good old plane

[ahoiberg]

maybe some of you seasoned woodworkers can chime in on this...

if a fella is looking for one plane for his shop that doesn't cost TOO much money (less than $80 would be nice), what would you recommend?

 

[Dario]

Looking for a hand planer?

If so look for the older Stanley #4's at eBay. Pay attention on the length of the remaining blade nad that there are no pitting or cracks on the plane body.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

You didn't say what you need a plane for.

If I was to only have one plane this would be the one http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32685&cat=1,41182,48942
It's a little more than you wanted to spend But It Is Sweet!
This is so well made that this can be handed down to your grand children, it will last that long.

 

[toolcrazy]

Find an old Stanley. They sometimes take a bit of work to get tuned up, but you can get a top notch plane for a reasonable price. Find one from the early 1900's and get yourself a Hoc Iron for it and it will perform as well or better than anything new. I've been collecting for a while. Depending on size you want, I might have a user I MIGHT part with.

 

[toolcrazy]

Originally posted by Dario
<br />Looking for a hand planer?

If so look for the older Stanley #4's at eBay. Pay attention on the length of the remaining blade nad that there are no pitting or cracks on the plane body.

Good advise, but the #4 are a bit harder to come up with and are generally a bit more money. #5 are a bit more common but a larger plane. As it's been said, size depends on what your planning to use it for.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Have him look up a guy that posts under "Rarebear" over on woodnet.com and see what he has for sale. The guy does some great things with the old Stanleys. Take a peek in my "shop" and you will see a whole bunch of handplanes I have restored. The old Stanles were very well made and still the "one to copy" for modern planes. For $80 and a little elbow grease he should be able to get at least an No.4 and a No.5 to play with.

BTW Steve... the No.4 is the most common plane in the world, a dime a dozen with the No.5 right behind them. I have paid as little as $5.00 on e-bay for No.4's and a buck at yardsales. Now a nice little No.1 would be a diffrent story! I have held a No.1 once and it felt like a childs toy it was so small.

Here is my "very first" handplane... As you can see, they can clean up nicely.
Before:

After:

Send me a PM and I can set you up with a few links to learn more than you ever thought was on the internet about Stanley planes. []

 

[toolcrazy]

Ok, I stand corrected. [] I never claimed to be an expert. [] I do have a #5 that needs to be restored. I wish I could find more at local garage sales. Not much around here for old tools.

 

[Dario]

Lee,

Your restorations don't stop to amaze me.

I have a few hand planes myself (a very nice #3, and a few #4's)...2 of my #4 could use some help though.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

LOL... All in good fun Steve, all in good fun!

For Stanley hand planes, before one buys thier first plane, it is mandatory the spend a little time over at Patrick Leache's website. The end all to end all of Stanley information. www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan0a.html

 

[Dario]

I have that printed (for years) [][:I]

 

[alamocdc]

Andrew, I had the good fortune to find three old planes in two different antique stores in southern Missouri. I paid $25 for one, $20 for another and $15 for the third. You just have to look around. And none of them looked anywhere near as bad as the one Lee shows. I've looked inthe antique stores up here and these people are CRAZY! I've not seen one for under $60 and that's ridiculous. The $20 plane is my favorite and I use it most. It's a Record (English made) block plane with an adjustable throat similar to the low angle that Ron referred to, but it isn't low angle. A LA block plane is my next target.

 

[Chuck Key]

How does $20 each plus shipping sound? I have two I could sell. A Stanley #4 and a Craftsman.

<br />

Chuckie

 

[Firefyter-emt]

That Craftsman appears to be a No.3 size and "if" I am correct, it made by Millers Falls looking at that red frog.

 

[Mudder]

Originally posted by Firefyter-emt
<br /> Now a nice little No.1 would be a diffrent story! I have held a No.1 once and it felt like a childs toy it was so small.

I bought a #1 at an estate sale for $25.00 and sold it the next day for $1200.00

I have quite a few Stanley planes ranging from a #2 up to and including a #8. For some reason I just can't use a #4 to save my life but have no problems at all with one of my trusty #3's. Perhaps it's just me.

I also have a Stanley A5 (All Aluminum).

To the question at hand.... If I could only have 1 plane I think I would choose the #140 Skew angle block plane with the removable side. It's a sweet little plane that is usually the one that I reach for first.

 

[ahoiberg]

forgot to check back on this thread... thanks very much for the responses. i guess i'm just looking for a plane to do general leveling and smoothing with. i don't own a planer or wide belt sander to do any post glue-up leveling with, so i figured a nice block or smoothing plane would be a good start. i really don't know much about planes, so i appreciate the reponses. lee, great restoration work, i like seeing how you turn what some would consider spent into brand new looking/working.

steve and chuckie, i appreciate the offers, i'm not quite ready to buy yet (all my $$ is gone from the holidays) so maybe after the new year if the offers still stand, I'll PM you about it.

 

[toolcrazy]

Originally posted by ahoiberg
<br />
steve and chuckie, i appreciate the offers, i'm not quite ready to buy yet (all my $$ is gone from the holidays) so maybe after the new year if the offers still stand, I'll PM you about it.

Not a problem. It'll be there for a while.

 

[TheHeretic]

for what I do a nice little one like the 9 1/2 plane is fine. I do a lot of small work so... I ended up getting 4 on ebay for a few bucks... ok 7.50. I use two of them now and than. Two still need to be refinished as they are what I used to do to my dads tools, left out in the yard etc until they are rusted up. I do have a plane jane longer plane for doing the treatment of long boards. I have done 3 long boards 18" by 6' mahagonay. Now that was a bear and a half. Now I do have the planer and use it a lot but wide boards sometimes wont fit and than out comes the planes. And the next day your arms are telling you to "STOP". But such a lovely feeling.

Dean
columbus oh

 

[jskeen]

And of course there is the really cheap option. I made this one out of an old bent stanley blade and chip breaker somebody gave me and a piece of osage orange I got out of a woodpile.

pretty good instructions are here;

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_wwk/episode/0,2046,DIY_14350_34860,00.html

I used to have the show that goes with it saved as an mpeg, but lost it in a computer crash. It get's rerun pretty regularly though, easy enough if you have tivo.

James

 

[alamocdc]

James, I have that show recorded b/c I fully intend to make a few of these soon. Nice little planes.

 

[jskeen]

A hint if you do this project, when calculating the placement of the pin, use the measurement of the widest part of the blade that will sit below it. ie, if you use a stanley blade, measure at the bump at the front of the chipbreaker. If you use a aftermarket iron set most of them are the same thickness top to bottom, so it's not an issue. I measured mine in the middle where the pin sits in use, and as a result I have to take the blade loose and slide it out separately to get the chip breaker out. Other than that, it's a great little plane to use.