Vintage Stanley baby 5 1/2 Jack

[Goodwin Heil]

I bought a small Jack off a member and it came a couple of days early. It was said to be excellent and appears to be so. The iron seems sharp so I thought I would try it out on what I had been waiting for it for. It is a beautiful, well put together plane.
I have this project that right now is a number of 1 inch thick, 6 inch wide, 27 inch long, quarter-sawn white oak, laminated together to form a slab about 19 X 27.
I intended to use this plane to level this slab....NOT. my lamination is very close, within a 64th at the worst. I crept up on it from nothing to super thin, but I think the plane is to small for this.
This iron on this #5 1/2 is 1 3/4 wide and my #5 is 2" wide. I suspect that is normal. also the #5 is slightly longer. I do hesitate to assess blame to the plane though, as I fear the problem may lay in my technique, and/or lack of skill with a plane. Help!!!

[Nathan Johnson]

You bought a 5 1/4 junior jack, not a 5 1/2.
It's not the tool for the job at hand.

Doesn't mean it couldn't be made to work for that job, I suppose....

[Mike Henderson]

The 5 1/4 is a good plane. I have one and use it often. Just have to match it to the job.

They were made for high school wood shop. Bit smaller for use by kids. Sometimes when you find one it's beat up pretty good because of where it was used.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

There are actually three #5-1/4 planes in my shop. Two of them were likely from high schools as Mike mentioned. One of them is disassembled in a box of parts, one is set up as a scrub plane and one has Stanley in the casting and is set up like a junior jack.

It is a handy size to have for some jobs.

jtk

[Michael Bulatowicz]

If you have a straightedge, sufficient lighting, and winding sticks, you can indeed flatten, level, and smooth that slab with the planes you have on hand. Check for high spots with the straightedge, mark them, and plane them down. Check for twist at various points along the length using the winding sticks, and plane out the twist. After you’ve got it close, go back and forth between the two until you’re satisfied. I flattened my 24x60 inch bench top this way using a #5, a 24-inch precision steel straightedge, and homemade winding sticks. My experience says that learning to flatten with a plane that is “too small” will teach you a lot about using a plane.

Another option instead of the straightedge involves a stringline and three blocks of equal height. I haven’t used this method, so others will probably explain its nuances better than I can. I think I understand the method and I believe there’s a thread on its use with pictures, perhaps several, but a quick search didn’t turn up what I had in mind.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
Michael Bulatowicz

[Robert Hazelwood]

my lamination is very close, within a 64th at the worst. I crept up on it from nothing to super thin, but I think the plane is to small for this.


When you say you crept up on it, you are talking about shaving thickness? If you are set for a thin shaving, your first few passes down the boards won't seem to do much. You are taking little wisps here and there. This is normal, and at this point a lot of beginners will crank up the shaving thickness and then get stuck in the wood.

You can verify your shaving thickness on the edge of another board. If that looks good, then just keep planing down the length of the board in overlapping passes, left to right, then back again. You can cover the surface with pencil marks to help you see where the plane is cutting.

Usually with a glued-up panel like this, for the first few passes you'll get nothing much in terms of shavings as its just planing squeeze out residue mostly. Then you'll start getting shavings at the seams, then pretty quickly almost everywhere.

A 5-1/4 will work for this.

[Jerry Olexa]

Agree a good plane but not really suited to this job...You'd prefer a wider and longer plane if possible

[steven c newman]

I have the Millers Falls version, the No.11

I use it a lot. Blade width is the same as a No.8 (Stanley #3 size) Plane is light and easy to use....long smoother, small jointer, decent Jack plane that doesn't wear my arms out from using all day.

Just like some people will use a N0.7 and a #5 and a #4.....I can also use a #6...#11..#3....all depending on the size of the work being done.

I'd hang on to the #5-1/4......

[Goodwin Heil]

You guys are GREAT! I am learning. I set it at a very minimal depth of cut and went at it on the diagonal from one end to the other. watch the shavings increase in width. went to the other end and did the same thing. Just kept alternating without increasing cut and before you knew it I had it flat. Learning at every step, I love it. Never would have thought at 74. Can't wait to tell my Sons. One is a aspiring woodworker and the other is a gear head. Both learned from their Dad.