Scrub plane and jointer plane recommendations

[morfa]

As I've scaled back parts of my kitchen budget, I find my self in the position of being able to buy a few new tools. Also I've found that I could really do with a long no7/8 jointer (the 5 1/2 is fine, but it would be nice to have a dedicated jointer, so I can have the 5 1/2 setup for jackesque tasks). Also a dedicated scrub plane seems like a good idea. I do have a modern no 4, however I guess I could set that up as a scrub plane maybe?

So I could go for a no 7/8 off ebay or from Ray Iles, for about £100. I wouldn't want to spend more than that really (so no Veritas/Preston/Lie Neilsen). Or maybe one of these:

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Muj ... Plane.html

As for scrub planes, again I've been looking at woodies:

http://www.fine-tools.com/schrup.htm

But the metal versions, either new (Veritas or Lie Neilsen) or a old Stanley #40 are all around roughly the same sort of price. So if folk think they're better then I could be tempted that way. Or if the answer is get a no4/5 and set it up with a curved iron and use that instead, then that's fine as well.

However I would appreciate it if we could keep this on topic. If you've got an opinion, great, I want to hear it. However please don't then get into the usual pointless arguments with other posters on the topic. You know who you are...

Thanks in advance.

 

[marcros]

i would buy a cheap woodie off ebay and convert that to your scrub. as for the jointer, i think £100 is top end of what you would need to pay.

 

[bugbear]

i would buy a cheap woodie off ebay and convert that to your scrub.

Seconded, with bonus detail:

http://web.archive.org/web/200901141057 ... scrub.html

BugBear

 

[MMUK]

Would a #6 Fore be any good to you? Not much smaller than the #7. I picked up a Silverline #6 from Amazon for under £20 and it's perfectly good enough for any job I throw at it, even with the OEM iron. I may upgrade to a Stanley iron in the future when this one is worn out.

Having said that, there's a Silverline #7 on Amazon for just over £20 at the moment.

 

[heimlaga]

I would buy a cast iron number 7 secondhand and make a wooden scrub like the one you linked to.

I don't like those cheap far east tools. When I cannot afford a new tool of proper quality I buy secondhand and fix it up or just make the whole tool from scratch.

 

[Jacob]

I've got the ECE scrub. It is excellent. Wooden is best as scrubbing is hard work, the metal ones are pointless (and expensive). Yes you can adapt any old plane but a narrow blade is more or less essential (33mm ish) as the whole idea is to take out deep but narrow cuts.

 

[morfa]

MMUK - I've already got a 5 1/2, so I think a 6 wouldn't be that much better than the 5 1/2. Hence either a 7 or an 8.

heimlaga - I'm all for shopmade tools, but at the moment I've got a list of stuff to build as a long as my arm and would like to make a big dent in it over the next few months. So I'd rather just buy something.

 

[MMUK]

My #6 is about 2 1/2" longer than my #5 1/2

 

[morfa]

My #6 is about 2 1/2" longer than my #5 1/2

According to Blood and Gore:

5 1/2 = 15"
6 = 18"
7 = 22"
8 = 24"

So I'd be going for a 7 at least. I'd imagine I'll get a 7 and an 8 eventually tbh.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I've had a Lie-Nielsen scrub for years. As you'd expect of LN, it's very nicely made. It's quite light and easy to use, and it's brutally efficient at removing a lot of wood very quickly when used across grain - indeed, you have to be careful not to take off too much. Being small, it doesn't take up much storage space - an advantage over the converted woody jack. The only disadvantage is the price - currently about £150, I believe - so it may not fit every budget, but if you can stretch that far, I'd heartily recommend it.

Try planes are possibly the most difficult of the major planes to get 'right'. Because you need it to do accurate, controlled work, there's no margin for error on things like sole flatness. Reports of the budget new plane brands are rather mixed - some people have planes that were entirely satisfactory out of the box, but there do seem to be quite a lot of reports of problem ones, the main problem being warped or concave soles. Fettling up is possible, of course, but to do this properly does need access to some decent equipment to check sole flatness - a 12" steel rule isn't good enough!

