I want 2 jointer planes, but which 2?

[Bob Jones]

I do all stock prep with hand planes from rough cut to final finish. I currently use an old Stanley 8 for all jointing. It has a somewhat cambered blade because that seems well for most work. I recently learned the joy of match planing edges before glueing up a panel. Wow! It really helps. I am thinking that match planing would be even easier with a straight iron, so I am using this as an excuse to buy another plane.

I want to use one plane with a straight iron for edges and one with a cambered iron for faces. My current plan is to use my 8 with a straight blade for edges and buy a new one for faces. I am trying to decide between a Stanley 7 with a hock blade or a LV BUJ. I have 2 other LV BU planes and I like them very much. I also have several stanleys that I could not work without. So, I am torn. Does anyone have both that can help me decide between them? Thanks!

[John Coloccia]

I know this isn't answering your question, but I'm going through the same thing with my LN #5. I want a cambered blade for stock removal, and a straight blade for shooting board use. I'm just doing to get another blade. That's one less plane to store.

[Johnny Kleso]

A No7 is much nice to use than a 8.
I have two 608s so I should not say just get another blade but you did not say what other bench planes you own..
I think a No6 is must have for my old back :)

[Mike Holbrook]

How about trying out one of the the BlumToolCo. planes: Jointer 22" or Fore 17" & 19". A couple guys here have said they like them but so far I have not seen any kind of specific review. I need someone else to test them out before I jump in ;-) They are a very interesting design with many unique features. You can even get the "frog" cambered so you don't have to camber the blades. If you want two different set ups you can either camber the blade too or just get a second frog. They are wooden planes, and you know you want to try one!

[jamie shard]

I do all stock prep with hand planes from rough cut to final finish. I currently use an old Stanley 8 for all jointing.

I really like my set up of a old #8, no camber; old #6, strong camber; and LN 5.5 with just enough camber to have the shavings thin away to nothing on the sides. (I also have a scrub for dirty wood or massive removal, but I rarely use it). It's a pretty economical way to go.

jamie

[Mark Baldwin III]

I got to try out one of the LV BUJ's yesterday at the Woodworking Show. I was really impressed. I'd like to have one if my resources ever allow it. I tried it on a piece of Padouk (sp?). I also took some shavings with the BU smoother and the standard 5 1/4. I have some LV specialty planes, but this was my first experience with their bench planes.

[Kevin Foley]

I love my old Stanley planes but if you have the option, the LV is a better plane than the Stanley ever was. Using a throat plate to adjust the mouth allows for a very solid stationary frog. There's no trade-off of extending the frog to close the mouth for fine work. If you want a good Stanley No. 7 you're looking for one 70+ years old. Finding one with a sole that's still flat, with no twist can be a challenge, or if like me, you rely on a certain auction site as a tool source, you may need to get a few to find a good one. It's simple to flatten a sole on a No. 4, 4 1/2, or 5 but at 22", flattening a No.7 can be difficult. LV and others build tools with better alloys and casting techniques, and machine to higher standards. Given the choice I'd go for the LV. If you have a day of board prep to do you'll appreciate the lighter No. 7 over the No.8.

[Chris Fournier]

I have done as John suggests and I have two blades for the LN #7. You'll clog your shop up with tools as it is. Buy a blade and a chipberaker if you like and save the rest of your $$$ for other tools that you will want down the road.

[David Keller NC]

I personally prefer bevel down planes for all work other than planing end grain because of their ease of use, though I do have a few Bevel Up planes for adjusting the length of stock. I've done exactly as you describe - once I've gotten the blade honed, cambered and set in the plane, I don't mess with the settings until the blade requires re-honing; I find stopping to change blades, then adjust the lateral set & depth of cut is a huge inconvenience and significantly slows my work, so I have multiple jointers and medium-length planes.

That said, I do all of my edge shooting work, including match planing, with a L-N #8 equipped with a slightly cambered blade. The cambering is very slight - perhaps 8 - 10 thousandths or so across the edge - just enough to prevent leaving tracks when used on face grain. Even though theoretically the slight camber shouldn't work as well as a straight-across iron when match-planing, I've never been able to distinguish the difference in the final joint (and I've tried).

[David Weaver]

The tradeoff with a LV BU plane is that the iron wears more on the side that is harder to hone. On a bevel down plane, the iron wears in the long dimension on the part of the iron that is easier to hone (the bevel).

For an example of what I mean, see brent beach's page.

Plus, putting some camber on the irons is a bigger nuisance due to the bed angle.

