Thread: What exactly is a #6 for?

Originally Posted by mic-d

Lets consider mathematically

Oh dear.

Originally Posted by mic-d

My advice is to fettle your #6 so the sole is 'flat' and the blade is sharp, the frog flat and you'll learn something ad have a perfectly acceptable plane

.

I was hoping that to be the case. While I have come across a few #7s, they have all been quite noticeably warped or curved in one way or another - so obviously that I could tell without a straightedge. By contrast, my #6 is very flat indeed. I confess that I haven't actually fettled it yet - I'm not sure how to, given its length. I've flattened my block planes and smoothers (don't see the point of flattening the shoulder planes or jack) using the good old fashioned method of sandpaper on glass, with results I'm very pleased with. (Not perfect - just enough to get a polished spot before and after the mouth, and at toe and heel). But I don't know how I'd do the #6.

I'm inclined to think that for a #6 flat enough is flat enough (except, possibly, for a smoother which needs to take super-fine shavings).

Hmmm......interesting.....the first #7 I bought was a dud. Just couldn't get it to work consistantly.
Dumped the sole/body (kept the frog, blade etc) and replaced it with a random #7 off Trademe, and it worked just fine.

Well that got a few folks going, didn't it?

What is very clear is that there are different strokes for different folks (very apt when aplied to planes ) , and THAT is probably what maanufacturers were trying to pander to - not that I don't like a good conspiracy theory myself...

To me, planes are like saws - you find sizes & lengths that suit your work, your body size, and your physical stamina.

Eddie the Eagle has a no-nonsense approach that makes a lot of sense to me on most isssues, but I think his attitude to bench planes is biased toward commercial work when it comes to plane recommendations. The average backyarder may not have access to high quality machinery to do most of the grunt work, especially on larger boards, and so a few planes designed to make it easier to achieve straight flat boards don't go amiss, if that's what you like to do. For the many years I was an impoverished student/graduate student, mortgagee & parent, I got by with my old #5 and a block plane I've had since I was 12. The 5 had to do everything from scrub plane to jointer to final smoother, & it taught me a lot about using a plane. But life in the shed has improved a great deal since the addition of a few stable mates for that original pair.

I certainly don't advocate rushing out to buy every plane in the catalogue. I long ago made a decision to keep it simple, and can get by very well with a small scrub plane, plus a #7, #5 & #4. I'm probably on the smaller size of average male build, and not as fit or strong as I was, so the 7 is as much plane as I can weild comfortably - I have no ambition to own a #8! I have reneged a bit in the last couple of years, because I inherited my dad's old 5 1/2. I couldn't just pack it away in a cupboard, so I started using it, and find I like it a lot, but I could live without it if I had to. I suppose I could get rid of the #5, but it was given to me by my brother, originally, & we've travelled a lot of dusty roads together, so apart from the fact it has always been an excellent plane, I have a sentimental attachment to it, so it stays.

Before I stumbled on my #7, I had a #6 that I used as my jointer. It was a Falcon, and I bought it at a farm clearing sale when I was living in Canada. I knew nothing about Falcons at the time - just saw the "made in Autralia" bit on the casting & decided I had to have it. I was the only serious bidder, and got it for the princely sum of $7! It turned out to be an excellent plane after a good cleanup and an after-market blade was fitted. But when the #7 came along, I stopped using it, so I gave it to an old friend. She finds it the perfect size for her as a jointer.

So in summary, I recommend you get that #6 working well & you'll probably find it a very handy tool. If something you think is better comes along, well & good, but that might be years away. In the meantime, try a few different sizes of bench planes when you can, and you'll soon decide which suit you best for different jobs. You do NOT need one of every size made - just think of all that endless sharpening.....

Cheers,

Funny you say that about #7's -I used to collect FP planes and my no.6 always seemed to work better than my Carter #7. The FP was far heaiver too.

5 1/2 was my favourite size and so similar to the #6 that quite often I'd reach for the 5 1/2 but would actually pick up #6 by mistake because looked very similar.

.......And that was when I realised I had more planes than I knew what to do with !

Sounds like the main advantage of a #6 over a #7 is that I already own one

I have to admit, the "I had a #6 until I got a #7" sounds like a common theme.

I have to admit that I already have more planes than I'll ever need. A #9 1/4 block, a #65 low angle block, two #4s, a #5, a #6 and a #93 shoulder plane. Most are USA pre war, a few SW era.

I think I should really build something before I start collecting more

Eddie

IMHO you don't need to worry about ever having too many planes. You can always set a plane up to do something different. I have a #6 set up with a wide mouth and a cambered iron and use it for rough stock removal on soft wood, I have one with a lesser camber and a fine mouth for edge jointing. I have a #7 with a gently cambered blade and wide mouth for face jointing and another with a fine mouth and square blade for other kinds of edge jointing. It often depends also on the length of the board (I also have a #8 for edge jointing really long boards).

So the answer for me is to have a plane for every circumstance - I hate resettinga plane that is working well to make it do another job! So that's why I have a lot a planes with a lot of different blades in them (also - one of them is likely to be sharp when I need it! )

Originally Posted by snafuspyramid

By contrast, my #6 is very flat indeed. I confess that I haven't actually fettled it yet - I'm not sure how to, given its length. But I don't know how I'd do the #6.

I'm inclined to think that for a #6 flat enough is flat enough (except, possibly, for a smoother which needs to take super-fine shavings).

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Originally Posted by snafuspyramid

........I think I should really build something before I start collecting more

Yup - I reckon that's a good decision. If you get that lot fettled & working nicely, you will be in a much more luxurious position than I was at your stage.

Besides, you haven't mentioned hand saws, yet - that's your next minefield......

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Besides, you haven't mentioned hand saws, yet - that's your next minefield...... Cheers,

That's very true. So far I've got three different Japanese saws - a large and medium ryoba, and a dozuki, from Stu. I like to think of that as five saws, which should hopefully do me

Of course, I realise it's only a matter of time before I spot something at a flea market that I decide needs some love...

Originally Posted by IanW

Eddie the Eagle has a no-nonsense approach that makes a lot of sense to me on most issues, but I think his attitude to bench planes is biased toward commercial work when it comes to plane recommendations.

Hi Ian,

THanks for the comments. Appreciated and understand your point of view.

Not so much of a bias in my comments, but a firm knowledge that rough sawn boards and downright ugly edges can be cleaned up easily with the bigger plane far quicker and easier than the smaller one. It's just takes as long to produce an uneven and in-wind face with a No.5 and smoother as it does to produce a flat, smooth face with a No.6/5½.

I'll run a video over the next week or two and put it up on YouTube, then post a link here to show you what I mean.

It should take no more than about 5 minutes to flatten one face and one edge of a 2' by 6" by 1" board so that daylight's invisible between a straight edge/square and the face of the board. If I get a chance, I'll rip and cut it to width as well before the time limit runs out. [The smaller/narrower No5 makes life a little harder, but anything's possible. You could joint a 12' board perfectly with a block plane, but it'd be a fools' errand as far as the time it would take] It'll take me longer to stick the video up on YouTube than it will to do the job.

I don't mind what people do, but it seems strange that the history is ignored. (yes, they used to use a coffin smoother as well until the 50's, but I find it unnecessary - it may well be technique and a flatter plane sole, perhaps. A smoother would make it easier to remove localised rough patches.)

Having said the above, I use a No.6 regularly to clean up hand sawn edges and rough sawn boards because I can't be bothered to use our jointer at work. (the outfeed table's miles below the cutterhead and it cuts woefully. An October holiday maintenance job.)

No real bias towards trade use, however, is intentional in the comments.

I'm teaching with 20 beaten-up No.5's in the workshop. Blades are sharp but adjusters are all RS. They're a pain to use. Another October school holiday plane repair day/s.

I use a 40" long cooper's jointer, York-pitched to produce glue line edges. I'm lazy and it takes about 20 seconds to produce a dead flat (invisible glue line) edge, as opposed to a minute to do a similar edge using a No.6.

In the hands of any hobbyist, a wider-bladed plane should work easily with a couple of tips on how. (eg: if the board's flexing and not letting you trim off the high spot, throw a couple of plane shavings under the high spot to hold it up and present it to the plane blade. Same if the board's twisted/in-wind.)

When I was trade training, some older gents used to use a No.5 as the weight of the No.6 made it difficult for them (shoulder/upper back pain.)

So in summary, I recommend you get that #6 working well & you'll probably find it a very handy tool. If something you think is better comes along, well & good, but that might be years away. In the meantime, try a few different sizes of bench planes when you can, and you'll soon decide which suit you best for different jobs. You do NOT need one of every size made - just think of all that endless sharpening.....

Agree. I have a couple (maybe three or four, depending if I've got any at work as well,) of No.6's under the bench, then sharpen in a hit when they're all blunt.

Cheers,

eddie

I have a few Stanleys' & I reckon the least used plane I have would be the #3. As others have said I size the plane to the job but my #62 is the first I pick up

Did someone mention "jointer"?

Here is one I built recently...



36 ½” long, 4” wide, 2 3/8” high at the front and 1 7/8” at the razee (not aslong as Eddie's!!).

Alongside a #7 (at 22") for scale ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by snafuspyramid

what exactly is a #6 for? It's a plane -- you use it to dimension and dress timber

Is it just a puny jointer? no

Or is it just a long jack plane? no
Used for thicker cuts when initially flattening a board? no

If I've figured this out right, in order to dress a board by hand, you'd use the jack first (or the scrub, if you wanted to remove some serious thickness); and then the jointer; and then finally the smoother, for a fine surface and to remove any tracks left behind.

my 2 cents ...

a #6 is this long (holds up two hands) and a blade this wide (indicates a width with thumb and index finger)
a #5 is this long (holds up two hands) and a blade this wide (indicates a width with thumb and index finger)
a #7 is this long (holds up two hands) and a blade this wide (indicates a width with thumb and index finger)

each plane has a different mass, greater mass translates to easier cutting

any of the three can be set up for
1) traversing -- working across a board to flatten it, removing thick coarse shavings. a process sometimes associatde with a scrub plane, but Stanley's #40 scrub is really too short for traversing all but narrow boards
2) edge jointing
3) smoothing
4) as panel planes

which one you use depends on the size of your work piece and/or how much mass you want to carry around. If you're lugging them around by public transport, my experience is that a #5 is much preferred to a #6 or #7

I'm starting to understand why so many people on this forum seem to have so many handplanes!

Originally Posted by ian

any of the three can be set up for
1) traversing -- working across a board to flatten it, removing thick coarse shavings. a process sometimes associatde with a scrub plane, but Stanley's #40 scrub is really too short for traversing all but narrow boards
2) edge jointing
3) smoothing
4) as panel planes

which one you use depends on the size of your work piece and/or how much mass you want to carry around.

But I've only got three planes to work with here, the #4, #5 and #6.

So the most logical setup would be to use the #5 for traversing (with a camber) and the #6 for edge jointing (flat).

Ideally I'd have a #7 for edge jointing, to free up the #6 for traversing larger panels.

Of course, I could imagine an ungodly proliferation of planes happening from here. I've sworn a solemn oath not to acquire any others, except a #7 if I see one, and whatever I can make myself. Although I would like a router plane. And a dado plane? Perhaps a low-angle smoother...