Bob Jones
07-03-2011, 12:17 AM
In the spring I got a "wild hair" to build a "matched set" of bench planes. (I work with rough lumber and do all surfacing with them) I just thought it would be fun to have a set with the same look and feel.
First choice - a set of 3 or 4 LN's. More than I could afford. In hindsight this is the cheapest option if you value your time. :) oops.
Second choice, a set of Bedrocks - not much cheaper then the LN's.
Option 3 - pick a "Type" of regular Stanley's. I picked Type 11. I'm not going to debate this. They are an easily identified Type and they are good users.
Anyway, I bought 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 through ebay and this forum. What a rush! Most were in bad shape so I refinished all of them (thanks rexmill.com) and bought LV and Hock blades and chipbreakers for each of them. The last parts I needed came in the mail yesterday - the new handles from Bill Rittner. Wow! They feel great! I heard about him from Chris Schwarz. Sometimes Chris goes a bit overboard on his reviews, but not this time. The handles really are more comfortable (to me) than any Stanley. These are walnut.
I gave my 5 & 6 a test run today and I really like the handles. Now I have to decide if I want to keep the old handles and blades or sell them??? Choices, choices.
Thanks for looking!
First choice - a set of 3 or 4 LN's. More than I could afford. In hindsight this is the cheapest option if you value your time. :) oops.
Second choice, a set of Bedrocks - not much cheaper then the LN's.
Option 3 - pick a "Type" of regular Stanley's. I picked Type 11. I'm not going to debate this. They are an easily identified Type and they are good users.
Anyway, I bought 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 through ebay and this forum. What a rush! Most were in bad shape so I refinished all of them (thanks rexmill.com) and bought LV and Hock blades and chipbreakers for each of them. The last parts I needed came in the mail yesterday - the new handles from Bill Rittner. Wow! They feel great! I heard about him from Chris Schwarz. Sometimes Chris goes a bit overboard on his reviews, but not this time. The handles really are more comfortable (to me) than any Stanley. These are walnut.
I gave my 5 & 6 a test run today and I really like the handles. Now I have to decide if I want to keep the old handles and blades or sell them??? Choices, choices.
Thanks for looking!