Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider. I am interested in one or more of the
Veritas planes, but thought I would ask without trying to taint the
discussion with my leanings.

I have a
Millers Falls 714 jack plane
Old Stanley Block plane
Stanley #6 fore plane
Stanley Defiance smoother
Craftsman 107.37034 smoother
Veritas medium shoulder
Veritas scraper plane
Veritas cabinet scraper

All of them are tuned up and work pretty well. I really like the
Millers Falls Buck Rogers jack plane and the Craftsman is not too bad
either. The shoulder plane is a real gem. Could not do without it.
I have not gotten adept with the scraper plane yet, but the cabinet
scraper has been a REAL nice addition.

On 12 Jan 2004 15:39:56 -0800, (Eric Anderson)
wrote:

Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane

Veritas low angle block

--
Do whales have krillfiles ?

"Eric Anderson" wrote in message
om...
Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider. I am interested in one or more of the
Veritas planes, but thought I would ask without trying to taint the
discussion with my leanings.

I have a
Millers Falls 714 jack plane
Old Stanley Block plane
Stanley #6 fore plane
Stanley Defiance smoother
Craftsman 107.37034 smoother
Veritas medium shoulder
Veritas scraper plane
Veritas cabinet scraper

All of them are tuned up and work pretty well. I really like the
Millers Falls Buck Rogers jack plane and the Craftsman is not too bad
either. The shoulder plane is a real gem. Could not do without it.
I have not gotten adept with the scraper plane yet, but the cabinet
scraper has been a REAL nice addition.

Lie- Nielsen low angle jack plane

My vote goes for either a better block plane or a spokeshave.
you'd be surprised how handy a 151 stanley becomes.


On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:39:56 -0800, Eric Anderson wrote:

Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider. I am interested in one or more of the
Veritas planes, but thought I would ask without trying to taint the
discussion with my leanings.

I have a
Millers Falls 714 jack plane
Old Stanley Block plane
Stanley #6 fore plane
Stanley Defiance smoother
Craftsman 107.37034 smoother
Veritas medium shoulder
Veritas scraper plane
Veritas cabinet scraper

All of them are tuned up and work pretty well. I really like the
Millers Falls Buck Rogers jack plane and the Craftsman is not too bad
either. The shoulder plane is a real gem. Could not do without it.
I have not gotten adept with the scraper plane yet, but the cabinet
scraper has been a REAL nice addition.

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 01:37:05 GMT, acronym
wrote:

you'd be surprised how handy a 151 stanley becomes.

They make good boomerangs.

Well, they make better boomerangs than spokeshaves, and if you throw
one away, not coming back is an advantage.



Stanley 151s are rubbish, and the Record and other clones are usually
worse. If you want a spokshave that's easy to use, look for an old
wooden one, or else the Veritas low-angle one. The first iron-bodied
spokeshave I found that worked was the smaller Stanley #63 / #64
model. The adjustable mouth #50somethings are good too, but rare.

A Preston is nice, but expensive.
--
Do whales have krillfiles ?

what an odd response - I'll admit it's not made to the same standards as
my LNs, but after spending about (from what I remember) at least 2 hours
tuning it up; it's become an extremely usable plane for smoothing curves.
Perhaps the age - its a sweetheart version - has something to do with the
quality.

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 02:14:40 +0000, Andy Dingley wrote:

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 01:37:05 GMT, acronym
wrote:

you'd be surprised how handy a 151 stanley becomes.

They make good boomerangs.

Well, they make better boomerangs than spokeshaves, and if you throw
one away, not coming back is an advantage.



Stanley 151s are rubbish, and the Record and other clones are usually
worse. If you want a spokshave that's easy to use, look for an old
wooden one, or else the Veritas low-angle one. The first iron-bodied
spokeshave I found that worked was the smaller Stanley #63 / #64
model. The adjustable mouth #50somethings are good too, but rare.

A Preston is nice, but expensive.

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 01:49:21 GMT, acronym
wrote:

Perhaps the age - its a sweetheart version - has something to do with the
quality.

Maybe - what did you spend your two hours working on ? Did you have
anything resembling a sharp edge under the cap iron, or was it hugely
rounded like most are now ?

