them a LOT in my rifle building. Once they are adjusted they are a wood removal machine. I set the #51 's blade at a slight angle and can remove either a little wood or more depending on where I place the bottom of the spokeshave on the wood. I just can't say enough good things about a well sharpened and set-up spokeshave!

 

[hawkenhunter50]

I find the flat one to be most useful. I do have a rounded bottom one but I find it is a pain to use - it wants to roll in my hand and also on the wood. I eventually ground the sole flat --

Good info, thank you.

 

[rp77469]

I dont know if all those blades are retracted but I always laid planes on its side so as not to maybe chip the blades. once adjusted I like to leave them that way

This is a VERY good point. I do not know which way is best...just how I do it. I have no formal training. What I shared was learned the hard way through our local WW club's Hand Tool specialty group. At the first meeting, NOBODY knew how to fettle a plane. Lots of reading, sharing, practicing and mistakes over the years. The HT Group has over 40 active members, many of whom surpass my abilities and knowledge by a country mile.

I thought it was pretty obvious that those were posed photographs. Of course all blades are retracted for storage and picture taking. It is not a biggie to adjust a tuned plane, part of the joy of using hand tools.

There are two schools of thought, much debated in our HT group for 15 years, about laying them down or not. Pro-layers argue it is to protect the cutter as you mentioned. Up-righters counter with, if you are too lazy to clean your workbench properly, you deserve what you get. I'm a mixture of both schools. I meticulously clean the bench before a planing session (brush everything to the floor & maybe a blast of air). I probably lay my planes down a third of the time. Otherwise they rest on the bench or a piece of white cedar in the tool tray. Never really paid that much attention.

There is no right or wrong way, just what works best for each of us. (One of my bucket items is to build an 18th century spill plane. Two failures so far. Reminds me to be humble.)

 

[ZUG]

When I was in woodshop class in the 60's they told you to only place a plane down on its side. This was to prevent the blade from damage. Now if you listen to any of the experts, they say it's OK to place a plane down on its sole. No harm will come to the blade. Check out Paul Sellers and Rob Cosman's web site.

 

[SPQR70AD]

This is a VERY good point. I do not know which way is best...just how I do it. I have no formal training. What I shared was learned the hard way through our local WW club's Hand Tool specialty group. At the first meeting, NOBODY knew how to fettle a plane. Lots of reading, sharing, practicing and mistakes over the years. The HT Group has over 40 active members, many of whom surpass my abilities and knowledge by a country mile.

I thought it was pretty obvious that those were posed photographs. Of course all blades are retracted for storage and picture taking. It is not a biggie to adjust a tuned plane, part of the joy of using hand tools.

There are two schools of thought, much debated in our HT group for 15 years, about laying them down or not. Pro-layers argue it is to protect the cutter as you mentioned. Up-righters counter with, if you are too lazy to clean your workbench properly, you deserve what you get. I'm a mixture of both schools. I meticulously clean the bench before a planing session (brush everything to the floor & maybe a blast of air). I probably lay my planes down a third of the time. Otherwise they rest on the bench or a piece of white cedar in the tool tray. Never really paid that much attention.

There is no right or wrong way, just what works best for each of us. (One of my bucket items is to build an 18th century spill plane. Two failures so far. Reminds me to be humble.)

you guys know what you are doing

 

[Old Painless]

I'm a big fan of low angle hand planes.

 

[rp77469]

I'm a big fan of low angle hand planes.

Have never used one, but have seen them. There is definitely more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[bullshot]

I'm a big fan of low angle hand planes.

I'm a big fan of low angle hand planes.

I have never used a low angle plane but have used several Lie Nielsen bench planes. They were "Common Pitch of 45 deg." Fellow at L-N recommended I get a frog with a higher blade angle than 'common' for difficult wood. I did, but never really used it enough to say if it improved cutting or not in difficult woods.
That the higher plane blade angle cuts better in hard woods always seems counterintuitive to. With a regular hunting knife, for example, its just the opposite.

Given that gunstocks could generally be called difficult wood, I'm curious to how the low angle planes perform in such wood. I have no idea. I'm not being critical of your liking low angle planes.

I'm no plane expert! I used them for small furniture projects but also for "squaring up" gunstock blanks for muzzleloaders. I found it easier to stick build if the blank was square up before laying out the lines.

 

[Pete G]

Have never used one, but have seen them. There is definitely more than one way to skin a cat.

Hardest part is to put the cat in the vice.

 

[Old Painless]

Putting a proper edge and setting it up is the real deal on old or new planes. With a dull iron it's a door stop.