New to hand planes need some help

[Paul Sikorski]

So I have been mostly a machine guy but just started working on cutting dovetails by hand and really enjoy working by hand. Well my brother tried woodworkign but never really took to it. Well long story short he gave me these planes. He is sick at hitting yard sales and such. So any info is appreciated it looks like 2 number 5 bailey planes (one with a groved bottom not sure what that means) one smaller bailey no number and a number 8 there is one between with no real markings. There is a low angle block plane I really like that has stanley on it but some parts apear to be missing so any idea where to get replacement parts?
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[James Taglienti]

Is the block missing a cutter? How wide is it?
Looks like a great starter set.

[Paul Sikorski]

It has the blade and a metal piece that goes over the top (sorry I dont know what its called). Should there be a chip breaker on it and something to lock it all down? Not sure how wide Ill measure it

[James Taglienti]

No chipbreaker on that one. You could take it completely apart and scrape the rust off of the bottom, the cutter, any part that touches the cutter, and the bearing surfaces of the adjustable mouth. If the mouth is locked up with rust, work some light oil into the crevices and unscrew the front knob a couple turns. Then lightly tap the top of the knob with a small hammer. This should loosen the plate.
I would suggest focusing the most effort on the block plane if you ate new to planes. It is a bit simpler and will be a good experience to clean it up and give it a sharpening, will help with the others.

Heck, for that matter, you could start playing with the larger of the two simple block planes to get your feet wet.

[Paul Sikorski]

Thanks James its 1 3/8 wide. the adjustable mouth actually moves pretty well. Sharpening and cleaning seems to be in order.

[Chris Scimone]

You have a pretty good starter set there, in my humble opinion. Some jointers, some jacks, some smoothers, a few blocks, and a rabbetting plane to round it out. Most sane people (here's to wishing I was in that population) would be completely happy with that setup.

I would utilize Patrick Leach's Blood & Gore website to identify your block plane, and also email him for parts. If he can't help you, a search of auction sites, or a 'Want to Buy' post in the classified section here will likely get you what you need.

At a glance, looks like you need a knob, knob bolt & nut, cap iron, and cap iron screw for the number 8. Possibly a new frog, unless you're willing to deal with using a hammer to adjust the iron laterally - you are missing the lateral adjustment lever. This is not a deal breaker as the earlier stanley models/types didn't have lateral levers either.

For that stanley low angle block, it looks like your lever cap is missing the locking cam. In the meantime, you can use a wood shim and just tighten down the center screw on that block plane to hold the iron in place. I have an old block where the cap lever is completely missing, and the previous owner replaced it with a scrap of wood. It works like a champ, its just not the easiest to adjust.

Welcome to the slippery slope of hand planes. Watch that first step, its a doozie. :)

[Adam Cruea]

Looks like you've got a #4, 2x #5, #8 for your bigger planes. I'm not sure about the little ones.

The grooved bottom (corrugated) was just to lessen the weight of the plane, as far as I can know. On the smaller planes I don't really notice much of a different, but something like a jointer, there's a slightly more noticeable difference. Personally, I like a solid soled plane because there's more mass to keep it going through the wood, which I have found is very important on hickory and other harder woods. Nicely waxed, a heavy plane just sails through wood like it's on ice.

As Chris said, welcome to the slippery slope of hand planes. . .I'm still looking to get my hands on a #8 jointer at least. Good care, good maintenance, and if hand tools are your thing, you'll be happy with that little nest of them. Most people would, but like Chris, I don't fall into that category either, but it's a good nest to start with.

[Jacob Nothstine]

I would pick up a copy of
Hand Tool Essentials: Refine Your Power Tool Projects with Hand Tool Techniques

http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Tool-Essenti ... 1558708154 (http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Tool-Essentials-Techniques-Woodworking/dp/1558708154)

It's a real simple book about hand tools and what you need to get started in using hand tools. Has a chapter about cleaning up hand planes and sharpening. I have learned a lot from the book.

Here is a good article on sharpening. It talks about using sand paper to sharpen blades.
http://www.hocktools.com/sharpen.htm

[Paul Sikorski]

Thanks guys. I'm gonna try and spend sometime cleaning, sharpening and hopefully planing some wood.