There was a hilarious article in FWW awhile back, where Brian Boggs
(who surely knows his spokeshaves) showed how to tune a #151 by
throwing most of it away and making new parts.


--
There's more than one way to skin a cat...

...but I still prefer the electric belt sander.

There's plenty of ways you can go, depending upon what you want to do. There
have already been some good examples listed, here are some mo
-Side rabbet planes. I have the LN 98/99 set. I don't use them everyday or
even every week, but they are extremely handy when I do use them.
-Router plane like a Stanley 71.
-Jointer plane. I use my No.6 for jointing boards up to 2', but for longer
boards the No.7 and No. 8 are nice.
-Scrub plane, either old Stanley or LN. When you need to remove a lot of wood
quickly...
-I have a Veritas 4 1/2 wide smoother that I really like.
-As Andy mentioned, any of the Veritas spokeshaves will serve you well.

There's also molding planes, plow planes, fillesters, rabbet planes,
combination planes, hollows and rounds...

Oh BTW, nice drive by on the MF Buck Rogers plane. I want one of those to go
with my BR brace and hack saw.

David

I forgot to say that I would like to have a plane that is best for
working on drawers. I built a shooting board and am using the Sears
smoother with it. Probably not the best choice. Interesting
responses, but I probably want to stay with a plane rather than a
spoke shave. Router plane? Hmmm. Guess I would need to have some
use examples for the unusual examples.

ey (J Pagona aka Y.B.) wrote in message ...
There's plenty of ways you can go, depending upon what you want to do. There
have already been some good examples listed, here are some mo
-Side rabbet planes. I have the LN 98/99 set. I don't use them everyday or
even every week, but they are extremely handy when I do use them.
-Router plane like a Stanley 71.
-Jointer plane. I use my No.6 for jointing boards up to 2', but for longer
boards the No.7 and No. 8 are nice.
-Scrub plane, either old Stanley or LN. When you need to remove a lot of wood
quickly...
-I have a Veritas 4 1/2 wide smoother that I really like.
-As Andy mentioned, any of the Veritas spokeshaves will serve you well.

There's also molding planes, plow planes, fillesters, rabbet planes,
combination planes, hollows and rounds...

Oh BTW, nice drive by on the MF Buck Rogers plane. I want one of those to go
with my BR brace and hack saw.

David

From: (Eric Anderson)

Router plane? Hmmm. Guess I would need to have some
use examples for the unusual examples.

Side rabbets are used to take shavings from the side of a groove or dado. For
example, if the groove for the drawer bottom is a little tight, a few passes
with the side rabbet will take care of it.

A router plane is used to create an inset flat surface. They're useful for
things like halflap joints and inlays.

Scrub planes remove a lot of wood quickly, and leave a semi rough surface that
is then cleaned up with the jack, jointer and/or smoother. I own an electric
planer but not a joiner. I use a scrub plane to remove any twist or bow from
one side of a piece of wood before I send it through the planer. Using the
flat side as the refference side allows me to get the other side flat. Then I
can flip it over to plane out the scrub marks on the original flat side.

What are you wanting to plane on the drawers? Lots of people use jacks or
smoothers with shooting boards. If you're shooting the endgrain, consider a
low angle plane. A low angle block plane will work for light shooting and many
other functions. LN makes a miter plane, which is designed specifically for
use with a shooting board. Nice, low angle and very heavy, but very pricy.


David

remove the key to email me.

(Eric Anderson) wrote in message . com...

I forgot to say that I would like to have a plane that is best for
working on drawers. I built a shooting board and am using the Sears
smoother with it. Probably not the best choice.

Given that and the fact that you don't have any low-angle planes
yet, I'd say that you are due for a low-angle block or a longer
low-angle smoother. The low-angle block is an indispensable tool in
my shop, as it has many uses, and performs quite well on endgrain.
The low-angle smoother has become my go-to plane for general
smoothing, with a couple of specialty planes reserved for extremely
tricky grain.

