Help me spend $1000.00

[Lucas Moore]

I need your help Neanders!

I have $1000.00 to spend on hand tools and need advice on which to purchase. I have a set of decent bench chisels and a Rob Cosman Dovetail saw with marking gauge and dovetail angle marker. I have not a single plane. Woodcraft has 20% off lie-nielsen planes this week so I am stocking up!

I have all the major power tools but I am beginning to get into handtools so I want the best quality I can afford.

[Casey Gooding]

Ooohhh....I'm jealous.
I would get a Lie-Nielsen #5, a #3 or #4 and a block plane. Whether the block plane is the 60 1/2 or 102 is up to you. I like them both. I actually think I prefer the 102 slightly.
Then I would get a carcase saw.
If there is money left over, get a 1000 grit and 8000 grit Japanese Waterstone to hone and polish the irons.

[curtis rosche]

give it to me. ill spend it.

[Sam Takeuchi]

What kind of projects do you have in mind? LN planes are nice indeed, but $1000 will only get you a few. Depending on the type of projects you are looking to do, it may not cover for all the planes you want.

In the end, you should really think hard what you want to do with hand tools. Otherwise you'll simply blow big chunk of $1000 on a plane or planes you rarely use. If you are intent on building an arsenal of planes, you can build quite impressive array of them by going for vintage planes if you don't mind some fettling.

A few months ago, I had about the same budget for tool shopping. I could've gone with vintage planes, but I had some already and I was looking for more versatile planes. So I got LV bevel up planes and you know, I think that was one of the best purchases. For what I do, bevel up smoother (4-1/2 size) and low angle jack (5-1/2) are perfect size and these planes are superb quality and work great. I thought about getting a bevel up jointer, but then I thought I rarely use a jointer except for edge jointing, so I opted for a vintage Stanley #7. I still had more than half of $1000 left to do shopping with. In the end, I didn't buy anything more because I didn't 'need' any other planes. I could fancy getting other planes I thought were nice, but no point buying things I don't use.

I think with 20% discount, LN low angle planes come out cheaper, but if you are going to buy them, consider the size too. LN LA smoother is #4 size and LA jack is #5 size whilst LV BU smoother is #4-1/2 size and LA jack is #5-1/2 size. In the end, it's not the tool that's important (they are, but not the focus of it), but what helps to get the job done efficiently and achieve result you are looking for. If you want to standard angle bevel down planes, I guess you should consider what you want and what you do, plus your budget. Choice is large in bevel down department. In either case, I can tell you, bevel up planes are very versatile and personally I think they can do more things easier than bevel down planes.

Once again, $1000 isn't a lot of money when you are considering buying LN planes, even with discount. You are looking at minimum $200 planes (with discount and excluding block planes...unless you want to stock up block planes, you can buy quite a few). There's a lot to consider.

[Phillip Pattee]

Have you already got a nice workbench? If not, you may want to start there before you buy all the tools you will use on it. A good sturdy workbench really helps you use your handplanes correctly.

Do you think you will use you power tools to dimmension lumber, or will you use hand planes? If you have a power joiner and planer, then maybe you want to start out with a smooth plane and a block plane.

You have good tools for dovetails, but you didn't mention a marking gage. A titemark might be a good tool to pick up.

If you want to make curved surfaces, rasps, spokeshaves, and drawknives are good tools to have.

This short article from Highland Hardware will give you some ideas: http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=31

[Prashun Patel]

If it were me, I wouldn't spend it all at once. I don't think you can go wrong with LN, but you might decide (as have I) that the spendy $$ are best spend on certain types of planes.

[David Gendron]

A # 4 1/2 HA frog, # 8, #5, LA block plane, and a mitre plane! And also a shoulder plane, mayb the medium size!!
Lucky you!

[Lucas Moore]

Thanks for all the great advice! I presently don't have a good workbench so I have been throwing around building a decent one with one good vice for now. My shop space is limited so I will be keeping the bench less than 48 inches long.

As for dimensioning lumber I do have a power jointer and planer so I won't be needing a jointer plane for the primary dimensioning.

I forgot to mention I do have a nice Veritas marking gauge for dovetailing.

From what I have read a LN 4 or 4 1/2 is really a necessity as well as a low angle block plane. At this point I don't see justifying 450 bucks for a jointing plane. Maybe in the future.

I am planning on doing some projects where I do some raised panels by hand and am kicking around a Shoulder Plane. My question is what size to get first. Is the medium the best all around size for general work?

Thanks again to everyone.

[Jon Toebbe]

I'd start with a good sharpening setup. If your total budget is $1,000, I'd take a long look at the Shapton ceramic waterstones. By all accounts they're excellent. "Conventional" waterstones, oil stones, Scary Sharp with a really reliable flat substrate (think machinist granite plate). Put some money, and some practice time into sharpening up front. You'll be glad you did.

An adjustable-mouth block plane and a well-tuned smoothing plane are typical hooks that bring in the power tool folks. Once the fluffy shaving start pouring out of the mouth, and the surface left behind glows... well, then the hook is set. Then you're in the same boat with the rest of us. :D

I recently went to a Lie-Nielsen handtool "event," and was thoroughly impressed with their tools. Lovely workmanship, ready to go out of the box (more or less). But to be honest, I didn't see anything in their line of bench planes that I couldn't live without. Maybe it's a "Ford vs. Chevy" thing, but I tend to gravitate towards Lee Valley planes. Lie-Nielsen's chisels and saws on the other hand... :p

Get a good quality new plane. Veritas, Lie-Nielsen, whatever floats your boat, really. Once you've experienced how a plane should work, you'll know what you're shooting for in re-habbing a vintage Stanley or Millers Falls or other good, old tool. I'd at least try getting an oldie-but-goodie back up to speed once. Then you can decide if you want to go further down that path. Sam's recommendation to restore a jointer plane is a good one. If you've already got the "tailed apprentices" to prep your lumber for you, a nicely fettled #7 can be used to take a couple of light passes to remove machine marks, or to painlessly create sprung joints for panel glue-ups.

Moving beyond bench planes... take a long look at the Lie-Nielsen router plane. That's the one that almost followed me home from the aforementioned Lie-Nielsen drool-a-thon. It's a handy little beastie, whether for refining machine-cut or hand-cut joinery. It strikes me that a router plane might be a really useful "transitional" handtool -- the kind of tool you'll start picking up during just about every project, whether machine- or hand-oriented.

And as others have offered, if you really can't decide, I'd be glad to spend the money for you. ;)

[Brian Kent]

A # 4 1/2 HA frog, # 8, #5, LA block plane, and a mitre plane! And also a shoulder plane, mayb the medium size!!
Lucky you!

David, if he gets 20% off, and no tax or shipping, your list is still $1,496. What $496 would you take off the list if you are working with $1,000?

Brian

[Dan Sink]

Lucas - is that just your local Woodcraft that is having 20% off L-N planes? I don't see anything on their website and I didn't get an email or mailer notifying me of such a sale. I don't want to miss out if this is the case, but I'm guessing its just your local store. (And I'm guessing that L-N would not be very happy about it if they found out.)

[Brian Kent]

If you want a full set of Lie Nielsen Planes, I would choose these:

Low Angle Block Plane
#7-1/2 Low Angle Jointer
#4-1/2 Wide Smoother
Low Angle Jack
Medium Shoulder Plane

Total before 20% discount = $1,205
Total after 20% (without tax or shipping) = $964

But…
Have you ever held one of these planes to be sure they fit your hand? They are wonderful planes but the Lee Valley planes seem to built just for my hands (Your hand size may vary).

If I was going with Lee Valley:
Apron Plane
Low Angle Jointer
Low angle Smoother
Low Angle Jack
Medium Shoulder Plane

Total without tax or shipping = $955

On either side I would try to find an old Stanley #7 instead of the jointer and have a little money set aside for the specialty plane needed on the next project, like a spokeshave, router plane, Mujingfang High Angle Smoother, or Hock blades to make a wooden plane once you feel how enjoyable it is.

Brian

[Gary Benson]

Lucas,
If you were to pose the stranded on a desert island and all you could take question, I would get the following with your current budget.
-LN 5 1/2 with 50 degree frog, can be used for dimensioning, smoothing, shooting, and some jointing- $375
-LN low angle adjustable mouth block plane- $165
-LN large router plane- $140
-LN Carcass saw (cross cut to go with your Cosman saw)- $137
-Basic Shapton stone kit- $149 (still need some way to flatten, but that can be pretty cheap)

Total cost $966 plus shipping. (20% off would pay for the medium shoulder plane at $195)

Good luck and happy shopping.
Gary

[Lucas Moore]

Thanks all again for advice


I found the 20% of under the "Deals and Discounts" section. Enter code 812 online at Woodcraft.com to get discount. My local store will match that discount so I am set there.

[David Gendron]

Brian, I forgot to add all the prices up.... I would go with out the #8 since he said he uses a power jointer!! But man I love my #8...

[Zach Dillinger]

Thanks all again for advice


I found the 20% of under the "Deals and Discounts" section. Enter code 812 online at Woodcraft.com to get discount. My local store will match that discount so I am set there.

I just tried it. It worked. For example, I did a test purchase of a Lie Nielsen #1 in bronze. It knocked $45 off the price.

[David Keller NC]

I have $1000.00 to spend on hand tools and need advice on which to purchase. I have a set of decent bench chisels and a Rob Cosman Dovetail saw with marking gauge and dovetail angle marker. I have not a single plane. Woodcraft has 20% off lie-nielsen planes this week so I am stocking up!

I have all the major power tools but I am beginning to get into handtools so I want the best quality I can afford.

Lucas - if you want the best quality you can afford, it would be hard to go wrong with L-N unless you start getting into the multi-thousands of dollars custom infill side of things (DAMHIKT).

One consideration that may be important to you is how you build things, not just what you build. If you're interested in building furniture, for example, and you wish to avoid glue-ups (i.e., you want to use wide boards), there are very few that have the power tools to handle the 20"+ width that goes into case sides, head/footboards on beds, table tops, etc...

For this reason, you may want to consider the basic kit that's required to process any width board (at least within reason). For this, you need a foreplane, a jointer, and for show-surface boards, a smoother.

The foreplane is basically a medium-length plane that has an open mouth and a highly-curved iron. Most of us that use metal planes for the purpose select a #6 for this purpose. You can also use a #5 or a #5-1/2 for the purpose if you're going to be working on small projects. Otherwise, the extra length in a #6 is handy. This is the one place that I don't recommend a bevel-up plane - it's tougher to get the more exaggerated curve necessary for the bevel-up design, and because of the low bed angle, the blade isn't supported well with such a high camber on it.

The jointer should be the longest plane in your arsenal. Whether that's a #8, a #7 or a #5 depends on the scale of your work. When I make models and doll-house sized repros, for example, I use a #1 or a #2 as the foreplane, a #1-1/2 LN for the jointer, and a small block as the smoother.

What to get in a smoother is a matter of preference. If you're going to be working highly figured woods, a bevel-down #4 or #4-1/2 with a High Angle Frog would be a good choice, or potentially a bevel-up smoother with a high bevel angle on the blade.

If you think you'll be doing much of this (prepping your own lumber by hand), I would highly recommend a Tite-Mark gauge. The round blade design is most helpful in setting the thickness to plane to all the way around the board's edge.