50's Era Stanley No. 4 Smoothing Plane... good buy?

[Dave Gaul]

This is my first plane purchase.. I found a listing for it, and the plane is in great shape, blade just needs some honing to use. Paying $40 for it. Is this a good start for a beginner in hand planes?

[David Weaver]

If it's in good shape and works well, that's a decent dealer price.

The dealer is well known, he's a reputable guy.

You might get some scuzzle from people who say there were no good planes after WWII, but that's not necessarily the case. I've had late era planes that worked fine, and I've had some later than that that required a lot of attention to make right.

If it's "right", the era doesn't matter, and there will be no difference in performance on wood vs. a plane 50 years older. Given the dealer, I doubt it's a dud.

[Sam Takeuchi]

If I were you, I'd go for earlier plane but that's for my own personal preference for earlier types. If you aren't concerned with particular type, this will do fine. I bought a couple of planes from Sandy in the past and he stands by what he sells. And even if it was a dud, like there was a hidden crack, damage or otherwise hidden problem, he will take it back in a heart beat. If you want a solid user plane and peace of mind that you aren't getting ripped off or buying a dud, Sandy is an excellent dealer to buy from.

As for this particular plane, it looks pretty good.

[Johnny Kleso]

Sandy sells very good planes at very fair prices..

One of my first hand planes was from him...

[Frederick Gross]

I like that particular type of plane because it often had run-overs of war-era castings used for the body and they have a little more heft than other types. Plus, I think they only made that type for two or three years. The ones I have had have always turned out to be excellent users.

[Richard Niemiec]

Type 18 is fine.

[Jim Koepke]

The type studies would say that plane is made in 1946 or '47. Look at the knurling on the depth adjuster.

Not my favorite type, but that is just opinion and not necessarily reality.

jim

[Dave Gaul]

Thanks to all! I felt pretty good about this from the moment I visited Sandy's site. His email response to how he does business was top notch! I have never even used a "real" plane before, other than a little cheap small block plane, so this one seems like a great start for me!

Thanks again!

[Dave Gaul]

Type 18 is fine.


Not sure of the difference, but the one I'm getting is listed as Type 19...?

[Jeremy Dorn]

The main difference between a type 18 and type 19 is the knurling on the depth adjusting nut.

Type 18's are the only type that ever had diagonal knurling. They also often had black lacquered totes (though rosewood ones also exist on 18's that I've seen).

Type 19's return to the perpendicular knurling that you find on all of the other types.

JD

[Dave Gaul]

Got it.. thanks JD!

With all the reading I'm doing lately on planes, I'm asking Sandy to send me a Stanley No. 5 Jack Type 19 as well! I feel like a kid at Christmas time for some reason!!!

[Jeremy Dorn]

Heh, this is how it starts....in 6 months, if you're like me, you'll have a fleet of planes.

This time last year I had an old Wards Master #5 (made by stanley) and a Stanely #220 block. Then I needed to flatten a table top that was glued up with a crown in it due to some problems with the setup on my jointer fence. 15 minutes later I stood there in a pile of shavings, admiring the newly flattened top, and knew there was no looking back. Now there are about 70 planes of all manner of sizes/shapes/purposes adoringing the walls of my ones power-centric shop and I couldnt be happier :)

Enjoy the ride :) Hopefully you have an understanding spouse ...

JD

[Jim Koepke]

Heh, this is how it starts....in 6 months, if you're like me, you'll have a fleet of planes.

[snip]

Enjoy the ride :) Hopefully you have an understanding spouse ...

JD

If you are like me, you will find that there is often a good reason for having two planes of the same size. One can be set for fine finish cuts and the other for a bit thicker cuts.

To help the spouse understand, it is helpful to take her out for a day of shopping for her favorite things. Then after she feels sufficiently guilty, in a little time you can mention that there is a plane that sure would be handy to have in the shop. Just don't be so obvious that she puts the events together.

jim

[Steve Branam]

With all the reading I'm doing lately on planes, I'm asking Sandy to send me a Stanley No. 5 Jack Type 19 as well! I feel like a kid at Christmas time for some reason!!!

If this is your first experience using planes, having not too long ago been there myself, I highly highly recommend getting a copy of Chris Scwharz's Handplane Basics DVD as your first priority. This is his most recent and I think his best, because it really does distill things down to what you need to know to get started.


It's available from Popular Woodworking's Woodworker's Bookshop: http://www.woodworkersbookshop.com/product/dvd_handplane_basics_better_way_to_use_bench_plane s_christopher_schwarz/cd-dvd

Then, if you want to spend a little more money on DVDs, second priority is his Coarse, Medium, and Fine DVD, which is a few years older. There's a lot of overlap, but it's still useful. After that, if you still want to spend some money, third priority is his book Handplane Essentials, which is a collection of his handplane articles from Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine. These are both also available from the same website.


And you do have a No. 7 jointer, right? You'll need that to complete the triumvirate of jack (roughing), straightening, and smoothing planes. Going with just jack and smoothing plane will drive you bonkers.


The DVD will show you how to setup and use the three as a coherent set. With a little practice you'll be able to get a board from rough to ready for final finish in minutes, no matter how much material you have to remove. Really! It's very satisfying.

The only exception is nasty twisty grain, but as a beginner do yourself a favor and start out with nice straight-grained wood (hard or soft doesn't matter, as long as it's straight). As you develop your skills, you can tackle the trickier stuff.

[Dave Gaul]

I do not ever see me giving up my 'lectrics, but I am discovering very quickly that a good balance between power and hand tools is crucial to great ww'ing. Basically, I'm learning that power can't do all!

And don't worry, I have the wife aspect well covered! I build her something she wants, I get a new tool out of it! Also, she gets to do the whole house and gardens... I get my shop! That's all I ask for is my shop! It's not the biggest of shops, but it's all mine!

I will really hit the jackpot once I finally make the blanket chest she's been waiting for!!

[Dave Gaul]

Steve, thank you, I will check that out! I did find some good articles already on FWW's website.

I do not have a No. 7 Jointer. I still plan to use a power jointer & planer to start with, and use the Jack & Smoother to finish. I will keep my eyes open for a good deal on a No. 7 though.