Plane ownership ratio

[Patrick Chase]

By the time we figure that one you are likely already getting it flat with the #7 and heading on to the smoothing.
jtk

Truer words have seldom been spoken. I myself am stuck on the "admit I have no power over my addiction" step. It's a one-step program you see.

I keep trying to convince my wife that it's a relatively benign form of midlife crisis.

[Paul Saffold]

Stanley:
1 - #8
1 - #7
1 - #5
1 - #5 1/4, setup w/ heavy camber as scrub
1 - #4


1 - Veritas BU jack


home made Krenov style:
1 - high angle smoother
1 - jack


Of these the one I use the most is the home made jack and the V. BU jack and the 7 and the 4 and …

[James Pallas]

There must be something wrong with me. I have 1 #5, 1 #7 and 1 #4. I don't mind changing settings. I guess I have what I need, and don't see a reason to buy more.

Paul nothing at all wrong with your kit. You can have all the planes you are going to need or use on your bench at the same time. They're right there within reach, definite advantage.
Jim

[Frank Martin]

Here are mine:

2 #3 (LN and a Stanley)
2 #4 (Veritas Custom and a Stanley)
1 #4 1/2 (Veritas BU Smoother)
1 #5 (Veritas Custom)
1 #5 1/1 (Veritas BU Jack)
1 #7 (Veritas Custom

Specialty planes such as shoulder and rabbets
About 6-7 block planes (LN and Veritas)

I mostly use the #4 size and blocks as I am a hybrid woodworker.

[Frederick Skelly]

1 jointer, 3 jacks, 5 smoothers

[Tim Cooper Louisiana]

1 LV custom #7
1 LV LA Jack
1 LV DX60 Block
1 LV skew block

I don't own a smoother yet, so I'm skewing the results

[James Waldron]

Maybe a little change of pace: several years ago, I was presented with a gift of 3 planes, brand new, inexpensive: Anant #3, Anant #5, and Anant #7.

Because of the gift, and even more because of the gift-giver, I set out to turn these into good users.

One blade wouldn't hold and edge and had to be replaced. The other two aren't great, but the do work for a bit once sharpened. I haven't gotten around to replacement blades yet (these aren't my first-line workers) so when I use them, I sharpen a bit more often than with better blades.

Two needed a good bit of flattening of the sole in the important areas; the third was pretty close and a modest flattening effort was all it needed.

The frogs didn't seat well on all three. The base bearings were nice and flat, but the frog had been poorly finished. Took some time on the stones to correct that and get the frog seated well.

The bedding of the blades was unsound and a lot of chatter was evident. Flattening and polishing the bed on the frog cured that (mostly).

The blades had hollow backs and took a bit of effort to flatten and polish. Nothing out of the ordinary there, of course.

The chip breaker had a rough ground seat against the blade and let shavings in between the breaker and blade on almost every stroke. Flattened that. That also ended the remaining tendency to chatter.

The leading edge of 2 of the chip breakers (No. 3 and no. 5) was waaaay too blunt, causing shavings to "accordion" and jam the mouth (once the breaker was properly seated on the blade, as above). As a guesstimate, I suspect that instead of a nice 40-50 degree angle, I started with something like 60-65 degrees, pinching the mouth and pushing the shavings against the wear. (Even with the breaker set back to ~1.5mm, the no. 5 mouth clogged pretty quickly.) Grinding the leading edge to ~40 degrees took care of that and eliminated the "accordion music." Did the same with the no. 7 as well so I could use it with a close set breaker at times. Once fixed, ejection was consistently good.

With the no. 3, the lever cap kept popping loose in use. Turned out the lever cap screw was too long and prevented the cap from being as tight as needed. Ground about 1 mm from the tip; problem solved.

With all the work done, the three planes are quite decent performers. I still use them a bit. I don't have another No. 3, so as a small smoother for tiny areas of tear-out, it gets some use. On the other hand, it's more recently been largely usurped by a shop-made coffin smoother with a 60 degree bed.

For those who know what they're doing, inexpensive planes may sometimes be a worthwhile trade of sweat equity for higher cost LN or Veritas planes. But it's a lot of work to get these things all the way to the level of performance we all want.

On the other hand, inexpensive tools are most often marketed and sold to newbies trying to make an inexpensive start in the craft. These are people who don't know how or why any of the forgoing steps should be taken. Indeed, many of them won't recognize that these are not effective working tools right out of the box or even that they should sharpen the blade.

Here, I think, is the key to preserving the exclusivity of our guild, by misleading those who might aspire to join our ranks and dilute the awe we inspire in the unskilled public. What better way to run off these self-chosen usurpers than to give them to understand that the tools of the craft are beyond their understanding and capabilities!

[Patrick Chase]

[plane rehab description snipped]

On the other hand, inexpensive tools are most often marketed and sold to newbies trying to make an inexpensive start in the craft. These are people who don't know how or why any of the forgoing steps should be taken. Indeed, many of them won't recognize that these are not effective working tools right out of the box or even that they should sharpen the blade.

Here, I think, is the key to preserving the exclusivity of our guild, by misleading those who might aspire to join our ranks and dilute the awe we inspire in the unskilled public. What better way to run off these self-chosen usurpers than to give them to understand that the tools of the craft are beyond their understanding and capabilities!

