If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

[Canoez]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

Another vote for the Stanley 60-1/2 low angle block plane. It's the only plane I owned when building my first 4 boats. If you can only afford one, get this one first.

If you are buying new, these are not what they used to be. I own two of different vintages (say, about 10 years apart, but relatively new...) The first one is great. The second one is trash, frankly - it will not hold an adjustment and the cam on the lever cap pops out very easily. However, if you could find an older one at a tag sale, flea-market or online, I think it would be fine with a little tuning.

[StevenBauer]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

If you are going to buy a new Stanley the WoodenBoat Store sells the Sweetheart line. The 60 1/2 Sweetheart is $105. That regular 60 1/2 in Terry's picture costs $36.50 at Lee Valley.


Steven

[Scott Rosen]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

Lie Nielsen low angle block plane. Hands down no brainer.

Lie Nielsen makes a low angle block rabbet plane which is an amazingly useful and versatile tool. It's the plane I go to most often

[Canoeyawl]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

canoeyawl- if there is a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other- which are you? Thanks.

Ahhh - That devil (or Angel) is all yours, I have my own.

You were warned ... "Beware it is habit forming"

[potomac]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

So I rather overwhelmingly heard the "go manual hand tool, not power" consensus and picked up a Stanley No. 5 and a number 220 for a good price on ebay. I have a bid on a 60 1/2 and hope to get one in the next couple days. This is fun. Just what I need- another collection (at least I can use these considerably more than the myriad long guns I have). Anyone want to buy a Sako Finnbear? (sorry, wrong forum) Seriously, does anyone have a favorite process and or product for sharpening? Any advice would be much appreciated as is the advice already given.

[Paul Pless]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

Seriously, does anyone have a favorite process and or product for sharpening?

Its kinda rude to bring up politics and religion in this part of the forum.

[Lew Barrett]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

I find sharpening small tools with water stones is therapeutic. Others prefer oil or scary sharp approaches, but water stones are my preference.

Posted from Port Townsend boat show, where Festool and Lie Nielson hold court daily.

[Skegemog]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

hard to beat the Tormek water wheel system to keep edge tools sharp day in and day out

[Canoeyawl]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

That #5 looked like a very good buy for a worker plane.

I'll just mention here that the Stanley #3 is probably my favorite.

Waterstones, you need at least three.
800, 1200, 5000
Keep them in a tupperware container full of water.

I have never looked at ebay for stones until now, but $2.00... wtf?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/King-Deluxe-sharpening-Stone-/150660012249?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23140958d9

[Paul Pless]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

Keep them in a tupperware container full of water.

This worked for me in Alabama, not so much in Hell.

[Canoeyawl]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

Did all the water boil away?

[Paul Pless]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

Did all the water boil away?

Maybe it will this year, I've added about 150,000 BTU's of wood burning stove to a 25' x 30' shop. . .

[Bruce Hooke]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

First off, what planes you get should really be driven but how you plan to use them. Boatbuilding can mean a lot of things. If we are talking about shaping a big hunk of wood into a section of deadwood for a 30 foot sloop then a block plane is going to be useless and a power plane very useful. On the other hand, if we are talking about a small plywood boat then a block plane is a good place to start and a power plane would be all but useless. After a block plane I would get a smooth plane (#4) (also called a smoothing plane).

As to sharpening, everyone needs to find their own system that works for them. If you are buying used planes you can expect to spend more on sharpening equipment than on the planes. Here is what I use for sharpening:

1. Slow speed grinder (here is an example). While you could replace this with a course sharpening stone you will get the job done a lot faster if you can afford a slow speed grinder to do the rough sharpening and if you are planing much plywood you will be doing a lot of sharpening. I do not feel that the water cooled systems are really necessary as long as you can get a slow speed grinder (1725 rpm). Do not get the Delta water cooled grinder (23-700). It is all but useless. Most of my other big power tools are Delta and I am very happy with them but you will fall asleep waiting for the 23-700 to do anything useful.

2. From the slow speed grinder I go to a 1200 grit water stone. To work well this stone needs to be stored in water. This can be a problem if your shop drops below freezing. Freezing a wet water stone (even a stone that is just wet and not stored in water) will ruin it. If you can't keep the stones above freezing then you may need to go to oil stones but my experience is that oil stones are slower than water stones.

3. From there I go to a fine waterstone (something in the range of 6000 grit). This stone does not need to be stored in water, but does need to have water put on it before you use it. It will work much better if you rub the stone with a Nagura Stone.

4. Finally, you need some way to keep the water stones flat. Water stones work quickly but also get dished out relatively quickly, which makes them useless for sharpening until you flatten them again. You can do this with silicon carbide sandpaper placed on a sheet of plate glass. This is the low cost route. A faster, easier, cleaner route is to get a relatively course diamond stone. Just make sure the diamond stone is dead flat (my first diamond stone was the style that is based on a steel plate and it had some curve to it and is useless for flattening). I like the Duo-Sharp system, with the plastic base which makes it really easy to apply the diamond stone to the water stone.

You will get lots of controversy over this, but you can also consider using one of the honing guides that hold the plane iron at a steady angle while you sharpening it. Some will say you should learn to sharpen without a honing guide. I'm of the opinion that you should use whatever approach works best for you.

If you are new to sharpening planes it really would be helpful to get someone who is good at sharpening planes to show you how to do it. To work well you will need to sharpen your planes after a couple of hours of use (or even more often) so it is important to get good at this task.

[Bruce Hooke]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

search>ebay>"stanley plane"

There is not really any one plane that will do every thing, but a little old Stanley is a good start. Beware it is habit forming

Here's one
$5 bucks will be gone in 58 minutes

My grandfather had a plane that looked rather like that and had that same little adjustment wheel. I found it all but useless -- very hard to get the adjustment right and then after a few strokes it would go out of adjustment. Not all old planes are good...

[Canoeyawl]

Re: If you were going to own just one (or a few) planes

I have one and I like it and the #102, which is the same type but smaller.
It is light and fits in my apron pocket and I'm not too worried about dropping it. They have been making that model for well over 100 years, it can't be all bad.
If it is sharp it should work very well. The biggest problem with any plane is not sharp enough and too big a cut.
There are imitations of those (no name) and I haven't had good luck with them, the size of the throat is way too big and the quality of the iron is poor.


Did I say not sharp enough?