Thread: Recommend me a Jack Plane?

I don't claim to be an expert, I'm still learning, but here are some thoughts.

A number 5 seems a bit big to me, but it will depend on what you want to do. A 3 or a 4 is a better size for smaller things and I have an ancient 7 for big stuff. Ebay or Gumtree have planes for reasonable prices (sometimes), local markets seem to have them too, but for highly varying prices, and relatives and friends will have some laying about in sheds. A number of my planes were given to me after people discovered that I was interested in hand tools, resulting in a Record 3, a Stanley 4 1/2, a couple of wooden smoothers, a spokeshave and a block plane.

Getting to the point where you can sharpen the blade takes effort, time and some money. A properly sharp blade is really nice (they get blunt faster than is good) and getting the plane itself to the point where it works well seems to be more important for smaller planes than for the big ones. My 85 year old number 7 works fine for what I want without having been touched, the number 3 was oddly frustrating until I got the base flattened properly and the blade very slightly cambered.

Starting with a good quality, good condition plane might be easier (I had an "oh my goodness" moment when I bought a LV shoulder plane early in this journey). Problem is, those things are not cheap at all.

When I started about 50 years ago, I bought a Stanley No5 and it is still the first plane I reach for, even though I now have others.
The general concensus on here will be to look for a wooden handled one of English or American origin over the later plastic handled ones.
You will often find them at antique or collectable places but they usually need a bit of work to make them useable. I believe Sydney has hand tool sales at various times where you should be able to pick one up at a fair price.
You could look up Jim Davey who sells planes which are ready for use.

Hope that helps but others may have different ideas.

The bigger the plane the truer the final surface. You can use any size plane, a famous cabinetmaker Allan Peters used a No. 7 for everything. The better rule instead of looking at number is that the plane should be no less then half the length of the workpiece, that is assuming you want you finished work to be flat. So with a No.4 your max effective length is 18" or 457mm or less. With a No.5, your max effective length is 30" or 762mm or less.

The other parameter is your body size if you are small and of a light build a No.4 would be easier to use, but if you are me Six foot One and 115kg then a No.8 is not much of a challenge. However the bigger the plane the greater the inertia of the plane once in motion. Small planes are more work to push as their weight does not contribute much to their inertia.

A No.5 is a great comprises plane. I personally prefer my Lie-Nielsen No.6. Just a little more mass, length and blade width. I have my No. 6 set up as a super smoother and it is a my go to plane, in fact its my only bench plane I own two styles of block planes, a router, scraping and shoulder plane, but only one bench plane. With machines doing the ruff dimensioning work. A No.5 is a relatively common plane and easier to get then a No.6.

The above advice regarding wooden handles is solid, the only exception are the Australian Made Turners who have a red plastic handle and they are good, however collectable, so more pricey. Look for a plane with a thick casting, I prefer the post WW2 British planes with wooden handles over the earlier ones. The casting is heaver but the machine is still good, and they have wooden handles.

Also avoid planes with a pressed metal yoke and lateral adjusters, they tend to be manufactured later and I have found them not as good.

I'm not sure where you read the recommendation for a No. 5 as your sole handplane, but it's pretty sound advice. The Jack is indeed the jack of all trades, in that it will smooth, joint and even scrub.

But I don't think it's enough. I'd also recommend a 60 1/2 low angle block, preferably (English) Stanley for all the fine work, end grain trimming and general tidying up that a Jack is just too big and cumbersome for. I'd use my 60 1/2 more often than all my other planes combined, as its small, light, narrow, super sharp and tightly "choked" to shave near transparent end grain, and always readily available on a belt holster. Plus it fits my hand like no other.

There's much fancier planes out there, at a price, but having "grown up" with a 60 1/2 for some 50 years everything else feels just weird to me. Plus I can live with dropping/damaging/losing a $50 plane whereas trashing a $500 or $600 tool would be plain dumb. If you use a tool all day, every day its inevitable that it will fall, hit nails or get stolen. Leave the expensive tools for the showoffs & wankers.