I think a lot of it comes down to dedication (or masochism). The amount of work you were willing to do to salvage those planes required a significant investment of time, which others may not care to make.

I have a colleague who's a pretty skilled Norm-ite woodworker. Like me his formal training was in mechanical engineering, and he has a solid understanding of mechanical design and processes. He is undoubtedly technically capable of doing everything you listed.

I was visiting his shop a while back and saw a (new, plastic handled, "contractor"-grade) Stanley #4 with disastrously tuned blade and cap iron. He'd gone to the trouble of lapping the base flat, but the plane was unusable. I volunteered to fix the iron, and did the usual rehab drill: Ground off the severely dubbed tip of the blade, flattened the back, reground the bevel, sharpened/honed/bevel-tricked, flattened the cap iron mating surface, reprofiled the cap iron face, etc. It took over an hour.

His first question was something along the lines of "Oh my God, how long did THAT take". He was still leery after I explained which costs are one-time (almost all) vs recurring. It's clear that he doesn't view the incremental benefits of hand-tool woodworking as worth that sort of hassle/investment. I know a few other people with similar opinions as well.

[paul cottingham]

2 jointers (1 bevel up, 1 bevel down) 2 jacks (1 bevel up 1 bevel down) 2 smothers, both bevel down. 2 block planes 1 high angle, 1 low angle apron plane.
I also have a plow and moving fillister.
The bevel downs were planes that someone gave me. Funny how people here you are "one of those guys" and people start giving you stuff.

[David Dalzell]

I have a Stanley 7, 2 Stanley 5s, Stanley 4, 4 shop made jointers between 8 and 18 inches, one Veritas bevel up smoother, 4 shop made smoothers. Plus a number of commercial block planes, shop made block planes and various specialty planes. (i.e. moving fillister, plough, groving, etc. I use them all.

[James Waldron]

I think a lot of it comes down to dedication (or masochism). The amount of work you were willing to do to salvage those planes required a significant investment of time, which others may not care to make.

[snip]

She is well worth the time. And I get to lick her boots if I am a good boy.

[Luke Dupont]

Ratio?

...I own one plane

Okay, I own one smoother, and I have just got a jointer that has been in the family. I also own several block planes that I'm not counting.

Mostly I do small projects, so I haven't had a need for a large plane yet aside from building work benches. I would like a Jack, but I'm hesitant to collect more tools because I might be moving overseas in the not so distant future.

[Allen Hunt]

2 Jacks, a BD & BU; 2 Jointers No. 7 & No. 8; Two smothers a BD & BU.

Allen

[Jim Koepke]

I think a lot of it comes down to dedication (or masochism). The amount of work you were willing to do to salvage those planes required a significant investment of time, which others may not care to make.

[snipped]

His first question was something along the lines of "Oh my God, how long did THAT take". He was still leery after I explained which costs are one-time (almost all) vs recurring. It's clear that he doesn't view the incremental benefits of hand-tool woodworking as worth that sort of hassle/investment. I know a few other people with similar opinions as well.

Time and money are relative. If one has oodles of money to spend on new "working right out of the box" tools, more power to them.

On the other hand, restoring an old plane to its youthful glory is something to consider. One learns a lot about the working of a plane and how to troubleshoot future problems one might have with a plane.

I used to work at a transit agency. One of my co-workers was a power tool only woodworker. His woodworking came to a stop when his planer blades became dull or nicked. Power tools need to be set up just as much as hand tools, it is just a different kind of set up.

One of my most rehabbed planes is a Stanley/Bailey type 7, #7. It cost me $21.25 and a replacement blade that was already in my collection of spare parts. Add to that the cost of a bit of citric acid and some spray paint. It is hard for me to imagine a brand new jointer from either of our favorite makers giving me more satisfaction.

Here is the story of that plane:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ker-to-Jointer

Wow, that was 7 years ago.

Only a few of my bench planes from #3 to #8 and a #10-1/4 didn't require some rehab. The most expensive was a #8 at $50.

I enjoy my accumulation of planes. If it were limited to LN or LV, it wouldn't be nearly as much of an accumulation.

jtk

[Glen Canaday]

Mine are 99% Millers Falls, but I'll give the numbers in Stanley-speak:

3 #2
3 #3
3 #4
6 #5 (includes MF, MF-made Fulton, Stanley, Ohio, and Gage...the Ohio very much cries out for rehab due to that giant thick tapered iron it has, and the Stanley two-tone is set for scrub duty)
1 #6
1 #7 (but many have been in my shop)
1 #8
1 #4 1/2
2 #5 1/2
1 #5 1/4 (set up as scrub)
1 #31 transitional jointer
1 #30 transitional jointer
1 #3-sized coffin woodie
1 unknown woodie jack
1 unknown razee woodie jack

I do not know how many block planes. Seriously. I know what's in there, but not the hard count.

3 actual scrubs, MF 9 1/2, 10 1/2, Stanley 40. I really don't use these, mostly because my stock just doesn't need them. Annd..I hate how I have to overtighten the knobs to get the irons to stay put.

These numbers do not count the craftsman garbage planes I got before I knew what I was looking for.

One day I swear I will downsize. I just don't know what I can stomach getting rid of. I only actually use about 5 of these.