No.62 vs no.5

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

Those of you who has a no. 62.
Does it replace your no.5?

[Terry Beadle]

Hello...

My LN low angle jack is more flexible to use. My 5's are more work horses. The 5 with the Hock blade is
a match in use to the LN.

That said, they both do a great job. Both can take sub 1 thou shavings if needed ( not needed often ).
Replace? Nope. Both are task masters and make up for my fumbling fingers and eyes. Isn't aging a pain in the patootie!

Love them both.

Regards and enjoy the shavings!

[Prashun Patel]

Hard to give a definitive answer.

No. 62 is heavier and better for end grain and shooting for me. I reach more and more for my LA jack these days than the No 5 in almost all situations. About the only thing I think the 5 is better at is scrub planing (lighter, with a cambered blade).

I find myself using that LA jack so much - even for many jointing tasks - that i am grateful for the ease of removing and re-setting the blade in this configuration.

I am thoroughly convinced it's a matter of personal taste though. I'd take a 5 with a good blade over a 62 with a mediocre blade any day.

[steven c newman]

Afraid I am just stuck with a #5 sized Jack plane....have 4, all set up a little different from each other....my "low angle" plane? Stanley #60-1/2....or the Shelton #118....

[Kevin Smira]

I have a 62 and a 5 1/2, so not quite the same. I normally use my 62 now on the shooting board (now meaning since I got the 5 1/2). For me, I wouldn’t get rid of one or the other, but since I got the 5 1/2, I notice that I grab it much more often...I have it set up with three blades and use it for smoothing, scrub and difficult grain...

Just my 2 cents...

[Patrick Chase]

No, the 62 doesn't replace the 5 for me.

A few reasons:

• Cap irons are useful to limit tearout, even for intermediate work and some roughing. The 5 has one, the 62 doesn't.
• It's a lot easier to camber a 45 deg iron than a 12 deg one. My aggressive #5 has 6" camber radius, which works out to a ~0.06" cut at full extension. To get the same blade projection from a 62 would require a ~1.9" camber, which is a LOT of grinding.
• IMO wear bevel formation is more of a concern for roughing work, and that slightly complicates the maintenance for a 62.

In response to the oft-cited claim that the 62 is "more versatile", I would describe it as being versatile in different ways. It's certainly easier to change cutting angle in the 62, and that's useful if you haven't figured out cap irons and are using it as a "super smoother", but as outlined in the points above the 5 is more versatile in other ways.

[Jim Koepke]

My #62 is set up with a "hot dog" handle to be a shooting plane. It is occasionally used on face and edge planing.

Does it replace a #5?

It hasn't replaced the four #5s in my shop.

For me it is easier to keep planes set up for different tasks instead of keeping track of different blades to change all the time.

jtk

[Jeff Heath]

I did a video for my youtube channel on this very subject.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5WcCxWybkk&t=10s

[Shawn Pixley]

I use both. The 62 is usually stored with the toothed blade which I use a lot. The 5 is set up as a typical jack and used that way. The 62 gets used for shooting sometimes. A non-cambered blade is kept sharp accordingly.