So by the same token look to buy a (better) second hand Jack too. I'm not to keen on most of the English Stanleys: some of the best Stanley workshops & foundries for plane production were located in Canada and Hobart Tasmania during the 50's & 60's, and these can be picked up for a fraction of the price of their USA made equivalent. The English Stanleys just seem a bit "rough" in their castings and finishing compared to the others. I still like the English 60 1/2 (& especially the rare 60 1/2A) as the best designed of Stanley's block plane production, having fine but easily useable lateral blade adjustment. The Australian Stanley planes (& Stanley and Titan Chisels) are reknowned as having one of the very best grades of "standard" carbon steel blades available, again out of their Moonah workshops.

New tools tend to be either (a) inexpensive rubbish, (b) expensive rubbish, or (c) stupidly expensive toys for skites and sycophants. However, you will be able to pick up an excellent quality tool for about $50 - 100 that will be (when properly restored and fettled) the equal of just about any of the fancier planes from the more esoteric manufacturers. The likes of Lee Valley, Lie Nielsen et al are generally only well-made (sometimes improved) copies of much older designs anyway. Why pay $500 odd for a copy when you can have an original for a tenth of the price? The absolute zenith of plane design & production actually occurred about 80 years ago: its been a slow decline ever since.

Not all British tools are crap, however. Record make an excellent, heavily cast no 05 too. Plus there's an even more versatile example that is my second favourite plane. Made from the War years until the 70's their T5 "Technical" Jack plane was made especially tough and heavy specifically to withstand the depredations of the average British schoolboy or aspiring apprentice.

With literally thousands flooding the countries' comprehensive schools and Technical Colleges for 40 odd years, they are firstly cheaply and readily available, but even more remarkably superior to just about any other Jack on the market. Using similar wide, elongated "lands" to the much hyped and generally overblown "Bedrock" series of USA Stanleys, and heavily reinforced sole webbing to introduce weight, toughness and dimensional stability to the castings they have a truly lovely heft & "handle".

But the absolute icing on the cake is the tapped holes in either land and the matching rosewood threaded handle that makes this little plane (just like the 60 1/2A Stanley) an absolute pearler for shooting mitres on its side. It can thus be a true "Jack of all trades", a rough, tough, coarsely set Scrubber, a finely set and radiused smoother, an easily handled and accurate tryer, or a tightly set end-grain shooter all in the one tool.

Like I said: a wise choice for only one tool.

I can't agree more with the choice of a #5 as your only plane. It can do exactly the same things as a #3 or #4 when set up correctly. The only time it will be incapable of performing the task of another plane is if you need to flatten or joint a board longer than, say, a meter. For that you need a #7 or #8.

I highly recommend Stanley planes. I actually started off woodworking buying the premium planes from Lee Valley and Lie Nielsen, which start at around $350, and have since sold them and gotten old Stanley planes with which to replace them. They do EXACTLY the same thing.

The only question I might suggest you ask yourself is whether or not you want to go with a #5 1/2. They're slightly wider and it can really make a big difference. I've decided to start passively looking for one for myself.

If this does, truly, turn out to be the only plane you ever buy (I'm shamelessly betting against you on that...), and it's going to be used mostly for DIY-ish stuff and not fine woodworking, then I don't see much reason for going out and buying $300 worth of waterstones with which to sharpen it. I would suggest you use sandpaper and see how you like using a hand plane and then, if you decide you want to, invest in a more permanent sharpening system. I've never used sandpaper to sharpen, but it works, and it's definitely the cheapest way to start off. If you do it like that for multiple years, however, then you will have spent more money than you otherwise would have on water stones. Keep that in mind. I suggest google for more information on sharpening with sandpaper.

As far as where to get it... Anywhere that sells old tools will likely have some Stanleys. You want to look for a couple of things specifically. I'm going to use some part names here that you can google. They'll be the same on just about any plane diagram.

1.) Look for a patent date stamped into the bed of the plane right behind the adjustment knob and right in front of the rear tote. Something like "US-PAT APR-10-92" or the like. That indicates that it was made in the US prior to WW2 which is the ideal timeframe for Stanley planes.

2.) Ensure that the hole in the lever cap through which the lever cap screw goes is keyhole shaped and NOT kidney shaped.

3.) Look for planes with lever caps that are not nickel plated

4.) Ensure that the blade has some length to it between the cutting edge and the slot in the middle of the blade.

