#6 Set Up as Scrub Plane

[Jim Foster]

I found a $20 #6 Stanley Bailey a few months ago. It cleaned up pretty nice. Last night I cambered the blade and honed it for use as a scrub plane. Worked really well, but the #6 might be a little heavy to use as a scrub plane. Anyone else using a #6 as a scrub plane?

As an aside, it was the first time I camber-ground and and honed a blade, and it turned out to be a far easier task than I thought.

[David Weaver]

Your assumption is correct that it's a bit of a big plane to use as a scrub, it'll wear you out.

#6 is probably a traditional replacement for a fore plane, set up with a fairly rank cut but not as rank as a jack. I like to use them set up that way and if a board comes flat and arrives only with saw marks, they are as coarse as you need to go. Good for rough edge work, too.