I would rather have the hock ironed stanley 7, but there is an issue where you can get one that's seriously out of flat. I have lapped mine when I've gotten bad ones. I don't know what else to suggest, because I've gotten some that were over a hundredth hollow in their length, and while you can still use a plane like that, I think it's a pain. I could use a jointer plane (for what a jointer is actually supposed to be for, not smoothing) that was like that and convex instead of concave without issue - anyone could. But when it is concave that much, a long board magnifies the error, and you have to make a lot of passes (i.e., gradually getting the board out of flat) to get the board in a full cut relative to the plane's bottom.

[Tom Vanzant]

"That said, I do all of my edge shooting work, including match planing, with a L-N #8 equipped with a slightly cambered blade. The cambering is very slight - perhaps 8 - 10 thousandths or so across the edge - just enough to prevent leaving tracks when used on face grain. Even though theoretically the slight camber shouldn't work as well as a straight-across iron when match-planing, I've never been able to distinguish the difference in the final joint (and I've tried)."

An .008-.010" camber across a 2 5/8" iron translates to less than .003" across a 3/4" edge. Humidity over a period of an hour would probably have a greater effect on flatness.

[Bob Jones]

Thanks for the tips. I definately like "single purpose" planes. I am a border line collector/user. I have a no6 that I got recently. I may get a hock blade for it and see if it works well for jointing faces. If not, I can always get a no 7 later and put the new blade in it. The LV planes are just sooo nice. I really like the other two BU planes, but I do think bevel down might work better for me for now.

[David Weaver]

A user with any skill at all can definitely use a jointer-set #6 to flatten boards. The long panel planes aren't any bigger than a 6, the iron is in about the same place, and nobody voices any discontent about their ability to flatten a large panel. If a panel is flat enough to take a continous fine shaving from a flat #6, it is flat. It'll move more than that amount before you get to glue it down if you don't assemble the same day.

[David Keller NC]

An .008-.010" camber across a 2 5/8" iron translates to less than .003" across a 3/4" edge. Humidity over a period of an hour would probably have a greater effect on flatness.

Indeed, but it's also a matter of compression. All of my glue-ups are in panel clamps to hold them flat, with a good deal of force applied perpendicular to the long-edge joint applied by parallel clamps. I suppose if I were using an ultra-dense, ultra-hard wood like cocobolo, then the 3 thousandths just might be troublesome. But with pine, poplar, mahogany, walnut, cherry and maple, the boards will easily compress that much in a glue-up. And as you mentioned, once you take the glue-up out of the clamps, it's not going to be perfectly flat anyway and will require planing to flatten out the resulting panel.

[Eddie Darby]

I want to use one plane with a straight iron for edges and one with a cambered iron for faces. My current plan is to use my 8 with a straight blade for edges and buy a new one for faces. I am trying to decide between a Stanley 7 with a hock blade or a LV BUJ.
Having weight in a plane is a real advantage when it comes to faces, so if you have a plan on getting a Stanley #7 already, then I would consider the following option in place of the Hock.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2080171/29547/Matched-Chip-Breaker-and-Blade-Set-238W-for-Stanley-Handplanes-412-512-6-and-7.aspx

http://www.robcosman.com/chipbreaker.html

The extra thick iron, 0.140" thick will also tighten up the mouth, which helps in wild grained woods.
Since this plane will be a dedicated face plane, then it only needs a tight mouth. Bevel-Up Planes give easier mouth adjustments, and are usually lighter in weight than their Bench Plane counterparts, which is not needed here.
Bench Planes excel at this type of face work, since one can easily adjust the shaving thickness with a turn of the finger, on the fly, which makes creeping up on a shaving thickness easier to do, while Bevel-Up planes require more fiddling around.

[Prashun Patel]

You might consider a WoodRiver #6. This generation of WoodRiver planes gets very good reviews and is a great price. For edge-planing, the #6 might have enough mass and would add a little versatility to yr arsenal.

[Jim Koepke]

Bob,

As one who enjoys having many planes at my command when doing a project, it is my opinion that there is an advantage to having a fleet of planes to choose from. It is even delightful to have a pair of #6s to choose between. One of them came from the factory with a tight mouth even with a Stanley blade and the mouth all the way back. It is type 4 and is great on wide panels and sometimes on edges.

If there are yard sales and estate sales in your area, just get up early on weekends and get out and about. The good stuff goes fast.

I like my #7 for doing the light work and the #8 for the heavy cuts. Most of the time a quick swipe or two from the #7 will follow the #8 on edge work.

As for blades, I have been happy with Hock blades. They work fine with the Stanley chip breakers.

jtk

[Bob Jones]

I ordered a replacement blade and chipbreaker from LV for my 6. I have gotten Hock in the past, so I figured I would give the LV blades a try. Thanks for the suggestions!