5.) Ensure all of the moving parts are there

6.) Ensure the plane has a lateral adjustment lever. Some of the earliest type Stanley planes did not have this feature and are fundamentally inferior as a "user" plane (although great for collectors!) for the overwhelming majority of woodworkers

7.) Ensure there are no chips or chunks taken out of the mouth of the plane.

8.) I don't care what others say, if you can get a Bedrock plane then get it, ESPECIALLY if it's going to be your only plane. While some people think they're overhyped, I am not one of them. They are slightly heavier and they have a mechanism which allows you to adjust the mouth opening without removing the blade. If you're going to own only one plane, then you are going to want to use it with multiple configurations and being able to adjust the mouth without removing the blade will be a very valuable time saver for you.

That's about all I've got.

Best of luck,
Luke

Thanks guys very detailed information. I'm new to this so when I look at used planes on ebay I don't know what to look for. Will keep an eye though as it seems there arent many at the moment.

Do yourself a favour and visit finetools.com.au
They have excellent quality new planes at very reasonable prices.
They are great to deal with.

I have recently bought a No. 4 & 5, amongst other items, from them and am very happy.

Tell him I sent you, you will probably get a discount.

Best of luck.

Pete.

Buy the way, buy a 4 & 5. Don't worry, you'll use them.
When one's blunt, you can grab the other.
Pete.

Hi djmm
I am a long time beginner to woodworking. I bought my first hand-plane in the early 80's and until last Saturday, it was the only hand plane I've got. As a home renovator, I quickly moved on the a power planer and never got to know how to use and care for it properly. My first plane was a Stanley bench plane, made in Sheffield, England. To be honest, I hardly used it for any of my carpentry jobs around the house as I seemed to be able to get by without using it. When I did use it, It seemed a capable bit of tool. Recently I became interested in woodworking again. I've been watching youtubes especially those from Peter Sellers and I became interested in getting a couple more hand planes. A jack plane was on the top of my list, and I've been window shopping on the internet for the last little while. Due to my work commitment, I don't have much time to have a look at flea markets or estate sales. But I hardly see any inexpensive second hand planes for sale. Brand new planes are usually expensive, the cheapest I found was Stanley Jack plane for about 200 bucks from the UK plus postage. Last Friday, when Ebay was having 20"% off, and browsing on masters hardware ebay page, I came across the Kobalt Jack plane for $35 (20% off 43.69). I bought that, a block plane and a trimmer.
Not that I know that much, but I followed Paul Sellers tips on sharpening the iron for the first time and setting it up. It is quite a heavy plane, a nice feel on my hand and gives me very nice shavings. The cap lever was a bit stiff but a small file and a bit of paraffin seemed to have loosened it up. All in All I am very happy and I couldn't tell the difference in quality between my Stanley Bailey and the Kobalt.
As a beginner again, I think it is exactly what I need and want.
Take a look if you go to masters next time. You could be pleasantly surprised, or not.

I am withPaul Sellers on this: if I will have to have just one plane that will be No 4!!! No 5 is too rudimentary, and you are going to neee a cambered ladeon a no 5. Far from imposible, but not hte first project to tackle as a beginner. Go to Paul Sellers blog .... You are gonna love it. Look for an old Falcon No 4...adjusted (everything is on that blog - it is easy, really) and you will be very happy

Originally Posted by rmihai

I am withPaul Sellers on this: if I will have to have just one plane that will be No 4!!! No 5 is too rudimentary, and you are going to neee a cambered ladeon a no 5. Far from imposible, but not hte first project to tackle as a beginner. Go to Paul Sellers blog .... You are gonna love it. Look for an old Falcon No 4...adjusted (everything is on that blog - it is easy, really) and you will be very happy

Can you clarify a couple of things from this post?

1.) When you say that a 5 is too rudimentary compared to a 4, what do you mean? The only fundamental difference between a 4 and a 5 is the added length of the sole. They have all of the same adjustments at the same precision and to the same degree.

2.) Why does he need a cambered blade for a 5? Sure, it's valuable. I keep one around, but it doesn't live in my plane. I certainly suggest having both, especially if it's going to be your only plane, but I certainly would say "it's nice to have" versus saying someone genuinely needs it.

