When do YOU use your different sized smoothers?

[Frederick Skelly]

Most of what I use my planes for so far is smoothing. Id sure love to hear when folks here use their various smoothers. The kinds of jobs you do with them, when YOU choose one over the other and why, when you might switch from a larger one to a smallr (or vice versa).

The backstory: Ive learned planes by trial/error/brute force and Ive developed a crude, unsophisticated approach - if the plane isnt taking shavings, its probably too long or too wide and is riding any small "hills" that I didnt perfectly remove before smoothing. So I change to the next smaller plane and repeat. That usually works - brute force. (So far, I havent been a maniac about perfect flatness - if its not obvious that theres a bit of hills/valleys, I havent worried it much. I never use high gloss or Id have to be more precise of course.)

Try not to laugh too hard guys. I know there is far more to it than Ive learned so far. But the books and articles Ive read dont seem to teach this. So Id sure appreciate hearing about when you use YOUR various sized smoothers as a way to improve my own use. In case it matters, I have a WR #1 (no, it doesnt get used a lot but I like it), Stanley #2, WR #3, MF #9 (essentially #4) and a LV BUS (which is roughly a #4 1/2). I probably use the MF#9 the most, unless Im working something small, in which case Im probably using the #2.

Thanks very much!
Fred

[Stew Denton]

Hi Fred,

Your approach is probably more sophisticated than mine. (Now it's my turn not to ask you to try not to laugh.) I generally use the one that is the sharpest, as determined by trial and error. I am working at improving my planes and working at getting them all sharpened up, but in the past if I had one really sharp it wasn't too bad of a day. (In fact by my standards of today, as of even a year ago or two, I probably didn't have any really sharp at any given time, perhaps except one. Hopefully things are getting better as I am working on my planes.)

For what it's worth, I can say that Christopher Schwarz, in his book on planes, says he routinely uses his #3 a lot, apparently just because he likes using it, although I think he says he uses a #4 more often. He does also say, however, that he uses it like you mention, when he has some spots that are a little low, where he wants to get the plane to smooth those spots. He also says that the wider planes are useful for larger size projects, like large cabinet type furniture pieces where the extra width is nice.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

For wide boards the wide planes like the #4-1/2 to #6 get used. For medium surface work the #4 or #5 get used. For smaller things the smaller planes get to duty.

Often the #3 gets used on bigger work that just needs a small area done. It is capable of taking the thinest shavings of my planes.

jtk

[Warren Mickley]

I use wooden jack and trying planes for stock preparation. I use a smoother for cleaning the surface. I have used the same #3 plane since July 11, 1981 for all smoothing.

[lowell holmes]

I use the smoother that suits me at the moment, there is not a lot of thought goes into it.

I have the LV bu smoother and bu jack. If the wood grain is giving me a fit, like fiqured maple, I probably will start with a 55 degree iron in one of the two.

I'm partial to my #3 Bailey, or #4 Bedrock, or my #5 Bailey . . . .

You get the idea don't you.

[Steve Voigt]

For preparing medium and large surfaces, e.g. table tops, cabinet sides, table legs, chair seat blanks, etc., I often don't use a smoother at all. I try to follow traditional 18th century practice for stock preparation, where you go from a jack/fore to a try plane. Once you get rid of the furrows from the jack/fore, you should be taking long, full-width shavings. When you've got the panel flat to your satisfaction, take a final pass at a reduced depth of cut, and you should be done.

Now, it's often the case that there may be some stray track marks, or a little spot of tear-out. Traditionally, that's what the smoother was for: spot removal of minor blemishes. The 18th c. smoother had a 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 iron, and was short, 6-7 inches long, to facilitate a "surgical" approach to smoothing. It was never intended to surface a whole board. I try to stick to this approach.

I do use two smoothers all the time: a traditional coffin smoother, 7" long with a 1 3/4" iron, and a Stanley no.4. But I use them to plane small surfaces like drawer sides, or the end grain of a case side. But that's not really smoothing; it's jointing or trying on a very small scale.

Fred, I don't mean to be critical, but I think your approach of switching to a smaller plane because the previous plane isn't cutting the whole surface is a flawed approach. For medium and large pieces, you should be able to plane the whole surface with a jointer/try plane. If you're not cutting the whole surface, you should keep at it longer (assuming you have the thickness to do so). If you can never get there, then there is some problem in the way your bigger planes are set up.

