hand plane question...help

[aurelio alarcon]

what types and sizes of hand planes should I have?

[Tony Sade]

Try these sites:

http://workshop.tjmahaffey.com/workshop/planes1.php

http://www.geocities.com/plybench/plane.html

http://www.cianperez.com/Wood/WoodDocs/Wood_How_To/INDEX_How_To.htm

These are a good start. Lots of info out there.

Cheers

[John Weber]

What ever you like. I have an array of planes, but starting with a good block plane is a must. Low angle Jack and Smoothing planes are very popular, either Lie-Nielsen or Veritas. After that most any of the numbered bench planes, 4, 5, 7 make a good set. Also consider 4-1/2, 6, 5-1/2, and a 3. Many people have good luck with old Stanleys, and there have been several refinished models recently for sale here in the classifieds. I like Lie-Nielsen, Veritas, Clifton, or even a Steve Knight wood smoother better. New planes are take less time to get ready, already have high quality blades, and are made to very high standards. After that you then have shoulder planes, chisel planes, scrapers, etc... It never ends. Buy what you like, most planes can be made to do various tasks by how you set them up, so you can slowly add what you want over time.

John

[Ray Bersch]

Semper Fi, my friend.

[aurelio alarcon]

Semper Fi, my friend.Only "the few" would recognize this.

[aurelio alarcon]

Thanks for your help. I will look into all of this info.

[Ray Bersch]

Yep. That's just the way it is.

[Mike Holbrook]

I have been reading many of those articles on which planes to get first. Low Angel Block Plane, Smooth Plane and Rabbet Plane seem to be top choices followed closely by the Jack and then a Jointer. Then there are the Scraping Planes that can save a great deal of air-born wood, very helpful for those of us without first rate dust collection.

I bought a Low Angel Block plane and a Low Angel Jack plane and got two blades for each. One of the two blades can be sharpened at a higher (maybe 38 + 12 bed angel = 50 degree, York pitch) for harder tougher wood and one can be sharpened at the standard 25 + 12 bed angle = 37 for softer wood & end grain. You can do a great deal with those two planes and the four blades. I am now torn between a Rabbet Plane and a Scraper Plane. Since I have a regular hand scraper I will probably get the Rabbet, specifically the Lee Valley Medium Shoulder Plane. I am starting to make mortises,tenons and dados which the Rabbet will help a great deal with.

If you do not have good sharpening devices specifically for planes, I would recommend including a good guide and some water or oil stones in your early purchases too. No plane will function well unless an appropriate bevel and sharp edge are maintained.

Here is a good place to shop:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/index.aspx?c=2

Good luck!