I've heard Paul Sellers go on and on about his #4 and watched the (half hour) video where he flattens a board with it. I am by no means in a position to say Paul Sellers is wrong. I probably have as much or more respect for him than any woodworker alive, but I definitely have not had that experience thus far with woodworking and would never use a #4 for initial flattening in lieu of a #5 on a board with any real length. The #4 simply isn't long enough for me to feel confident in the flatness of a board based on a full length shaving. If you're flattening a board more than double the length of a #4 plane, then by using a #5 you will take fewer strokes to achieve the same thing, which is removing the final, most gradual undulations. Unless the board is very small, I don't reach for the #4 until I know that the board is flat. Flattening a medium to long length board with a #4 takes a considerable amount of skill and attention to detail. You're basically doing all of the flattening without the aid of a longer sole. You're going to end up checking for flat and correcting your own mistakes more frequently the longer the board gets.

Hi djmm,

All of the replies before are right.

It all depends on what your hands are comfortable with.

You might go to a forum get together and some one pulls out a lovely No 6 and you find that it is absolutely fantastic compared to your No 5.

Or it could be that a No 5 1/2 is the go and for shorter boards instead of a No 4 it could be a 4 1/2 or may be a 3.

This just comes with time and as your experience grows so does your confidence in deciding what plane to use.

But be warned you can fall down the slippery slope into the darkside and even worse, every flea market you go to those little orphans follow you home.


See what I mean.........

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They all need tender loving care.

My go to smoother is a No 5 1/2 for the longer boards and for the shorter ones a No 4 1/2.

I will use the others just depending .... usually a dull blade...

As for a jointer No 7 or a No 5.

Time for a period in rehab to get rid of that plane addiction.

I use a 4 and 5 1/2 mainly because that is what I'm used to and keep sharpest plus a block plane and bevel up smoother, other planes on the shelf are there to collect dust.
If I was starting out again I'd probably start with a 5 and a block plane. Don't buy because it might be useful buy because you actually have something to use it on. Main thing as has been continually said is to learn to sharpen, the old blades are fine for almost all work.

Originally Posted by djmm

Hi guys, absolute beginner here. I am thinking to use hand plane instead of electric one for general small, simple woodworking works (ie. building wooden planter, small shelves, pot stand)

I read that if you only can have 1 hand planer, you go with No 5 Jack plane?

I am not sure where to buy it and which one is good and still affordable. This is for casual works, so I can't really spend so much money. Any info which one/where to get? Thank you

djmm ...

It all depends what you want to do with the plane. Yes, I know, plane wood ... but to what end - levelling, thicknessing, smoothing?

Chris Schwarz has a good video out called "Rough, Medium and Smooth". It is worth getting when you are starting out, especially as you are coming from a machine background. In a nutshell, Chris compares the machine against the handplane equivalents. So ...

Roughing out is done with a Jack plane (15" long - same as #5) with a strongly curved (radiused) blade. An 8" radius is typical. This enables one to take thick shavings and remove waste quickly. The key factor here is the curved blade. You cannot plane deeply with a wide, straight blade. A #5 1/2 is too wide for this task.

A Medium plane is one that levels the work and gets it flat. This would be a jointer plane (#7), which is set up with a fine camber. For smaller work (not more than 30" long) one could use a #5 as well, but now you need a second blade with the appropriate radius.

The smoother comes in as the final plane. Ideally, this plane just takes the minimum of material (making it the least used of the three planes mentioned). A #4 or a #3 is preferred. The blade is now almost straight with just a minuscule radius to avoid tracks. So if you want to use the #5, you would need a third blade. The trouble with a #5 as a smoother is that it is too long. This length with cut into the wood to get to the valleys.

My recommendation is a vintage (pre WW2) Stanley. Get a decent one from a second hand dealer if you do not know what to look for on eBay. DO NOT BUY Indian-made planes (poor reputation for quality), or the cheap specials ($40). You will be extremely disappointed. They are really poorly made and will require many hours of tuning to sort out. Not worth the aggregation.

Block planes are very useful for relieving edges or trimming end grain. A vintage Stanley #60 1/2 is what you want (NOT a new one). Of course, if you are looking for new planes, then the choices are much wider.

Regards from Perth

Derek