If you do not work with highly-figured wood, you might not need
another smoother, and the block would be your best choice. If you do
work with tricky wood, then a low-angle smoother or a #4-1/2 might be
a good choice. Others will disagree, but I have had excellent results
using the low-angle plane on tricky grain. It has a thick iron, solid
bedding, adjustable mouth and very precise depth-adjustment, so all
the critical elements for dealing with tricky woods are there, IMHO.
It is also easy to change the angle of attack by simply raising the
angle of the bevel of the iron. I have also used mine in a shooting
board with good success.

The #4-1/2 has extra mass which can be useful. It has a higher
effective angle than the low-angle plane out of the box, and that
angle can be increased further for tricky woods by putting a
back-bevel on the iron. This makes the plane harder to push but also
imparts more of a scraping action which can be helpful with gnarly
grain.

Interesting
responses, but I probably want to stay with a plane rather than a
spoke shave. Router plane? Hmmm. Guess I would need to have some
use examples for the unusual examples.

I use my router planes (#71 and #271) several times a year, but
that's because I do 99%+ Neander work in my shop. They are handy for
flattening the bottoms of stopped grooves or dadoes when cutting them
by hand. But, if you tend to use a routah for cutting grooves, you
can probably get by without them.

Most of the specialty planes are just that; planes that have very
specific uses, and if you do handwork exclusively, you will need them.
If not, there are plenty of other ways to get the task done. As for
choosing between a specialty plane and a spokeshave -- the way I work,
I would take a shave over my routah planes, my rabbet planes, my
shoulder planes, and my side-rabbet planes. I can find alternative
ways to do all of the tasks these planes are made for, but for curved
work, nothing beats a shave.


Chuck Vance

"Eric Anderson" wrote in message
om...
Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider. I am interested in one or more of the
Veritas planes, but thought I would ask without trying to taint the
discussion with my leanings.

I have a
Millers Falls 714 jack plane
Old Stanley Block plane
Stanley #6 fore plane
Stanley Defiance smoother
Craftsman 107.37034 smoother
Veritas medium shoulder
Veritas scraper plane
Veritas cabinet scraper

All of them are tuned up and work pretty well. I really like the
Millers Falls Buck Rogers jack plane and the Craftsman is not too bad
either. The shoulder plane is a real gem. Could not do without it.
I have not gotten adept with the scraper plane yet, but the cabinet
scraper has been a REAL nice addition.

Are you just collecting planes, or do you have a project in mind? If so,
what plane do you need for that project. That will answer your question.

Cheers,
Eric

I guess what I am really looking for is a plane that takes shavings
off (for fine tuning) with the same adeptness that my Veritas shoulder
plane does. I think it has the most satisfying "tuning" ability of
any of my planes. Oh, the others take off nice shavings, but the
Veritas shoulder plane adjusts so finely and the shavings look about 3
or 4 thousandths thick. It is real hard to get the others tuned to
that level. I wish I could find a bench plane that would work like
that. I would be using it for general purpose, but also for shooting
and drawer tune-ups.

"Eric Lund" wrote in message om...
"Eric Anderson" wrote in message
om...
Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider. I am interested in one or more of the
Veritas planes, but thought I would ask without trying to taint the
discussion with my leanings.

I have a
Millers Falls 714 jack plane
Old Stanley Block plane
Stanley #6 fore plane
Stanley Defiance smoother
Craftsman 107.37034 smoother
Veritas medium shoulder
Veritas scraper plane
Veritas cabinet scraper

All of them are tuned up and work pretty well. I really like the
Millers Falls Buck Rogers jack plane and the Craftsman is not too bad
either. The shoulder plane is a real gem. Could not do without it.
I have not gotten adept with the scraper plane yet, but the cabinet
scraper has been a REAL nice addition.

Are you just collecting planes, or do you have a project in mind? If so,
what plane do you need for that project. That will answer your question.

Cheers,
Eric

"Eric Anderson" wrote in message
om...
I guess what I am really looking for is a plane that takes shavings
off (for fine tuning) with the same adeptness that my Veritas shoulder
plane does. I think it has the most satisfying "tuning" ability of
any of my planes. Oh, the others take off nice shavings, but the
Veritas shoulder plane adjusts so finely and the shavings look about 3
or 4 thousandths thick. It is real hard to get the others tuned to
that level. I wish I could find a bench plane that would work like
that. I would be using it for general purpose, but also for shooting
and drawer tune-ups.


