Shooting Plane....Not LV or LN

[Larry Frank]

I am looking for a plane to use for shooting. I currently use a LN 4-1/2 but would like something with a lower angle. I am primarily a power tool user but would like to do a bit more hand work. The price tag of the LN/LV is more than I want to spend. I am really a novice at understanding the different planes.

I am looking for a used, older Stanley or other that would work. Can someone make a recommendation.

Thanks

[Jeffrey Martel]

I am looking for a plane to use for shooting. I currently use a LN 4-1/2 but would like something with a lower angle. I am primarily a power tool user but would like to do a bit more hand work. The price tag of the LN/LV is more than I want to spend. I am really a novice at understanding the different planes.

I am looking for a used, older Stanley or other that would work. Can someone make a recommendation.

Thanks

The old Stanleys that are low angle large bench planes are not any cheaper than LN or Lee Valley. A #62 is ~$150ish on ebay right now, and a #51 is way higher.

You can use a higher angle bench plane and just use an old Stanley #5 or #6, but it will be more effort to push through and may not have as good of a surface left behind.

[Garrett Ellis]

i usually use my stanley no. 7 for shooting. with a sharp blade, the mass of the plane really helps.

i would look at a LN/LV low angle jack or jointer instead of the dedicated shooting plane. it will be cheaper and more versatile.

[Patrick Chase]

I am looking for a plane to use for shooting. I currently use a LN 4-1/2 but would like something with a lower angle. I am primarily a power tool user but would like to do a bit more hand work. The price tag of the LN/LV is more than I want to spend. I am really a novice at understanding the different planes.

I am looking for a used, older Stanley or other that would work. Can someone make a recommendation.

Thanks

In terms of used Stanley tools you would want to look for a #62. The #9 is also a pretty good shooter, but it has a 20-deg bed so it wouldn't deliver the lower cutting angle that you specify (at least not without resorting to a back bevel and a really low face bevel). The Stanley #51 is almost ideal despite its high cutting angle (more on this below), but it's going to be the most expensive option of all.

As others have pointed out the #62 is no bargain on the used market, so you might want to look instead at the Wood River equivalent, provided you can find it on sale. IMO the $200 asking price is too close to the Veritas LAJ (actually a 62-1/2) and the L-N 62, both of which are better-made planes.

The modern Stanley #62 may be your cheapest option, though quality seems to be very hit or miss and it's likely to take some work to get the sole flat and the sides perpendicular (the latter is a must for shooting).

IMO the biggest distinguishing feature of the dedicated shooters isn't so much the cutting angle (the Stanley and L-N 51s are both common-pitch bevel-down planes) as the skewed blade. In my experience that makes a huge difference when entering end-grain cuts.

[Matthew N. Masail]

If you have time you could make a laminated plane with a sqaure body and a skew iron. Turn or buy a round knob to thread Into the side to act as a pushing point between your thumb and forefinger. Use a 2 3/8 inch blade from a metal plane you have or better yet buy a wooden plane blade from LV for like 36$. Bed the iron no more than 40 bevel down and you'll have a true low angle plane while retaining a 30 degree bevel. You could make a track for this plane too.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I use a No. 7 as well. The biggest issue I had was figuring out a grip that would allow me to keep it flat and square on the board and still cut with it. Once you get that figured out it can work pretty well.

[James Pallas]

I used a #6 for a long time until I purchased an LV LA Jack. I use either one now. I like the LA Jack bout the #6 works just fine.
jim

[george wilson]

Yiou can make a perfectly good shooting plane by just taking a wooden jack plane and making sure the side you are going to lay it on is perfectly square with the sole.

[Patrick Chase]

Yiou can make a perfectly good shooting plane by just taking a wooden jack plane and making sure the side you are going to lay it on is perfectly square with the sole.

It's not clear to me what that buys the OP over his current setup with a 4-1/2. Ditto for the suggestions for a #6 or #7 - they add some length and mass, but the cutting mechanics are more of the same.

The fact that he mentioned reduced cutting angle makes me think that his real issue is difficulty of cut and maybe some chatter in end grain - is that right? If so then be aware that a skewed blade will do more to address that than will a lower cutting angle...

[Robert G Brown]

A ramped shooting board might help if not using one already.

[Chris Hachet]

Let me be a contrarian. Invest in stones and refine your sharpening technique. I shoot quarter sawn white oak, hard maple and beech with oittle trouble with a really sharp vintage number 5 Stanley. I did finally break down and drop a Hock blade into it though. Was going to get a PMV 11 blade from Lee Valley but am very happy with the Hock. YMMV.

[Brian Holcombe]

I don't find a low angle to be really necessary for shooting, I use a #7 plane....which has eclipsed my use of a low angle jack.

[Frederick Skelly]

I used a #6 for a long time until I purchased an LV LA Jack. I use either one now. I like the LA Jack bout the #6 works just fine.
jim

Both of these work well for me too.

[Patrick Chase]

A ramped shooting board might help if not using one already.

Ramped shooting boards are typically about 2.5 deg (3/4" of rise along a nominal 16" board). When you use a straight blade on such a board to cut, say, a 3/4 thick workpiece the effective displacement from leading to trailing edge about is 1/32", which doesn't make any meaningful difference to start-of-cut smoothness. There's a good reason why all real shooting planes have ~10X that much blade skew.

Ramps help wear, not cutting performance.

[Derek Cohen]

lI have used a wide range of cutting angles for shooting, ranging from a 60 degree bed of a HNT Gordon Trying Plane to the 37 degrees of a LV LA Jack, and the low cutting angle wins every time. A sharp blade helps enormously on higher beds, but the low cutting angle leaves a smoother finish and cuts more easily.

A very good alternative to a metal LA plane is a wooden strike block plane, which has a 37 degree bed and is used bevel down. There is a pictorial for building one on my website.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...lockPlane.html




A ramped board, such as above, certainly does aid in shooting. The principal factor is its reduction in impact, which also reduces blade wear. There is some spread of blade wear in addition.

Regards from Perth

Derek