What plane should I get...building a chessboard

[Mark Letizi]

Hi everyone...semi experienced woodworker (mostly poplar bookcases with wood bought from big box store)but novice at planing. I just bought some walnut and maple to make a chessboard...from a real wood store...have a power saw, and power sanders, but nothing to really smooth out the wood easily or even up edges for gluing...would rather not use a belt sander...I was thinking maybe a Lee Valley jack plane would be my best bet...right now my planing experience is limited to a LN block plane...bevel up, down, kind of iron...the choices seem a bit daunting...thanks for your help!

[Dave Beauchesne]

Mark:

You already answered your own question ( sort of ).
A LV or LN bevel up jack plane can do a myriad of tasks, and simply by altering sharpening angles, or, getting a spare blade or two, make the plane become more than a single purpose plane.

I have a LN 102 that use a bunch, as well as LV adjustable mouth block plane that I just outfitted with a PM V11 blade ( which I really like ALOT ).

Probably more important than choosing a plane is being able to sharpen properly, otherwise, the tool you choose will do nothing but frustrate you.

Try to get to a hand tool event by either LN or LV, OR, if you are up to it, rehab some old iron. Perhaps there is anther Creeker who has some iron you can test drive.

Good Luck!

[Jim Koepke]

Mark,

Welcome to the Creek. Your location is not shown in your profile. As Dave said, there may be another Creeker in your area that can help you decide what may be best for your needs via a test drive. Let me know if you are in the Pacific Northwest, you would be welcome to test drive my LN #62 low angle jack.

What would work for your needs may depend on if you plan to have the squares on your chessboard will be face grain or end grain. Another factor may be the size of the squares.

My thoughts are based on the idea of using a shooting board if you are going to have the top mostly end grain. Then you want to make sure the plane has a wide enough capacity to work with a shooting board.

jtk

[paul cottingham]

I have a whole stable of LV planes, but the one I reach for the most by far is my BU jack. I have 3 blades, sharpened at increasingly higher angles, as well as one ground with a large camber, but I am compulsive, you can easily get by with a single blade sharpened to 30 or so degrees with a slight camber. You really can't go wrong.
Sharpening is truly a gateway skill for any hand tools. Buy an eclipse guide, a couple of stones (1000/4000 and an 8000 will meet your needs for a very long time) and you are set.