My LN Large Shoulder Plane (93) takes a very fine shaving, to be sure. The
key, of course, is the mouth. The adjustable mouth block planes are about
as easy to take a fine shaving because of the simplicity of setting a very
narrow mouth. With bench planes, it takes a bit more work. The first thing
you have to realize, if dealing with a new LN (and probably Veritas as
well), is they come from the factory set for general use. To take a very
fine shaving, you will want to close the mouth down to support it. To do
this with a LN, you have to look under the blade. There are three screws.
The outside screws loosen the frog and the center screw adjusts the frog in
a forward or backward manner. Of course, as soon as you move the frog, the
blade depth is wrong, so then you have to adjust the depth. When you adjust
the depth, the mouth opening is wrong, so you adjust that. And so on...
It's not hard, and once you get a feel for it, you won't have to fish for
the correct setting so much.

Get the blade sharp (and I mean really sharp), get the mouth set very small,
get the blade set for a very fine cut, and set the chipbreaker very close to
the edge of the blade, tune the chipbreaker so it fits the blade properly,
and you should be able to take a very fine shaving with a bench plane. In
fact, those 3-4 thou shavings will look like planks compared to what you can
take off with a finely tuned bench plane.

Cheers,
Eric

Eric Lund wrote:

Veritas shoulder plane adjusts so finely and the shavings look about 3
or 4 thousandths thick. It is real hard to get the others tuned to

key, of course, is the mouth. The adjustable mouth block planes are about

and you should be able to take a very fine shaving with a bench plane. In
fact, those 3-4 thou shavings will look like planks compared to what you
can take off with a finely tuned bench plane.

I thought I'd chip in here... I have a 1960-era #5. One of the blue ones,
not a Bailey pattern. It looks and feels like a pale shadow of what the
glory days of Stanley must have been, and just screams "cheap" and "not
made very well." (I got it for $25.)

Even with that, I can get shavings that appear to be no more than half a
wood cell thick. As you said, it's all about the way it's adjusted. Takes
a bit of fiddling, but if this junker can do it, any remotely decent plane
can do it.

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

I have read that the most important part of a plane is the iron-and
Ron Hock(?) makes the best. Apparently the thicker irons are MUCH
better that what comes on the plane from the factory.


On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 11:04:45 -0500, Silvan
wrote:

Eric Lund wrote:

Veritas shoulder plane adjusts so finely and the shavings look about 3
or 4 thousandths thick. It is real hard to get the others tuned to

key, of course, is the mouth. The adjustable mouth block planes are about

and you should be able to take a very fine shaving with a bench plane. In
fact, those 3-4 thou shavings will look like planks compared to what you
can take off with a finely tuned bench plane.

I thought I'd chip in here... I have a 1960-era #5. One of the blue ones,
not a Bailey pattern. It looks and feels like a pale shadow of what the
glory days of Stanley must have been, and just screams "cheap" and "not
made very well." (I got it for $25.)

Even with that, I can get shavings that appear to be no more than half a
wood cell thick. As you said, it's all about the way it's adjusted. Takes
a bit of fiddling, but if this junker can do it, any remotely decent plane
can do it.

(Eric Anderson) wrote in
om:

Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider.

Having read the other responses, I agree with Andy & Chuck that a
low-angle block plane seems to be something useful that's missing
from your list. I have an L-N #102 that is far and away the most
used plane in my shop - I doubt there's a day I don't pick it up
at least once. Andy will point out that the Stanley #102 is a
totally different plane (and is crap).

David's suggestion of the #98/99 pair is also a good one, IMO. I
have the L-N set, and have found them on occasion to be extremely
handy for adjusting a dado which was just a tad tight.

You might also consider a rabbet plane, like the #78. I generally
use the power router to cut rabbets, but occasionally it's fun to
do some by hand.

Someone suggested the low-angle jack, the L-N #62. I'd reccommend
against that, I have one but rarely find myself using it. If your
other smoothers work well, then it would be redundant.

A full size jointer, a #7 or #8 might be worthwhile. It would be
partly redundant on the #6, but on the other hand there's something
satisfying about using a really big long plane to prepare an edge.

