Total hand plane ignorant - Where to start?

[Marc Jeske]

I did not post this in "Neanderthal" cause they would have me buying $600/ piece Japanese chisels !!!!

I actually have a part time Pine Casket biz, and do just fine w stationary and hand held power tools.

My "Hand Planes" are limited to a PC and old Craftsman 3x21 belt sanders!!

I do own and old Craftsman block and approx ? 8" long plane, but really never use them.

I know I am missing something.

Please direct me to reading about getting started w hand planes.

Not so much how to adjust and sharpen, but more like how are they better than a belt sander ??

I know many are cringing reading this... but hey.. I have built two beautiful Kithens in my time, one solid ash even for cases and all shelves, plus MANY ther things.. It's just that I use a belt sander instead of a Plane.

And honestly.. chisel work is the same for me... tell me to recess a hinge leaf or even a door jamb strike and the work will look like a drunken idiot did it.

But, my machine work is ON THE NUTS accurate.

What am I missing ??

Thank you all, Marc

[Andrew Fleck]

The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack is a good place to start. I quit using belt sanders years ago. I’m not saying a hand plane is better I just personally prefer them over belt sanders or any sanders for that matter.

[Frederick Skelly]

The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack is a good place to start. I quit using belt sanders years ago. I’m not saying a hand plane is better I just personally prefer them over belt sanders or any sanders for that matter.

+1. Its the book that I started with.

You dont need $400 hand planes or $600 chisels to do good work. I bought a very functional #3 a year ago for $35. Its useful on most jobs I do. My chisels are Marples Blue Chip ($60 a set).

[WARNING: You might end up wanting the $400 planes - its a slippery slope once you start. But you dont need them. Yet. In addition to that #3, I also have some Wood River, Lee Valley and Lie Neilsens.]

Good luck Marc.
Fred

[Jim Koepke]

Fred is right. If you are good with mechanical things, you can pick up a decent set of planes for a less than $200. The hard (fun) part is in hunting them down and fixing them up.

If you are interested in a smoothing plane like a #4 or a jack, #5 they should be available for anywhere from $10 to $50 depending on condition and where you find it.

There is a lot of information in this archive:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....al-wisdom-FAQs

It covers many things including planes.

One reason many folks like a plane over sanding is sanding leaves a million little scratches. A properly sharpened blade on a smoother will leave a glossy, glass like, surface.

jtk

[Lee Schierer]

For sharpening you planes and chisels, look up "Scary Sharp" on the internet. You can get acceptably sharp chisels and plane irons with this method for just a few dollars and some time.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

The single biggest reason to use hand tools of any sort is that they are actually faster to use than a power tool for many things. Sounds outrageous, but you'll be surprised to see how right it is. Not resawing or thickness planing, but for the hundreds of little tasks that a project requires.

For example, I needed to chamfer 2' of countertop slab yesterday. 15 mins to get the router, change bits, set depth, test and run, then put it all back, or 3 mins to take the block plane that lives on the bench and make it happen.

[Prashun Patel]

"Am I missing something?"

Planes, when tuned and sharp, will make things flatter with less dust than sanders.

The problem, is that they do this at the risk of tear out. So, sharpening and setting the tool is 100x more critical than a sander.

[glenn bradley]

Not so much how to adjust and sharpen, but more like how are they better than a belt sander ??

I think if we avoid trying to describe how one is better than the other as a tool, we could focus on what they do. A drill driver can force a screw into material without a pilot, clearance or countersink hole. It can also break a brass screw in nothing flat and go skittering across your beautifully finished cherry surface leading to many colorful words. In the improper hands a manual screw driver can do the same thing.

