Thread: If you could only have one plane....

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I'll do some experimenting.

I've acquired a Hock iron and chip breaker which happily can be shared between my 5 1/2 and 6. (It's no thicker than the standard but the others were a bit hard to justify). A 45 degree Mujingfang is on its way (Ebay purchase) and I'll see how she goes with the bevel up.

The planes have been tuned but I quailed at filing back the top forward side of the mouth.

It's an interesting field I must say.

come on fellas the girl just wants to get into a first hand plane.
easily a #4 or #5.
my preference would be a #5.
If you have a decent bit of upperbody strength ( like you are a country girl right) I'd go the #5

Hell for $60 to $100 you should be able to get both if you dont mind doing a bit of work.

I'd stay away from the carters..... tend to be too heavy and too much work to tune.
a turner, a pope or a stanley( pre 70's preferably earlier) would be my choice.

Just get them tuned with aplain vanilla sharpening and you'll be fine.

If someone closer hasn't got something for you... I may be able to help.

cheers

There is some sound advice here in this post.
I've been seriously interested in woodworking for forty years, but only started getting together my own tools about 35 years ago.
For the first 25 years I had only one plane which I used for everything. It is my trusty Stanley 4 1/2. It now has a new blade but other than that is completely original.
I really like this plane and have found that the extra mass and width in the sole are a real advantage in keeping it stable in many planing situations.
If you are off shopping at the markets and spot a good 4, 4 1/2 or a 5 that is also good value, then any of these will fill the bill.
Once you have the blade sharp and the plane set-up properly, you won't believe how much fun making shavings can be.
The whisper of a well set up plane in action is music to the ears.
Happy plane hunting.
SG

Originally Posted by soundman

come on fellas the girl just wants to get into a first hand plane.
easily a #4 or #5.
my preference would be a #5.
...................

If someone closer hasn't got something for you... I may be able to help.

cheers

Soundman, I never worked with Jarrah. Seems to be a strong message here that you need special sharpening or something for hard woods like that. Otherwise, with you all the way on the #5 - or maybe a #6. The bigger they are the more momentum and the less argument from the timber - right? Whoooosh....

I never worked with Jarrah. Seems to be a strong message here that you need special sharpening or something for hard woods like that. Otherwise, with you all the way on the #5 - or maybe a #6. The bigger they are the more momentum and the less argument from the timber - right? Whoooosh....

Murray

Many craftsmen have for a hundred years or more successfully used Stanley planes to construct exquisite furniture. So how does this reconcile with my earlier comments and suggest that something else is now preferred?

Stanley planes were really designed for another era and a specific type of wood. In a decently tuned plane, the 45 degree cutting angle is absolutely fine for straight grained timber. Hardness, per se, is not the issue (but, yes, a heavier plane makes lighter work of planing hard woods). As long as one is cutting with the grain, then there will be few surprises. The focus would then just move to the durability of the blade's edge. Some steels are better than others, and some timber is more abrasive than others.

The rules of the game change when the timber is no longer straight grained. If you have timber with "wild" grain, interlocked grain, reversing grain, then you will find yourself planing into the grain much of the time. This is the case with much of the indigenous Aussie timbers, especially hardwoods like Jarrah.

To cope with reversing grains, one needs to use a higher cutting angle. This has more of a scraping action than a cutting action, and so does not run the risk of lifting the wood prematurely (called "tearout"). This is the reason why card- and cabinet scrapers are so useful.

Planes like the HNT Gordon series are designed with Aussie wood in mind. They are bedded at 60 degrees. You can simulate a high cutting angle on a Stanley plane by adding a 15 degree backbevel. This can work reasonably well (better if the blade is thick and able so to reduce flex), but it is a bugger to hone each time you want to use the plane. So a dedicated plane is better.

I also think that much of our (and overseas) softwoods are no longer as easy to work as they used to be. Plantation grown as rapidly as possible, they seem to be more complex than in our grandfather's time. Even Pine can be a handful to plane with a lower cutting angle these days (just my perception).

The moral of the story is that the original request was for a plane to work Jarrah, and this translates to something that is a bit more special than the standard Stanley (which can be otherwise used very effectively on other timbers).

Regards from Perth

Derek

Them ol' fellers had the #62, and really knew how to use cabinet scrapers too.

Before the plane bug bit me, I did a hell of a lot of work with a sharp, tuned WWII #5 (given to me) and scrapers. Amazing what you can do with a well tuned scraper, especially mounted in the excellent Veritas holder.

