Does the #4 Veritas Smoothing Plane have enough length.

[Glenn Samuels]

I am building a chest on chest and the sides measure 21 wide by up to 38 high. I am joining 3 boards together to get the width. After running them thru the jointer and the plane, I realize that there still needs to be some smoothing. The #4 that I own is 9 1/2" in length. I see that there is a #6 fore plane that is 18" long and a new model bevel up jointer plane that is 22" long. I could really use some advice on which type of plane will work the best for my project. I am fairly new to the use of hand planes.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

If you're talking smoothing for finishing purposes, if you're machined surfaces are fairly true, just not smooth, which is what I'd assume is the case, you could certainly get a good surface with a smoothing sized plane. If you're talking about getting true edges for the glue up of the boards, I like to work with something longer - again, if your edges are fairly true off of the machines, you can get by with something shorter with a little skill and care, but the longer the board for something that needs to be a perfect match down it's length, the longer a plane I like to use.

[Glenn Samuels]

Thank you for your response. I was referring to the face surface of the sides. Once I have glued the 3 pieces together and they should be fairly true, do I take a metal straight edge and look for high spots to smooth? Can you tell that I am new to this?

[Jim Neeley]

Glenn,

There's an element of "personal taste" in the answer to this and it, in part depends upon how smooth and coplanar the glued up assembly is to begin with, how coplanar you want it and how coplanar you need it to be (for example, a gloss finish amplifies non-flatness while an oil finish tends to mask it).

*My* approach would likely be to start out with the #6 or BUJ and a straight edge to confirm it is as flat as I think it is <g>. If it is near-perfect or I could spare the thickness to make it all coplanar, I might use the #6 as my final "ready for finish" plane.

*I'd* use my #4 for smoothing smaller areas where there was grain reversal causing tearout.

My approach would be this way because the short length of the #4 would make be more prone to disrupting flatness. Others may well do it differently. That's one nice thing about woodworking; there is no one "right" way, as long as the other way isn't unsafe.

In any event, make sure you keep your blade sharp by resharpening as needed!!

As I said, just my $0.02.. YMMV.

Jim

[Glenn Samuels]

Thanks Jim. You've made some very good points. I'm guessing that a BUJ is a Bevel up Jointer?

[Ron Kellison]

Who says the surface has to be perfectly flat? I've built some nice pieces using just a #4 Stanley and a #7 Record. The #7 was used for jointing edges and the #4 for all smoothing. Granted, I had the occasional tool mark on the finished products but, as a previous poster noted, an oil finish tends to make them disappear. Personally, I'll take a surface that bears some mark of the tools over one that is dead flat and glossy. One of the "secrets" of getting by with a small selection of planes is to keep the blades SHARP. Another secret is to keep the base lubricated with a wax stick (a candle will do) to make the plane glide smoothly.

Ron

[Dale Cruea]

Glenn, To answer your question, Yes a #4 will work fine.
Get it very sharp, set the chip breaker very close (.015" or so) and close the throat up.
Set it to take the finest shaving you can get. May not be a full width shaving. Try to get the iron as parallel to the bottom as possible.
If the iron is cutting on one side, tap the iron over a little with a brass hammer.
Very light taps.
At first you will not cut much, just be hitting the high spots.
A #5 will work also.
I like to use either my LN #3 or my LV BU jack.
Both work well.

[Chris Griggs]

Thank you for your response. I was referring to the face surface of the sides. Once I have glued the 3 pieces together and they should be fairly true, do I take a metal straight edge and look for high spots to smooth? Can you tell that I am new to this?

The answer is it depends. No it does not need to be dead flat (its gonna move after flatten it anyway). But you certainly want everything flush,smooth and flatt-ish. You can do this with a no 4, however, if the glued up boards are are really out of flush or the whole surface is really out of flat a larger plane set to take a deeper cut would be preferred. If the glue up is well done, and the panel is already flattish, and it just needs smoothing then the no. 4 is probably a better option to use anyway because it doesn't bridge over all the minor high spots (where as you would need to get things flatter and remove more material before a larger plane could reach all the low spots and smooth them).

If you decide you need a larger plane either the 6 or BU jointer is a good option. I love using a number 6 and find it a great size for most the work I do, however, your scale of work may differ from mine, and truth be told, the BU jointer is probably a more versatile plane and better all around option.

EDIT: Ok, I just wrote this whole post then realized this is for case side. In this instance you will want the interior surfaces (where the joinery will be cut) to be fairly flat (though perfection is not required). I would definitely recommend you get a larger plane for this. Yes, it is possible to us a straight edge and a small plane but a larger plane will make things much much easier (and even with a large plane if you've never flattened a board by hand expect there be some learning curve).

[Christian Thompson]

This video helped me a lot: http://logancabinetshoppe.com/blog/2010/10/episode-27/. He goes through the whole process of flattening and squaring all 6 sides of a board with hand planes. It sounds like you won't need to do most of this stuff, but it might give you some ideas.

[Jim Neeley]

Thanks Jim. You've made some very good points. I'm guessing that a BUJ is a Bevel up Jointer?

You got it! :-)

[Glenn Samuels]

You are all awsome! Great suggestions to get me going in the right direction. Looks like the Logan Cabinet Shoppe videos are a gold mine. Some of us really need to see things in order to get the correct method. Thanks again!!

[Danny Thompson]

You got it! :-)

Wait, Jim? BUJ = Bevel Up Jack or Bevel Up Jointer?

[lowell holmes]

I have a #3 Bailey, 604 Bedrock, but I normally reach for My BU Smoother. I use it in conjunction with my BU Jack. I have all of the irons for the BU planes including the toothed 50 degree iron.