Old Stanley’s or new Quangsheng planes? Which do I need?

[yetloh]

If you are time rich old Stanley or Record are certainly the way to go, but avoid anything made in the 60s or 70s when they chased the DIY market and quality went through the floor. You can help your chances of minimising refurb/quality correction time by looking for pre-war examples.

If you are time poor and you don't mind Chinese, new QS are great out of the box and, in my experience, the quality is just as good as Lie Nielsen and the blades better, but I would limit myself to a no 5 and a block plane initially.

Jim

 

[Homeless Squirrel]

Stanley was an American company. They later opened production in the UK to expand market share. Other countries too. They were not all that kind to Mr Bailey when they gained control of his design due to being a bigger player. Now others can make similar planes so the wheel turns. People have the choice to buy any plane they want. Being loyal to any brand is better for the marketers than it is for you.
Regards
John

Been my thoughts on Stanley for a long time as just like most USA companies it's all about the $'s and to hell with anyone else
They just like asset stripping

 

[Homeless Squirrel]

Note taken, I will try and restrain myself! Thank you.

Actually restraining is no fun so not making any promises.

Don't forget others makes also as many got taken over along the way as in UK we have WS and Woden which both went on to become Record later on.
There is also Sargent/Acorn.
Myself have many Millers Falls
Friend who has more planes than Stanley i think plus Record!!! But has some odd mark and budget Stanley sub brands and they work just as well as Stanley premium etc planes he say's and pretty impressed with them so kept them.

 

[thikone]

I use my #7 more often than any other plane (when not using machines), would invest more on it if I would start over (I have Veritas Custom). One high end plane is good to have for reference in the beginning. Or if somebody can teach you in person is even better (maybe some woodworking school or a crash course?). Block plane with open sides is my favourite of all block planes too (60-1/2 rabbet block plane, I have one from QS factory with label Juuma). And router plane is very useful indeed.

 

[pe2dave]

I use my #7 more often than any other plane (when not using machines),

I really do wonder how exceptional your woodwork must be to make that statement?

 

[thikone]

I really do wonder how exceptional your woodwork must be to make that statement?

Do not really understand the question, but it is set to medium thickness and has rounded corners. I use it to flatten after scrub planes and also to make 90 degree edges (I put it on a side on my workbench, raise up the piece and shoot the edges this way). So, it is basically a thicknesser (like for 1-2 mm) and a jointer and also beveler with adjustable angle fence and good shooter for long grain and end grain and everything else when medium cut is needed.

And regarding machines, I didn't had any for five years until last year... So rough sawn timber from lumberyard and construction grade wood from local store all had to be prepared by hand. Unfortunately, that was making me very slow too. Like one month of just preparing wood, given that I couldn't take a week of vacation from everything else, like small children and other duties and hobbies.

 

[Jameshow]

I use my #7 more often than any other plane (when not using machines), would invest more on it if I would start over (I have Veritas Custom). One high end plane is good to have for reference in the beginning. Or if somebody can teach you in person is even better (maybe some woodworking school or a crash course?). Block plane with open sides is my favourite of all block planes too (60-1/2 rabbet block plane, I have one from QS factory with label Juuma). And router plane is very useful indeed.

You must be Popeye!!

 

[thikone]

You must be Popeye!!

Very nice of you to say that!

 

[pe2dave]

Do not really understand the question, but it is set to medium thickness and has rounded corners. I use it to flatten after scrub planes and also to make 90 degree edges (I put it on a side on my workbench, raise up the piece and shoot the edges this way). So, it is basically a thicknesser (like for 1-2 mm) and a jointer and also beveler with adjustable angle fence and good shooter for long grain and end grain and everything else when medium cut is needed.

Understood. Thanks.
Not a use case I've come across very much at all. Hence my question.

 

[thikone]

Understood. Thanks.
Not a use case I've come across very much at all. Hence my question.

Now that I do use machines I no longer touch my scrub planes and so I changed 5-1/2 to a "super smoother" and also changed its frog to 40 degree one as I always wanted to try it out. With set chipbreaker makes a great plane for soft woods.

I still use #4-1/2 and #7 for smoothing and also before gluing surfaces and after assembly. And of course all visible surfaces are touched by hand planes anyway. I would say I use #7 and #5-1/2 about equally now, #4 just takes a little time to finish off. Hand planes are more for fine cut now. And machines are basically for a rough work. But they are good enough to do joinery after them, that saves a lot of time. And, I must confess, with Domino I can now do one or even two utilitarian projects per month. Traditional joinery is reserved for more important pieces. But even there I have a mortiser to help me. Very expensive hobby for me!

So this might be a possible path for OP to prepare for

 

[pe2dave]

So this might be a possible path for OP to prepare for

My view is quite the opposite. (As per your use) I'd suggest the #7 is a strange beast,
used for the v.odd occasion when the planer/thicknesser isn't to hand.
Certainly not for someone buying their first couple of planes.