There is a right tool for the job depending on the desired outcome. I wouldn't frame a house with a pin nailer and I wouldn't tack on retaining molding for a glass panel in a china hutch with a 27oz, waffle-face framing hammer. The belt sander will leave you with a given surface (in improper hands, a very irregular surface ). If that surface prep has you ready for the next step, you're all set. If you are sanding to 220, 400 or 600, a hand plane leaves a glass smooth surface. You may not need the surface a hand plane provides. There are many finishing protocols that do not require a super smooth surface.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

The first time I used a sharp hand plane I was astonished at the glassy surface I was able to get on a piece of cherry. If you want to know whether you are missing something, you need to use a properly tuned plane to know what a hand plane can do for you.

I would start with your block plane. They are fairly simple and easy to tune. Once you get it in order you can use it to get a good surface, compare it with whatever you are currently getting, and decide if they are worth your time fooling with.

ETA: You do not need to spend $600 on anything. There is a certain clique in the Neanderthal Forum that are enthusiastic about very expensive tools, but you do not need them to do good work. If you have a question and make it clear in your post that you are more interested in a budget option I think most folks will respect that and not talk to you about those options.

[David Bassett]

... ETA: You do not need to spend $600 on anything. ...

The problem, often implied rather than addressed, is that getting results requires skills. Any price point requires the same skills to use the tool, but with planes and similar tools you tend to pay with either time & skill or dollars when talking about the setup. Beginners often don't have the refurb and setup skills to restore random tools to good working order. Actually the suggestion to try a well set up plane to see if the benefits are interesting was good advice. If you don't even know what the target is, building the skill to refurb and setup a plane to that standard is difficult, if not impossible. So, yes there are advocates for more expensive planes, but we should recognize there are advocates for refurb'ing old planes that have mastered the skills and forget how daunting that can be to the new comer.

OP, I don't know if you have a show, school, or handtool woodworker close (in time & location) where you can use a well setup plane and get a feel for the advantages and required techniques, but I think that'd be your best option to answer your question.

[Edwin Santos]

I would start with your block plane. They are fairly simple and easy to tune. Once you get it in order you can use it to get a good surface, compare it with whatever you are currently getting, and decide if they are worth your time fooling with.

This advice was exactly my path down the hand plane route. A good block plane is easy enough to tune and master. What happened to me was I found myself reaching for it all the time. This led me to other planes for their respective purposes.

Just a few days ago I had to rout a profile onto 1" stock. The bit was only capable of a 13/16" cut, two passes was not an option due to the nature of the radius. So I cut as far as I could and took a block plane to the remainder and just faired the profile until it looked seamless. Enjoyable and fast, not something you could do as precisely with a sander. In your situation, just look at the planes as a supplement to what you do with your power tools, not a replacement for them.

One other thought - like many power tools, planes can become more useful with jigs like shooting boards.

Do you have a local woodworking school in your area? Often times they have a basic intro to handplanes class, usually one evening or morning in duration. They do these at some Woodcraft and Rockler stores too. Something like that may be worth your time and really open your eyes to the potential applications.

[Jim Koepke]

I do own and old Craftsman block and approx ? 8" long plane, but really never use them.

I know I am missing something.

Please direct me to reading about getting started w hand planes.

Not so much how to adjust and sharpen, but more like how are they better than a belt sander ??

I know many are cringing reading this... but hey.. I have built two beautiful Kithens in my time, one solid ash even for cases and all shelves, plus MANY ther things.. It's just that I use a belt sander instead of a Plane.

And honestly.. chisel work is the same for me... tell me to recess a hinge leaf or even a door jamb strike and the work will look like a drunken idiot did it.

But, my machine work is ON THE NUTS accurate.

What am I missing ??

Mark, after reading this again, my conclusion is what you may be missing is the pleasure of using sharp chisels and plane blades. Recessing a hinge leaf or a door jamb strike plate are fairly easy with a sharp chisel. It is the sharpness that makes them easier to control so the work doesn't look like it was done by a drunken idiot.

The Craftsman planes were made by the big plane makers at the time. Depending on how old your Craftsman planes are they could be good planes for you to get started.

Is it possible for you to include some pictures of these?