I have certainly done what you're doing, and made nice furniture that way, but it is something to be overcome eventually. A flatter surface will reflect light much better and give a much cleaner appearance.

[bridger berdel]

I use wooden jack and trying planes for stock preparation. I use a smoother for cleaning the surface. I have used the same #3 plane since July 11, 1981 for all smoothing.

That's a pretty specific date. I'm guessing that there is a story to go with it. Care to share?

[Chuck Hart]

Sharp, sharper sharpest. If I am going to start on anything bigger than about six inches I start with a very sharp no. 6 and go for the finest shavings I can get with very little force. If I am brute forcing then I am taking too deep a cut. If the blade is sharp then the movement should be very smooth and easy.. If I am having to do small work I will change to a no. 4, I will rarely use a plane without sharpening it first unless I know how it was working the last time I used it. For me most problems come from a dull blade and 95% of the time a sharpened blade and a check to make sure everything is tight including the spacing on the mouth and the spacing on the chip breaker makes for success. If the 4 won't make it I will at last resort go to a BU block plane. Good question.

[Warren Mickley]

That's a pretty specific date. I'm guessing that there is a story to go with it. Care to share?

I used a #4 smoother until I bought the #3. I was thinking I bought it in 1983, but then remembered an earlier use so I looked it up in my old account book. Not much story; I may switch to a wooden smoother if I take the time to get one going nicely.

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks guys. This helps. I'll keep practicing. Learning something new is part of why Ive been buying hand tools (I hate getting stale), and planes just fascinate me. Saws are probably next, but Im trying to take this in bites rather than gulps.

Have a good weekend!
Fred

[Chris Hachet]

I used a #4 smoother until I bought the #3. I was thinking I bought it in 1983, but then remembered an earlier use so I looked it up in my old account book. Not much story; I may switch to a wooden smoother if I take the time to get one going nicely.

I do like having wooden smoothers around....

[Chris Hachet]

Thanks guys. This helps. I'll keep practicing. Learning something new is part of why Ive been buying hand tools (I hate getting stale), and planes just fascinate me. Saws are probably next, but Im trying to take this in bites rather than gulps.

Have a good weekend!
Fred

Enjoy. More than the plane itself, getting a sharpening technique that works well for you in your shop is perhaps the most important thing. I am getting better all of the time, but it has taken awhile.

[Tom M King]

307364In my work, we use smoothers for surface finish to match old smoothing plane texture on boards in the old house we're working on. I have two 3s set with different cambers. The thickest is about 4 thou. For regular work, I keep a 4 that takes about a single thou, and a 4-1/2 set up for curly wood that takes close to a full width shaving at half a thou.

The picture is of steps done with one of the 3's not taking a full width shaving. These particular shavings were probably 3 thousandths not full width of the plane, or about the thickness of printer paper. It's hard to catch the texture without a very strong side light. This was taken with a late afternoon sun. It closely resembles other boards on this 1828 house. The steps are several year air dried treated Pine.

I also still have a Primus Improved that I bought a long time ago when I was young and foolish. It's fun to use sometimes, but with a die spring keeping tension on the iron, it will reach a critical point where it starts chattering worse than anything else.

[Steve Voigt]

The picture is of steps done with one of the 3's not taking a full width shaving. These particular shavings were probably 3 thousandths not full width of the plane, or about the thickness of printer paper. It's hard to catch the texture without a very strong side light. This was taken with a late afternoon sun. It closely resembles other boards on this 1828 house. The steps are several year air dried treated Pine.


Tom,
I'd be interested in seeing the original boards. I would think the original planing would have been done with a cambered jack or fore. I can't imagine house carpenters in 1828 using a smoothing plane on steps, but I'll defer to your experience.

[Tom M King]

There were no original outside steps left, but lots of other finish boards inside and out. It was a fairly fancy house that belonged to a several thousand acre plantation owner. There are hundreds of square feet of boards smoothed with smoothing planes in the attic rooms alone. Most of the woodwork inside is still intact, and the soffits and upper siding boards were still okay. It has two staircases on each of the main levels. The wainscoting in different rooms has enough variations from different tools used to make the same design, that you can tell each was done by a different joiner. It's the 1828 house on my website: www.HistoricHousePreservation.com (http://www.HistoricHousePreservation.com)

[Malcolm Schweizer]

#2 for rounded kayak hulls, surfboards, etc. #3 for smaller stuff #4 for just about everything. LV Bevel up for figured woods- 38 to 45 degree bevel angle.