Speaking of edges, it's surprising how nice a result you can get
with a #66 hand beader; so there's another tool to consider.

John

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 17:15:01 +0000 (UTC), John McCoy
wrote:

David's suggestion of the #98/99 pair is also a good one, IMO.

Do you see the "crossover" version of this in the USA ? Both sides,
with one two-bladed plane - but they're a pig to adjust.

--
Do whales have krillfiles ?

Andy Dingley wrote in
:

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 17:15:01 +0000 (UTC), John McCoy
wrote:

David's suggestion of the #98/99 pair is also a good one, IMO.

Do you see the "crossover" version of this in the USA ? Both sides,
with one two-bladed plane - but they're a pig to adjust.

The, um #79? I think that's the number... Anyway, yes, we
see those. I am told that not only are they a pain to adjust,
but that you have to retract the wrong-way-facing blade when
using it, which means you're perpetually readusting it, you
can't just leave it set. I haven't used one myself.

John

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:20:11 +0000 (UTC), John McCoy
wrote:

Do you see the "crossover" version of this in the USA ? Both sides,
with one two-bladed plane - but they're a pig to adjust.

The, um #79? I think that's the number...

No, it's not a Stanley at all. Mine is a Preston, I think there's a
Record too.

The two blades are on top of each other, in an X shape. They don't
interfere with each other when working, but they do share the same
clamp.

The #79 isn't too hard to adjust for both blades simultaneously, you
just have to sharpen the blades so they're exact mirrors of each
other.

--
Do whales have krillfiles ?

Andy Dingley wrote in message . ..

No, it's not a Stanley at all. Mine is a Preston, I think there's a
Record too.

The two blades are on top of each other, in an X shape. They don't
interfere with each other when working, but they do share the same
clamp.

I don't recall seeing anyone making those on this side of the pond.
It seems that the #79 or the matching set #98 and #99 are the
side-rabbets made here.

The #79 isn't too hard to adjust for both blades simultaneously, you
just have to sharpen the blades so they're exact mirrors of each
other.

Oh sure ... that's a breeze. ;-) My problem with the #79 (at
least the recent model one I won) is that the way the thing came, once
it's set to take an even shaving, the tip of the iron extends so that
it will score the work past the bottom of the groove/rabbet/whatever
you are widening. To fix it, you have to round off the tip of the
iron. (Good luck getting that exactly the same on both irons. :-)

Also, on mine, the casting was horribly uneven where the blades
bed.

My #79 basically sits in my tool cabinet, waiting for those times
when I get so desperate that I actually resort to trying to use the
d*mn*d thing. :-}


Chuck Vance
Just say (tmPL) Now that's what I call a "specialty" plane.

Well, I ordered a Veritas low angle block plane. Personnally it was
between that and a low angle smoothing plane. Between my thinking and
some of the comments of you that have used to low angle block plane I
felt that it was the best next purchase. I tried this plane about 3
yrs ago (when it first came out) at a show and it was impressive then
when I knew JACK about plane usage. I know I will appreciate it now.

John McCoy wrote in message .11...
(Eric Anderson) wrote in
om:

Just thought I would ask the rec what they suggest for the next plane
purchase I should consider.

Having read the other responses, I agree with Andy & Chuck that a
low-angle block plane seems to be something useful that's missing
from your list. I have an L-N #102 that is far and away the most
used plane in my shop - I doubt there's a day I don't pick it up
at least once. Andy will point out that the Stanley #102 is a
totally different plane (and is crap).

David's suggestion of the #98/99 pair is also a good one, IMO. I
have the L-N set, and have found them on occasion to be extremely
handy for adjusting a dado which was just a tad tight.

You might also consider a rabbet plane, like the #78. I generally
use the power router to cut rabbets, but occasionally it's fun to
do some by hand.

Someone suggested the low-angle jack, the L-N #62. I'd reccommend
against that, I have one but rarely find myself using it. If your
other smoothers work well, then it would be redundant.

A full size jointer, a #7 or #8 might be worthwhile. It would be
partly redundant on the #6, but on the other hand there's something
satisfying about using a really big long plane to prepare an edge.

Speaking of edges, it's surprising how nice a result you can get
with a #66 hand beader; so there's another tool to consider.

John