If the budget won't stretch to a premium brand newie (and at near enough £400 a pop, not all budgets will) it's probably a wise investment to buy a refurbished one from Ray Iles. I know he undertakes surface grinding of plane soles, so will have the proper equipment to check what he's sending out. Twenty quid extra on the price for a guaranteed flat one is a small price to pay to avoid a lot of messing around with cast iron bananas, especially for a plane you may be doing accurate jointing work with for the next 40 years or so.

 

[tobytools]

An old razee wooden jack converted to a scrub.
A no 7 can be had for not a lot on ebay I would go for a old record.
But if you have the cast then a premium clifton, veritas or a LN.

The way I think now is if I get a rusty old plane and it takes me 10hours to get perfect or close to. Then times that by what I get an hour. I'm better off buying a new tool and spending that time doing woodwork.

TT

 

[Carl P]

A 2nd hand wooden try/jointer can be had for very little and set up relatively easily, if you don't get on with it you'll at least have had time to save for something metal.

Cheerio,

Carl

 

[Noggsy]

I have a QS number 7 from WWH and I love it. The iron takes and keeps an edge, the sole of flat and just feels good to use. Not arguing with anything anyone else has said, just my opinion, fwiw. I'm also thinking about a scrub plane and I will be interested to see what you end up going with.

 

[morfa]

I've just ordered the ECE Scrub Plane. If I had the time to modify a woodie, then I would, but I really need something that I can get on with the current work. I'll let people know how I get on with it. TBH, I did rather fancy the LV Scrub plane, but enough people said 'get a woodie' so I'm going with that.

I'm fairly certain that I'll ring Ray Iles tomorrow and order a no 7 from him. The 5 1/2 I have from him is excellent, so I know the quality of his reconditioned planes.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[bugbear]

I've just ordered the ECE Scrub Plane. If I had the time to modify a woodie, then I would, but I really need something that I can get on with the current work. I'll let people know how I get on with it. TBH, I did rather fancy the LV Scrub plane, but enough people said 'get a woodie' so I'm going with that.

A Euro horned scrub is "the original", and should work fine, but at €60.00 + shipping that's definitely the money vs time choice.

BugBear

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

The question that should have been asked first is, "what is it you expect to use the scrub to do?" While this may be self-explanatory to some, the tool is misunderstood by many.

For most work I believe that a jack plane (or foreplane) with an 8" cambered blade is preferable to a scrub plane with a 3" cambered blade. the jack will remove a lot of waste very rapidly from mildly twisted boards or boards that need to be thicknessed. It will do so without the very rough finish a scrub plane leave.

Scrub planes are better for the cases where a lot of waste needs to be removed. If you want to remove 1/2", use a scrub. If you only want to remove 1/8", use a jack.

Scrub planes are short (9-10" long) while jacks are about 15". The longer length of the jack helps maintain flatness.

I rarely use a scrub these days. The jack is the mainstay.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Jacob]

I think the use of a scrub is in the name - it's ideal for cleaning off bad surfaces such as on reclaimed timbers. This is because it cuts deep into the clean wood below and lifts off the surface, grit and all, whereas a shallower cutter would soon be blunted working through the surface.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Jacob

I agree with you ... but is that what the OP wants the plane to do? It may well be. Or it may not be the intent. I would guess that there is a lot more use for a jack around the workshop than a scrub plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Cleaning off reclaimed timber is what I have been using a metal scrub plane for. I have a choice of a converted metal #2, or a homemade wooden one. Both work, but the metal one has a more durable sole, and a squirt of WD40 gets the old mastic and paint that the sole collects off easily.

 

[bugbear]

The question that should have been asked first is, "what is it you expect to use the scrub to do?" While this may be self-explanatory to some, the tool is misunderstood by many.

For most work I believe that a jack plane (or foreplane) with an 8" cambered blade is preferable to a scrub plane with a 3" cambered blade. the jack will remove a lot of waste very rapidly from mildly twisted boards or boards that need to be thicknessed. It will do so without the very rough finish a scrub plane leave.

Scrub planes are better for the cases where a lot of waste needs to be removed. If you want to remove 1/2", use a scrub. If you only want to remove 1/8", use a jack.

Scrub planes are short (9-10" long) while jacks are about 15". The longer length of the jack helps maintain flatness.

I rarely use a scrub these days. The jack is the mainstay.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Ditto - I have a (Preston!) jack with a mildly cambered blade that is used far more often than my scrub.

Both were cheap

BugBear