Does anyone know of a good resource discussing the application of the various bench hand plane “types”?
By types I mean Fore, Jointer, Jack, Smooth? And all those sizes? Like, why would I want a No. 4 1/2 instead of a No. 4?
Why a No. 8 Jointer instead of a No.7?
Did late 19th/early 20th century woodworkers actually use each of thoese many No. X planes?
I currently possess a Stanley No. 4 and No.5, as well as a Veritas scrub plane, scraper plane and low angle block plane.
I don’t have room in my garage workshop for a powered planer or jointer (and really enjoy hand planing anyway), and want to get setup for these tasks with hand planes. I’ve read a few articles in FWW which recommend a few planes (No. 4 smoother, block plane, and jointer), but I get the impression many folks use hand planes just as a cleanup after getting “the work” done with power tools. If one is going to thickness plane and edge joint exclusively with hand planes, what is essential, and what would be nice to have if one could afford more that the essential planes?
Replies
A good resource on handplanes
The best single resource I know of is Christopher Schwarz's book Handplane Essentials. It is a compilation of ten years of his articles in Popular Woodworking and his blog writings on handplanes. Chris knows his stuff. You already have a good start on which planes you need to take a board from rough to ready.
There are several articles on FWW website that walk you through four squaring a board. Also, there are instructional videos available that will take you step by step through the process. Depending on how rough, either start with your scrub plane or the Stanley #5 (with a 8 to 12 inch radius camber given to the iron similiar to your scrub plane). You need to pick up a jointer (the longer the better, 22 to 30 inches) to further refine the board. Then finish with a smoothing plane. As smoothers go, your Stanley #4 can handle well behaved woods, but you are going to want to get a smoother that allows a high angle of attack for figured hardwoods. Personally, I think a bevel up smoother is the best way to go because you can get extra irons and easily sharpen them with steeper bevels.
gdblake
Hand Plane Info
Schwarz has a blog freely available:
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/CategoryView,category,Handplanes.aspx
Here is an entry from it:
http://popularwoodworking.com/article/understanding_bench_planes
I did buy his DVD and thought it well worth it.
Books to look at:
'Making and Mastering Wood Planes" by David Finck. This is FAR more than just making wood planes. Its a mini-plane encyclopedia. Preview at http://www.davidfinck.com Also some short videos on YouTube.
'Traditional Woodworking Handtools' by Graham Blackburn. Good section on planes - but its text and line drawings - no photos. ISBN 0-517-6202-4 Look for it on abebooks.com
The Handplane Book - Garrett Hack ISBN 56158-317-0 A Taunton book. Was cheaper to buy direct from Taunton when they had (have?) a '50% off' sale.. Lots of photos in this one.
Woodsmith magazine also has on-line a series of 1 hour seminars -several are on planes.
FWW also has a number of videos and articles - though to access you must be a 'member'. 14-day trial is 'free' - but if you are a FWW subscriber you can join for $14.95. Gives you access online to all of FWW from the beginning, as well as all the videos. Worth every penny.
Chris
P.S. - it took me much longer than it should have to appreciate the difference between 'flat' and 'smooth'. Many times it makes little difference how flat something is - as long as its smooth. In this case - smaller planes (#3) are fast and efficient.
Then, when it has to be flat - as with mating with something else - you use the longer planes to flaten - then smooth at the end.
Thanks for the feedback. I'll check out the books. Off to Amazon!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled