Which LN plane?

[Matt Stiegler]

I'm thinking about picking up a LN plane from Woodcraft while they're on sale. Not that I need it now, I'm a newbie who mostly uses power tools. But for down the road, when I'm on the slippery slope of rapacious handtool acquisition but have less money to spend on this than I do now. But, because I'm a newbie and I don't need it now, I'm not really sure which LN plane to get.

I have a LN LA block plane and a LV 4 1/2. I also have an 8" jointer and a 15" planer, and I envision using handplanes to complement not replace them.

Having read a lot of 'which plane' threads here over the past couple days, my sense is that some folks would say my next plane should be a shoulder plane. But I'm pretty much decided I want to get the LV medium shoulder plane instead of the LN, so that doesn't answer my question today.

So, apart from "see a shrink," what do you suggest? #7? #5 1/2? Nothing?

[Mike Henderson]

If you don't have a need, I wouldn't buy anything. Getting a great deal on something you won't use is no bargain.

The only encouragement I can offer is that if you get it cheap (on sale) and don't use it, you can probably get close to full (not sale) price on eBay - but you have selling cost on eBay.

Mike

[Sean Hughto]

I'd get a 7 or a low angle jack. Either these will come in really handy even for a power tool guy to do stuff like fit drawers and doors and clean off machine marks before edge jointing, etc.

[Jerome Hanby]

I keep hitting spots where I wish I had a shoulder plane. I've collected the goodies to make one that Shopnotes featured quite a while back. That project keeps getting moved up on my to do list. It used to be in the rainy day section, it's now moved up to the before you buy anything else section:D. Router plane is the other function I seem to be missing, so those two would be top of my list, in that order.

[Doug Shepard]

Hit the LA Road Jack:D

[Matt Stiegler]

I gather that the LN LA jack is a 5. The fact that I have a 4 1/2 already shouldn't deter me there? (I guess not, since LN sells them together in their 3-plane set).

[Doug Shepard]

The LV 4-1/2 you have is a bevel down plane. The LN LA Jack, even though a roughly similar size is a bevel up plane, and quite a different critter. I've got a 4-1/2, & 5-1/2 and still find plenty of things to use the LA Jack for.

[RickT Harding]

and still find plenty of things to use the LA Jack for.

End grain FTW!

[Doug Shepard]

End grain FTW!

Yeah that too. I just find it less twitchy and quicker to adjust to different tasks than a bevel down, so I tend to use the LA Jack on maybe more things than I should since I've got other planes that are maybe better suited.

[Matt Stiegler]

I appreciate everyone's feedback so far. Finding the LA jack suggestion persuasive, with an extra blade I think.

[Phillip Pattee]

How about considering LN saws, or chisels?:rolleyes: Maybe you have a project where they will fill a need before an additional plane will.

[Matt Stiegler]

I appreciate that suggestion, Phillip. I have a set of LV bevel edge chisels, 1/4 to 1". So that doesn't seem like a place I can justify dropping a lot of money. As to the saws, I'm inclined towards the substantially less expensive LVs there.

[Rich Tesoroni]

Any opinions on the 10 1/4 rabbet?
Rich

[Mike Henderson]

Any opinions on the 10 1/4 rabbet?
Rich
Unless you do an awful lot of rabbeting with hand planes, or make really big rabbets, that's probably overkill. There are a lot of other less expensive ways to make rabbets by hand. For example, the Stanley 78 is commonly available, works well, and is significantly less expensive than the LN 10 1/4. And you have a fence on the 78.

Mike

[Joe Close]

I'm thinking about picking up a LN plane from Woodcraft while they're on sale.

I'm not seeing a sale. Is this maybe a local sale?

[Matt Stiegler]

I'm not seeing a sale. Is this maybe a local sale?

Joe, see this (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=120615) thread in the deals section here.

[Doug Shepard]

I appreciate everyone's feedback so far. Finding the LA jack suggestion persuasive, with an extra blade I think.
Good choice;) I forgot to mention, that you can lay this one on it's side for use with a shooting board too. Very handy.

[Phillip Pattee]

Boggs spokeshave. Every handtool woodworker can use a good spokeshave.

[David Keller NC]

Matt - from the standpoint of complementing your power tools, you will have to consider whether you wish to build bigger projects that will include boards wider than your machines will accept, or glued-up panels that are wider than your machines will accept.

If that is the case, you will want to process boards by hand, or flatten glued-up panels by hand. In this instance, you need a fore or roughing plane, and a jointer. For show surface boards, add a smoother. A fore or roughing plane is simply a medium-length plane with a heavy camber (curve) to the cutting edge and an open mouth. There are lots of options for this, from the low priced end of a wooden fore plane found at a flea market or e-bay, to a relatively high priced option of a L-N #6. A jack (#5 or #5-1/2) can also serve this purpose. This is, however, one application for which a low-angle BU plane is not well suited because of the heavy camber requirement, clearance angle under the blade, and length of the blade that's unsupported.

The jointer is, of course, a longer and more finely-set plane for removing thinner shavings off of the face of the board or panel after the foreplane has roughly leveled it. This one could be a BU or a BD, your preference. In LN, the #7 will accomodate a high angle frog to better deal with highly figured grain, if a BD is your preference.

[Matt Stiegler]

I think I"m going to go for the LN LA jack. That will give me a block, a 4 1/2 smoother, and a jack. I'm going to pick up a used Stanley #7, too. Down the road, I'm going to pick up a LV shoulder plane and, as David suggests, a fore if I start wanting to take on larger projects. And probably some spokeshaves, a router plane, handsaws, and all the rest.

Sound reasonable? (Then after that I'll lose my mind entirely and buy another 23 planes and spend every waking moment scouring ebay and flea markets ...)

Again, thanks everyone for your insightful and patient guidance for a newbie.

[David Colafranceschi]

Buy a #8. I love mine and use it for everything especially in a shooting board application.

[Richard Niemiec]

Matt: Since you got the #7 from me ... :) ... which I used to finance a LN #140 .... :) ... (drive by gloat on my purchase), what I would seriously suggest to you is to get a LN large router plane, very useful to size tenons, clean out dados, and many other uses; another very useful, at least to me, plane is the LN low angle rabbeting block, Sargent made one a long time ago and they are hard to find in the wild. An alternative is a scraper plane, once you have experienced using a scraper to finish off work you'll never go back to sandpaper.

There are many, many ways to spend money on planes......

PS: You'll like the #7.

Rich

[David Keller NC]

I think I"m going to go for the LN LA jack. That will give me a block, a 4 1/2 smoother, and a jack. I'm going to pick up a used Stanley #7, too. Down the road, I'm going to pick up a LV shoulder plane and, as David suggests, a fore if I start wanting to take on larger projects. And probably some spokeshaves, a router plane, handsaws, and all the rest.

Sound reasonable? (Then after that I'll lose my mind entirely and buy another 23 planes and spend every waking moment scouring ebay and flea markets ...)

Again, thanks everyone for your insightful and patient guidance for a newbie.

One comment - if you're going to buy the LN LA jack, you may wish to pick up a plane hammer. A "plane hammer" is simply a hammer with a brass face (the other face is usually a wood block). What you want this for is adjusting the lateral position of the blade - the LN design does not have a lateral adjuster. While it is possible to adjust the lateral position of the blade with one's fingers, then tighten down the lever cap, it is considerably easier and more precise with a small brass hammer.

And yeah - 23 planes is a relatively small number for those of us that work most projects exclusively with hand tools, but most of those 23 planes are joinery planes, not surfacing (bench) planes. In my case, I've approximately 250, but all but about 30 of those are wooden molding and joinery planes.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

I'd get a 7 or a low angle jack. Either these will come in really handy even for a power tool guy to do stuff like fit drawers and doors and clean off machine marks before edge jointing, etc.

Another vote for the LA Jack. With a straight ground blade it's good for shooting. With a cambered blade it's good for flattening. And with a cambered blade ground to a higher bevel it good for eliminating tear-out on nasty grained wood.

Cliff

[Matt Stiegler]

(Then after that I'll lose my mind entirely and buy another 23 planes and spend every waking moment scouring ebay and flea markets ...)



Just to be clear, my only intent there was self-ridicule at the notion that I need 23 planes. I am aware that there are lots of folks here who in perfect sanity have and use a goodly number of planes.

[Joe Close]

Thanks for the "Sale" tip. I'm adding a Skewed Block Plane to the stable. I even called them and got free shipping to boot! :cool: