Wide bodied planes - advantages?

[LancsRick]

As far as I'm aware the only reason to grab a wide bodied plane rather than a standard one is if you're feeling energetic and want to do fewer strokes at higher effort to remove stock. Is that a fair statement or are there other times when a wide bodied plane has advantages?

 

[Tasky]

Wider cutter means fewer strokes, which is good for things liek tabletops. Extra weight keeps it in the cut with less downward pressure. Legitimate preference for bigger, heavier planes. Working on larger-scale furniture rather than little jewelry boxes.

Mostly just personal preference. I bought a 4½ because I needed a plane to get started in this stuff, and it was in fantastic condition, priced at only £24. I later got a 4 and a 5, 'just because'.

 

[thetyreman]

I like the feel of wider planes more, they are heavier, mass is always a good thing, if you think a no5 1/2 is heavy, try using a no8, they are not for weaklings!

 

[Vann]

...mass is always a good thing...

Not if you're using the plane all day long... :shock:

I think plane width is mostly personal preference.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I have a theory about this. The said theory is totally unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, so you quite at liberty to dismiss it out of hand if you wish.

The original range of Bailey planes offered for sale consisted of 1 to 8, without the half sizes. There were grumbles from some that the smoothing and jack planes were narrower than the woodies they were used to, so would need more strokes to do the work. So the half sizes were added to the range to placate said grumblers (or part them from their hard-earned!). They didn't need a 7 1/2 because the 7 and 8 pretty well had the same sole sizes and blade width as the existing woody try planes.

That's my thought, anyway! It's down to a commercial decision to give the punters what they want to buy, whether they need it or not.

As to which is 'better', the whole number sizes or the halves, I'm with Vann - it's a matter of personal preference, or what you happen to be used to. Functionally, there's virtually no objective difference between them.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

An old chippie I used to work with always maintained the half sizes were bench planes and the fours and fives site planes because they're lighter.

 

[AndyT]

CC, you're not alone in your speculation - Patrick Leach says much the same in his classic historical sketch at http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm

He notes that the 4 1/2 came out 23 years after the number 4.

The half numbers fit with this suggestion as they provide a way to add extra items into an existing series. (A similar move is sometimes done with building numbers in city streets.)

As for the advantages - there's a huge range of woodworking. The right tool for planing a tiny box may not be much good for a hotel door or a boat.

 

[Just4Fun]

I have never used a "half-numbered" plane so this may be a silly question, but ...
A longer plane is used to make a piece of wood flatter along the grain. Does a wider plane make wood flatter across the grain? (Assuming the wood or panel is wider than the plane and ignoring coping mechanisms like skewing the plane).

 

[Sgian Dubh]

It's not a silly question because I see your reasoning in asking. But, if you think about it, a longer and/or wider plane than one with a smaller sole should be more effective at flattening a surface (board face or edge) in all directions (lengthways, widthways and diagonally). I say 'should be' because the effectiveness of any plane depends on the skill of the user through all the stages of getting a plane set-up for use, and then actually using it. Basically, all I'm saying is that a long (and possibly wider) plane is effective at flattening both lengthways, widthways and across the diagonals ... if used correctly, but then you could also use a short no 4 or the wider 4-1/2 version to do the same job on the same board, but it's generally more challenging to do so. Slainte.

 

[thetyreman]

...mass is always a good thing...

Not if you're using the plane all day long... :shock:

I think plane width is mostly personal preference.

Cheers, Vann.

I was not dictating to anybody that they need to use wider planes, ffs, people can use whatever they want, MY preference though is wider planes.

 

[Ttrees]

Cant say that they were added, just to make the said planes wider, as the five and the
five and a half are completely different beasts.
The no.51/2 has more similarity's to even my no8 in my opinion than a no.5 has in my use.
Maybe a case were also made that the no.6 was too heavy, as I've often heard of it being the unloved one.

Five and a half's all the way, as fives are just a skinny things.

 

[Tasky]

Rumour has it the ½ size planes were made to be heavier, and so compete with the infill planes popular in the UK at the time... but again another theory and not even my own, so I can't comment.

 

[D_W]

It's probably a perceived marketing opportunity rather than a need. There's an enormous difference in the percentage of planes that are half series in the UK vs. the US. The resulting used plane price shows it.

Last year, I ordered a record 4 1/2, and it cost 5 quid more than a record 4. Here in the states, for a while, the going rate for a good condition sweetheart era 4 (not a perfect collector plane, but a good plane without pitting, breaks or spent parts) was about $45, and a 4 1/2 as clean was over twice that.

Everyone has a theory (one of them here is that 4s were a stock item and 4 1/2s special order). The only practical difference that I can think of is that if you fan camber out wider on a 4, it could make a slightly more perfect surface in terms of scalloping if you actually finish off the plane.

I think the extra weight is seen as an asset to a beginner or someone who uses a plane only for a small part of the work. I was enamored with the 4 1/2 when I had a power jointer and used it an and a power planer for everything. Also liked the stanley 8 a lot. Since going mostly to hand work, including dimensioning, i only have one 4 1/2 - a bedrock with what looks like a bite mark out of the sidewall, because I found it for pennies and don't think it'd sell well. I have two 4s and use them regularly. I don't actually know anyone here in the states who does a lot of hand dimensioning and uses any half sized planes, and most of the hand work with the larger planes is done with wood when suitable. The only non-suitable time I can think of is when you're doing solely edge jointing with a woody, it'll create lateral concavity if the plane doesn't seen face work mixed in.

As far as Pat Leach, he knows a whole lot about stanley's planes, but I think some of his personal preferences don't match the open market of users. Like his belief that the #112 is perhaps stanley's best ever tool. It becomes useless for solid work if you know how to use the cap iron, and even if you don't, using it on anything but very flat wood is torturous. Presumably, it gained popularity for large veneer work? Don't know, but there would be more 112s than there are 4s if the market would've agreed with patrick's opinion. He also feels that a 6 is a useless plane, and it's definitely far from that.

 

[MikeG.]

Wide bodied planes have two aisles, which makes access to the loos easier.



Is that the time? I must be going........

 

[D_W]

....access to the loo....

..I must be going........

nice double entendre!

Best post so far.

 

[MarkDennehy]

mass is always a good thing

That's my argument everytime slimming world gets mentioned too.

I do find that with the stranglers hands I got gifted with, the half sizes are a little bit more roomy around the fingers on the gripping hand, though I guess that'd be better solved by not strangling the plane's handle like it did something wrong to you in a past life...