Buying my first plane

[Spoon Control]

Hi, complete noob here and I'm in the market for my first hand plane(s) and would appreciate some advice.
So a couple of queries really:

1) What type of plane would you recommend to start off with? i.e. smoothing/jack/etc.
2) Should I go straight in for a Stanley or are planes by Footprint/Axminster/Forge Steel worthy of consideration?

I am a rank amateur as you can probably tell and would like a general purpose plane that can be used for as many jobs as possible.

Many thanks.

 

[Slim]

Hi Spoon Control, welcome to the forum.

You would get some excelent advice if you asked over in the hand tool forum. Although beware of people trying to push you down the slope!

 

[frugal]

I think it will depend on how much you are going to use it, and what sort of wood you are going to use.

I have a couple of Stanley Planes, and I have just been convinced to buy a Lie Neison block plane after reading the Hand Tools forum for a couple of months. (Yes I have started down the slippery slope).

The general advise on the hand tools forums seems to be: If you can buy it in B&Q then do not buy it. The concensus seems to be that if you buy a Stanley plane from B&Q for 50 quid then you will end up spending several man days and needing a lot of know how to get it to work to the level where you are not swearing at it all of the time.

There is a long thread here where there is a discussion about the merits of buying old/cheap planes and doing them up vs buy a top end plane to begin with. the up shot seems to be that if you want to learn how the plane works inside and out then buy an old second hand plane from before the 1950s and do it up, but if you just want to get on with some wood working then buy a new plane from Lie Nieson, Veritas or Clifton.

A No. 5 or a No. 4 1/2 seem to be the best all round planes, although most people seem to suggest starting with a block plane if you are not going to be planing all 6 faces from rough.

If you do buy an old plane then have a look on the furums here for advise about the right way to set them up. Be warned you will probably spend almost as much doing up an old plane to work like a new one as you would have done on buying a new plane in the first place once you factor in the extra sharpening stones, books and replacement parts.

 

[Waka]

Spoon Control

Welcome to the forum.

I guress you need to let us know your budget, there is an array of planes makers out there, notably Lie neilson, veritas and Clifton; these are probably the best volume makers of planes on the market today. The prices do vary between these makers, hense knowing your bdget will help.

As to the type of plane for a first timer, I'd probably go for a block plane until you are reasonably comfortable setting up, sharpening, tweaking etc. These are in the range of £100 or so. If you want something bigger then I'd go for the Jack plane, this can be used as a general purpose plane, mind you the price is substantially more than a block plane.

Hope this helps. I'm sure the experts wil be along shortly.

 

[bob_c]

One of my most used planes and one which i cant do without ,is the LN 103,its a smaller block plane , its very comfortable in the hand and i can do a surprising amount with it,even jobs where a jack plane is usually more suitable.They usually need minimal set up.

 

[OPJ]

If you're just starting out then, I think you'll really benefit from buying a second hand, older Stanley or Record model from eBay or somewhere like a car boot sale, and then, learn how to tune it up to perfection. David Charlesworth also has some very good books which will cover all you need to know but, I think most of that's already covered in the links provided above.

Depending on which style to go for, that really depends on what you want to do right now. The No.5 Jack plane ("Jack of All Trades") is pretty good for general purpose work. If set and fine-tuned correctly, you can use it for finishing work while, with its longer sole, it's alright for straightening and jointing edges (a No.6 or No.7 would still be better though.)

Smoothing planes are very good for cleaning up and finishing work - you can even plane end grain successfully, once you know what you're doing. They have a shorter sole length than the Jack so, will not be as effective for straightening an edge and will only simply follow the curve of the timber.

If you get lucky on eBay, you could probably pay under £25 for both!

 

[Escudo]

Hello there Spoon,

I would like to suggest you have a look at the Veritas (Lee Valley) low angle jack plane. This is a very easy plane to set-up, is top quality and very versatile.

This is the first plane that I bought and I use it all the time.

Thereafter, a little block plane is very handy. I have the baby Lie Nielsen, can't remember the number ...102 I think?

Hope this helps.
Cheers, Tony.

 

[Spoon Control]

Some great advice there thanks and I've had a read of a couple of threads in the Hand Tools forum as well. How I wish I could go out and spend a few hundred pounds on a small selection of decent planes but my budget will just not stretch to it at the moment. I can see why it's such a slippery slope though, some of these things are

I'm thinking the best option for me now is an old Stanley, or maybe a couple, a Jack and a block. As I have no idea what to look for in an old plane I may buy via one of the websites that sell old reconditioned planes that have been mentioned in the Hand Tools Forum.

Thanks again for the words of wisdom.

 

[woodbloke]

Lots of good advice here depending on budget. With a decent bit of 'wonga' I'd go for the LA Jack every time from here which is the cheapest place currently to get LV stuff. If not quite as much to spend then second hand is definitly preferable to buying new, but you may need to fettle it to make it work well. Buy anything from LN, LV or Clifton and you won't...they can be used 'straight out the box' - Rob

 

[newt]

I agree with Rob, LA Jack, its got to be IMHO the best mass production plane because it is so versatile and very well built. I have LN,s which are great, but if I had to pick one it would be the LA jack.

 

[gidon]

Another vote for the Veritas LA Jack - it's such a useful plane.
Another option for less money is a top quality block plane like the LN 60 1/2:
http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... lanes.html
This was the first quality tool I bought and it was a revelation. Some people say you don't need the adjustable mouth but I like it - you can use it as the ultimate smoother, on the shooting board and for general block plane tasks (chamfering etc).
Honestly these are the two planes I go for most of the time.
If you're wanting to spend less money you'll need to do some work to get the plane working anything like those mentioned above (and in my experience you'll be lucky to get even close). But it is fun and some argue an important part of the learning curve. I have a Footprint # 4 that I tuned up and works quite well.
Cheers
Gidon