Wood Magazine did an article on Shoulder Planes and they sang the praise of the Veritas shoulder plane and gave considerable criticism to the Stanley. But the criticism of the Stanley appeared to be targeted on the need to tune the plane after purchase, including honing the blade. Is a well tuned Stanley a reasonable shoulder plane? Are well tuned old planes good substitutes for big buck new planes?
I am mostly a powertool user. I am adding hand tools to my repetoire because I believe there is value in learning the mechanics of what the power tools are doing, and I want to introduce my children to woodworking with handtools. Because of my 2 small children I find that a table saw, radial arm saw, jointer, etc. allow me to maximize productivity during the limited amount of time I have in the shop. But I am planning to increase the amount of hand work I do when completing my projects, but I am lover my Powermatic Jointer and 61 year old Unisaw and have no intention of mothballing them.
Replies
The older Bailey's and Bedrock Stanley's were much better than the newer Stanley's if that's what Wood was referring too. They're well worth tuning up and can be equipped with a high end Hock, Lee Valley, or Lie Nielsen blade if you're really looking for an "edge", but just learning to tune it and sharpen the stock blade can yield good results.
In my opinion the Veritas shoulder planes are indeed much better than the Stanley shoulder planes.
I sold my Stanley #92 but kept the #93. Same design but the larger #93 seems to be the better ergonomic match for me.
The Veritas Medium shoulder plane has yet to delight me visually, but it is a damn fine performer, and that is what counts.
I have a review here, which compares the Veritas Medium, Stanley #92 and HNT Gordon 3/4":
http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/The%20Veritas%20Medium%20Shoulder%20Plane.html
Regards from Perth
Derek
On the topic od shoulder planes... I really do like my Veritas. It's one of those tools that just feels right in my hand.
In terms of fixing up planes... it's really up to you. I don't think that new plane will necessarily outperform a well tuned Stanley (old, not new). It's really a matter of the time you want to put into it. Veritas and Lie Neilsen are essentially ready out of the box. Just a little work on the back, and a quick hone and you're ready to go. I bought the little LN block plane a few weeks back, and I was taking shavings within 25 minutes of taking it out of the box...
What is clear to me is buy good, or buy old... don't buy cheap. Having a new tool that needs work is just pointless.
My opinion/my experience..... I have benefited greatly by buying older planes and reconditioning them. For me, largely a self-taught worker, it was a learning experience. By completely tearing it apart, tuning, etc, I feel I know better how all the parts work together to perform their task. It really doesn't take too much time to do so, and the benefit seems so clear.
I also buy new planes. I've got Veritas and LN. They are nice tools and they work very well. But so do my old Stanley's and they seem to stick closer, like old friends.
Basically it's a trade off between time and money. If you have no time and a lot of money, buy new and use it straight from the box with a little tune up. If you have plenty of time but no money, buy a decent old plane and learn to tune it up. Choice is yours dude.
I want to thank everyone for their input.
By the way I fall in the cheap category. I spent about 30 minutes last night tuning my #7 Jointer Plane (Wards Master), and my #5 Jack Plane (Craftsman). Then spent another 15 minutes or so putting camber on the blades and sharpening, also sharpened my new to me spoke shaves. Tried the planes out on a Western Red Cedar panel I had glued up and they worked like a charm. The shavings looked exactly like they were supposed to based on the videos I have watched. I was amazed at how the Wards Master was constructed. The frog was perfectly flat and with only a little fine adjustment I got it tweaked perfectly, the sole was pretty well polished under the grime that had accumulated from use by the previous owner. It may be one of my best purchases to date. I have 3 more block planes (all old) and 4 #4 Stanley Smoothing Planes (2 old 2 new) coming my way. I will choose 2 #4s and 2 of the block planes to add to my collection of tools (to use) and probably sell the others.
At some point I will get a shoulder plane, and I expect it will not be a really fine one, most likely an old one that I will need to tune up. I was cinsidering a new Stanley which I would just tune up, but I think I will hold out for a used one at the right price.
Thanks again.
Yeah those Wards Master and Craftsman planes are real gems. You can pick them up for dirt cheap because tool collectors don't want them. Glad to see you got them tuned up properly. Enjoy
I have a big old Ward Master that was my grand fathers. I had to put new handels on it as they were broke, but it is a nice plan. I have not idea what "size" it is as I can not see any indicaions on it, but it is about 16" long or so (may be as much as 18 I never really checked). Very nice plane. And being one of only two tools that my grandfather owned that the family still has (the other being and old 8" Ward table saw, that I keep for sentimental value) it is more about family then the tool but it helps that it is a nice tool.
Doug
Agreed. Working with old tools is like shaking hands with our ancestors. You get a nice intrinsic reward knowing that the spirit of the woodworker lives on through the use of his old tools. I'm fairly young at 34 and nothing would please me more than for my tools to be given to another woodworker after I die an old man (hopefully) so that the lineage can continue. The only problem is that the majority of old tools I use now are or nearly are 100 years old and fifty years from now they may be too collectable to use.
Hey Mike,
Those planes you have aren't the only ones you may leave to your legacy ya know. I know a really nice #3 Type 3 that almost met up with a disaster if it weren't for you.
Dang these old planes have a way of gettin around, ya know what I mean.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
I know, you keep reminding me of that sweet little #3 you picked out of an old man's garbage. ; ) You need to try to complete the whole Type 3 collection before you meet your demise. Then you will officially become an old tool gloat. I have a few rare tools that I picked up for cheap change that I'll keep for a rainy day. My rarest being a J Nicholson Living in Wrentham molding plane. I need to sell that thing to a museum.
Out of curiousity, is this the same Craftsman brand I am thinking of?Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
It is but these planes are much older than current models. I have no idea about the dates since i'm not one of those tool collectors who know all about Type studies on planes but if I had to guesstimate, I would say they're planes from around the WWII era. You'll see them on Ebay for about $11.00 since tool collector's have no desire for them, but they are just as good as old Stanley planes. Craftsman, Ward Master, Millers Falls and Shapleigh Diamond Edge are all bad @ss planes for dirt cheap $$$.
Edited 8/8/2008 11:32 pm ET by mvflaim
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