Originally Posted by soundman

come on fellas the girl just wants to get into a first hand plane.

So like I said, pick one up at a garage sale! Get out there and get looking. Seriously, I've found a couple that needed only a little fettling - and that will teach you more about planes anyway!

Oh, er, hang on a minute. I don't really want the competition. Naw, buy one of them new Veritas jobbies - it will do a much better job....

If you get a good straight usedy.... you;ll find you will do less work to get it up to scratch than you would with any new stanley, record or similar.

cheers

Originally Posted by Shedgirl

I knew I could rely on you all for some good advice! Of course I wasn't expecting a unanimous answer, but you've given me some great info with which to work.
Ian, to answer your questions, at the moment i am either using the bits of my timber stash which are dressed all round, or trimming off "wafer thin" slices on the table saw, then applying elbow grease in great bucketloads along with the sandpaper. I do have a power plane, but I enjoy the hands-on thing, and like a bit more finesse and a bit less noise! And even with my pathetic excuse of a BigW plane, I already get a bit of a thrill as I watch the shavings roll off and the grain starting to sing under my hands..... so there's nothing else for it. Also - I like buying tools. I'd rather have a groovy new tool than a new pair of shoes,

OK

accepting that I've only used a Veritas (Lee Valley) low angle smoother once, but own and use both Lie Nielsen low angles (#62 and #164) — plus I'm very partial to the looks of Tom's planes

here's my recommendation
get yourself a Lie Nielsen low angle jack plane or the Veritas equivalent AND a Veritas Mk2 sharpening jig (so you can set a bevel angle appropriate to working Jarrah)
yes it costs a lot more than a Stanley #5 or #4 found at the Sunday markets but you'll find it much easier to set-up and use.

The BIG advantage is the moveable mouth which makes it a doodle to set the plane to take either a coarse, medium or fine shaving.

Having trimmed a "wafer thin" slice with the table saw, you can use the LA jack (with a medium width mouth) to take out the saw marks and then retract the blade a smidgin and close up the mouth to take one or two really fine finishing shavings.

While a bevel down plane can also be set to take shavings of different thickness, doing so involves a lot of fiddling and is not really a task for a person more interested in the outcome than the tool tuning process.


ian

The short end of the straw is that Shedgirl is on a Budget - The following planes are objectively almost identical in their performance. Performance that has little correlation to their price. A performance cost analyses makes the choice obvious.

Mujingfang Rosewood 11" Jack Plane $34.60
HNT Gordon Aussie Jack Plane $150.00
Lie-nielsen Low Angle Jack Plane $369.00
Veritas® Low Angle Jack Plane $395.00

Also - Shedgirl - just because you have a plane does not mean that you have to keep it. If you do not like it for what ever reason or you wish to make a change in tool style then someone else will pick it up, and you usually can get good returns on your tools if you look after them.

I bought a range of tools, Veritas, Lie-nielsen Stanley modern and old, and guess what I have none of them any more traded them in all for HNT Gordon's. That is me, I think it is part of the fun. By the fact that their are so many differing opinions on this board only goes to show how personal these choices are. We all have different standards and expectations, you must simple be clear about your own.

You have the right to change your mind.

Mujingfang Rosewood 11" Jack Plane $34.60
HNT Gordon Aussie Jack Plane $150.00
Lie-nielsen Low Angle Jack Plane $369.00
Veritas® Low Angle Jack Plane $395.00

.... andI just happen to have a picture of my 11" jack making a 8 foot shaving in pine ..

Regards from Perth

Derek (who also loves his bevel up LV planes)

This is a great thread. Thanks Shedgirl and all the contributors.

Being the tightwad I am, this has got me looking for a mujifang. Paul's no longer carries them, they say the importer has quit importing them. Carby only list a miniature, smoothing, and rebate plane (at least in Sydney).

Any thoughts on where to get the larger mujifangs in Australia?

Tex

ebay.com.au

No high angles though.

Originally Posted by Tex B

This is a great thread. Thanks Shedgirl and all the contributors.

Being the tightwad I am, this has got me looking for a mujifang. Paul's no longer carries them, they say the importer has quit importing them. Carby only list a miniature, smoothing, and rebate plane (at least in Sydney).

Any thoughts on where to get the larger mujifangs in Australia?

Tex

Hans Brunner has one with a high angle blade if you are interested.
See here:
http://www.hansbrunnertools.gil.com.au/Users-5.htm

Good luck
SG