Do I need a No03 hand plane ?

[TRITON]

I know, silly question really. But I've been spending free of late and am i just buying something ill occasionally use, or is the No03 a handy plane size to have.
I've the 04, its a good plane and No6 which is handy for longer edges. The standard Stanley block which ive had for 20 years and really hate. It does its job, but i've just never liked it and it tends to chatter.

So maybe the No03 would be better for the jobs I normally would use the block for.

 

[Droogs]

no, unless you have small hands. If you have money spare to consider a #3 use it instead to buy a decent low angle block instead of putting up with a tool you don't like using

 

[TRITON]

no, unless you have small hands. If you have money spare to consider a #3 use it instead to buy a decent low angle block instead of putting up with a tool you don't like using

Yeah, i got the Stanley low angle too, and i didnt like that not one bit. Flogged it off years ago.

In block planes what I think would be better is a LN No507.

I'll take your point though on the No3.



Have to say though....his shavings are a bit thick

 

[Jacob]

3 and 4 identical sideways on but 3 is narrower and a bit lighter.
Very nice plane but no substitute for a block plane.
My favourite (and very well used) is a basic Stanley 220 - the earlier one with a wooden button, not the later and heavier all steel version.
PS if your block tends to chatter it's probably your fault, not the plane's!

 

[TRITON]

PS if your block tends to chatter it's probably your fault, not the plane's!

Oh thats utter nonsense Jacob. Some record No4's are known to chatter. Part and parcel sometimes and only changing the plane will sort it.

 

[heimlaga]

I have rather large hands and I find the number 3 ideal for planing in awkward positions. Planing plank edges and lands on a boat or smoothing down a dutchman in an old window sill. I rarely use it on the bench.

 

[okeydokey]

Go on get the no 3 its lighter and one of my favorites - as long as you don't pay HUGE money for it you will be able to sell it on without much/any loss if you dont get on with it.... but you will

 

[Jameshow]

A block plane isn't really a substitute for a no3.

I use my block plane for knocking off corners etc.

I wouldn't think of using to to flatten small boards or squaring up the edge of timber.

A number 3 does those smaller jobs really well.

 

[Jacob]

Oh thats utter nonsense Jacob. Some record No4's are known to chatter.

News to me. Is that 4s particularly? But nothing which can't be fixed I would think!

 

[TRITON]

News to me. Is that 4s particularly? But nothing which can't be fixed I would think!

Im sure it is Jacob. and fixed well who knows since you've implied i havent a clue on how to use a plane.

 

[Jacob]

Im sure it is Jacob. and fixed well who knows since you've implied i havent a clue on how to use a plane.

Didn't mean that at all! But I'd never heard of 4s being chatterers. Why would that be - relatively wide blade in a short plane perhaps?

 

[Droogs]

@TRITON believe it or not but I have a Rider 60 1/2 with the bronze handle. Bought by my lovely SWMBO as a birthday pressie about 10 years ago. She just chose it as it was on sale at Axi and could afford it as a stocking filler sort of thing. I love using it, great weight and balance and keeps a good edge. I can't remember what the proper prezzie was.

 

[TRITON]

Didn't mean that at all! But I'd never heard of 4s being chatterers. Why would that be - relatively wide blade in a short plane perhaps?

No no Jacob, you've said your piece, you've set forth your baseless accusations of my good self and my planing technique.
The die has been cast. say no more.

I have a Rider 60 1/2

Im not sure of the rider kit. Admittedly its not that expensive, but no point in buying another i'd rather save up , pick up something like an LN or even veritas.

 

[Argus]

About 40 years ago, I found a Stanley No 3 in an 'antique' (junk, more accurately) shop that was going for a song.

As well as being a bit on the light-weight side, it was bloody awful at doing its job - removing thin shavings - all it wanted to do was dig in. Nothing that I did to fettle it made any difference. It was a complete dud.

However, during the great glut of Elm after the Dutch Disease, I had a lot of sawn Elm to convert.
I had better muscles in those days, so I filed open the mouth and re-shaped the iron to convert it into a scrub-plane.

Brilliant bit of kit....... used it a lot until I bought a thicknesser.

 

[Orraloon]

Never set out to get a #3 but when one came my way I got to like it. Sure it wont do all a low angle block can do but it's got a handle and I like that. My block planes get less use since I got the #3.
Regards
John

 

[tonywatkins]

On block planes, I hated my first one (102 I think), but I got a 60 1/2 which is fabulous. I've gone back to the other more recently and found I can now sharpen and set it up better and now I find it OK, though I would almost always reach for the other one.

Interestingly, Paul Sellers thinks block planes are not much use and of course famously says that you can use a well set up no. 4 for most things. I don't recall ever seeing him use a no. 3.

 

[Jacob]

Paul Sellers thinks block planes are not much use

Depends what you are doing. As a joiner I used one all the time - mainly for fitting and trimming one thing to fit another e.g. scribing a board to a wall. One handed use is the main feature - holding the workpiece down the other hand. You couldn't do it with a 3 or 4

 

[heimlaga]

I agree with Jacob. A smoother and a block plane are made for different uses. I use both. Though in a pinch I could make do with only the smoother.

 

[Jameshow]

No no Jacob, you've said your piece, you've set forth your baseless accusations of my good self and my planing technique.
The die has been cast. say no more.



Im not sure of the rider kit. Admittedly its not that expensive, but no point in buying another i'd rather save up , pick up something like an LN or even veritas.

I have a faithfull no3!

 

[TRITON]

As a joiner I used one all the time - mainly for fitting and trimming one thing to fit another e.g. scribing a board to a wall. One handed use is the main feature - holding the workpiece down the other hand. You couldn't do it with a 3 or 4

Given what we understand about 'Joiners' you probably used it to bang in nails.