 

[thikone]

My view is quite the opposite. (As per your use) I'd suggest the #7 is a strange beast,
used for the v.odd occasion when the planer/thicknesser isn't to hand.
Certainly not for someone buying their first couple of planes.

Or when you cannot take a piece to a tool, like when flattening a workbench, then a tool has to be taken to a piece. With #7 I made my workbench flat and it is used as reference when preparing the timber. I don't use winding sticks because of that. Can always see on what high corners it is rocking on.

Another my use of #7 is to dress factory made panels from OBI. Chipbreaker is very important here, as grain direction is random in those laminated pieces. And flattening with #7 is faster. Same goes for self laminated boards, those are usually to big for a machine anyway.

The key here is productivity. If longer plane is not needed then it is just more weight to handle which translates to less productivity. But when flattening something a short plane takes more time to do the job as one has to constantly check what the high spots are.

I also do not sand flat surfaces, hand plane leaves much better surface.

So as much as use of #7 is a surprise for you, so much it is surprise to me as not to have it. If I would be allowed to bring only one plane, I would without doubt take #7 for chair-bed project size.

 

[thetyreman]

I really like my no7 plane, it's definitely a bit heavier but once you get used to it and it's honed in just right nothing beats it, I'm currently planing some flamed/figured teak and it's handling it with no problems at all with a hock blade and cap iron.

 

[Joe1975]

Thank you all for your contributions.

It seems as though I have been gifted a no4 1/2 which will make a perfect smoothing plane. I am very grateful and excited to try that out.

I have also managed to acquire a no5 and no7 so I think with my old no4 as well i should be sorted for bench planes.

LA Block and 3in1 shoulder can wait for now.

It’s really interesting to hear how people use and value their different choice of planes.

 

[sploo]

The No 4 1/2 should be on its way tomorrow. With that, a No 4, 5 and 7 I think you'd have everything you need to get going.

One suggestion I'd make (totally down to my own personal working preference) would be to set the No 4 1/2 with a moderately aggressive cut, and the No 4 with a really fine cut. Keep both at hand for general work and use the one that makes the most sense at each point. Spend a bit of time learning how to not cut convex curves with the No 7 and it'll be great for jointing tasks.

I find the No 5 and 5 1/2 to often be just "wrong"; in the sense that they're too big for many jobs and too small for others, but again that's just my personal preference (with a significant amount of hypocrisy, as I have several of both, and a No 6 ).

 

[yetloh]

I use my #7 more often than any other plane (when not using machines), would invest more on it if I would start over (I have Veritas Custom). One high end plane is good to have for reference in the beginning. Or if somebody can teach you in person is even better (maybe some woodworking school or a crash course?). Block plane with open sides is my favourite of all block planes too (60-1/2 rabbet block plane, I have one from QS factory with label Juuma). And router plane is very useful indeed.

You are in noble company; the late great cabinetmaker, Alan Peters, reckoned to use only a No7 and a block plane.

Jim

 

[Nic Rhodes]

I now have a large collection of planes don't ask but when I started I went through something similar trying to decide what to get. I was lucky at the time and started off with a similar 'collection' but am surprised to say that it was the 7 I used most initially, especially on bench build. Re volume of work it does it still takes the most load today with a 4 or 5 for finishing. The 7 is a useful too.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I started with a Stanley 5 given to me by my Grandfather. You can use pretty much any bench plane for any job but some are more suited to a task than others. Over the years since then I’ve acquired a few more but the No 5 is still one of the most used planes I have for general work. I have bought/made additional planes as specific project needed them and now have a good working ’set’ for just about anything I need to do. The only new planes I have are an LN scrub plane which was a present from my wife (it was the cheapest LN she could find ), but it does get a remarkable amount of bench time, and an LN 51 shooting plane which was a present to myself when I visited the LN factory.

Edit: just remembered I also have an LN low angle block plane but actually use a modified Stanley version in preference.

 

[Joe1975]

The No 4 1/2 should be on its way tomorrow. With that, a No 4, 5 and 7 I think you'd have everything you need to get going.

One suggestion I'd make (totally down to my own personal working preference) would be to set the No 4 1/2 with a moderately aggressive cut, and the No 4 with a really fine cut. Keep both at hand for general work and use the one that makes the most sense at each point. Spend a bit of time learning how to not cut convex curves with the No 7 and it'll be great for jointing tasks.

I find the No 5 and 5 1/2 to often be just "wrong"; in the sense that they're too big for many jobs and too small for others, but again that's just my personal preference (with a significant amount of hypocrisy, as I have several of both, and a No 6 ).

I shall do as you suggest.

I have been very fortunate to find a great set of bench planes that should more than cover my needs for now. A couple of them need a bit of cosmetic work and a bit of tuning up. You feel more invested in the tool if you spend some time yourself working on it.
I will only have a small workshop so will try and resist the lure of acquiring tools that wouldn’t get much use.

 

[baldkev]

so will try and resist the lure of acquiring tools that wouldn’t get much use.

You definitely need a mini digger