It would be helpful in determining what your next step should be to see what you have to start. If possible, pictures of the taken apart to see the insides will be most helpful.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

I did not post this in "Neanderthal" cause they would have me buying $600/ piece Japanese chisels !!!!

I actually have a part time Pine Casket biz, and do just fine w stationary and hand held power tools.

My "Hand Planes" are limited to a PC and old Craftsman 3x21 belt sanders!!

I do own and old Craftsman block and approx ? 8" long plane, but really never use them.

I know I am missing something.

Please direct me to reading about getting started w hand planes.

Not so much how to adjust and sharpen, but more like how are they better than a belt sander ??

I know many are cringing reading this... but hey.. I have built two beautiful Kithens in my time, one solid ash even for cases and all shelves, plus MANY ther things.. It's just that I use a belt sander instead of a Plane.

And honestly.. chisel work is the same for me... tell me to recess a hinge leaf or even a door jamb strike and the work will look like a drunken idiot did it.

But, my machine work is ON THE NUTS accurate.

What am I missing ??

Thank you all, Marc

Marc, to be a serious handtool woodworker you need to spend at least $600 on each chisel, and then a set of either LN or Veritas bench planes. Possibly both. Look up "Holtey".

OK, you will benefit from a decent block plane (look at the LN #102). Since you are using machines for preparing your boards, I would just purchase one new bench plane at this stage, a Lee Valley (or Veritas) Low Angle Jack. Get two blades for this plane. One will be sharpened at 25 degrees, and the other with receive a 50 degree secondary bevel (on a 25 degree primary bevel). I'll explain this at a later time. The Craftsman smoother you have can likely be tuned up to work well, but God knows who made it and what condition it is in, so I reserve recommendation at this stage. That LA Jack is a superior all rounder: for smoothing, jointing and shooting. You will wind up building a shooting board for it, and then glory in the precise work you can achieve!

For chisels, buy just a couple, not a set - just the sizes you may need (e.g. 1/2" and 1"). Add to them as the need arises. Get decent ones (e.g. Veritas PM-V11) if you are already using chisels and know what to do. Otherwise you can get some inexpensive Narex, which have a good reputation. You do get what you pay for (in terms of edge holding, balance and finish), but a good workman does not blame his tools.

You need to sharpen these blades. What do you have to do this? Dull is both useless and dangerous. Perhaps you need a honing guide and a couple of stones?

What are you missing with hand tools? Quite simply, they allow for greater precision. If funds allow, I would suggest a Veritas Router Plane and a Veritas Shoulder Plane. These are joinery planes and they can aid in fine tuning. Power tools are important, but you are missing out as a craftsman if you allow them to dictate what you can and cannot do. Hand tools take you much further.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Holcombe]

Hand planing can remove undulations from your work and it can do so very expediently. I do very little sanding and on many projects I do not sand at all. Learning to sharpen and set the chip breaker on a Stanley type hand plane will pay off very quickly.

Ive not yet met a piece of wood which could not be finish planed with a #4 plane with proper set chip breaker.

[Robert Hazelwood]

The advantage over a belt sander is they can make a surface flatter, more geometrically accurate, with crisper corners and edges, and no dips or high spots when the grain is harder or softer (that tend to show up under a finish). Also, when you are done planing a surface you are ready to finish usually- if the finish you are using needs some tooth to bond to, you can just ROS at your final grit. I hate sanding so this is a big draw for me.

Less noise and less dust are pretty significant benefits, too.

The disadvantage is the learning curve, and to some extent the confusion and hype around the tools and equipment that make it sound more complicated than it really is. You need a decent smooth plane and some sharpening stuff (can just be sandpaper), you'll need to learn how to prep and set the chipbreaker to prevent tearout, learn how to get the iron *very* sharp, then learn how to set it for a good cut. It can be frustrating at first and the details do matter. You might benefit from in-person instruction from someone who knows how to do it, so you can see what planing should feel like and so they can tell you what you're doing wrong.