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Thread: Most Used/Favorite Combination Plane

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Edmond, Oklahoma
    Posts
    1,749

    Most Used/Favorite Combination Plane

    Hi All,

    There are a limited number of choices on combination planes. I have 3, but due to lack of time and due other projects have only had time to use 1, my Stanley 45 that I have had for a long time.

    I have had my Stanley 45 since I bought it at an auction of the tools of a very old carpenter, back when I was a young fellow, this in the mid 1970s. I've been in the process of buying my other 2 for a period of about 5 years. I don't see trying to buy any others at this time, but I know folks like Jim use his 50 quite a bit.

    My Stanley 55 is complete, but I have not had the time to clean it up and sharpen irons since I got it. I finally got the last needed part to make a usable Stanley 46 just a couple of months ago, have cleaned it up and restored it, but want a couple or three of the sizes of irons that I don't have and think I will use a it lot. This primarily for cross grain jobs. However, due to other projects have not had time to clean up and sharpen any of the irons that I do have, so have not had time to give it a go, nor has there been a job that needed it. Hopefully that is coming in the not too distant future I hope. The way things are going, it may be a while yet before I have time to be able to use either one of the two "new to me" planes though, but am wanting to get them usable. I am currently restoring old chisels so I can use them, and considerable progress has been made on them, but getting time to work on even them has been a problem lately.

    About 2 or 3 years ago I was trying to buy a few irons for my 46 from a collector (but not a woodworker) who was thinning the herd. My 46 still lacked main parts then, though, so using it was just a fond hope at that time. He and I were discussing the 45 and 55s, and he was discouraging me from continuing my efforts to buy a 55, that is if I planned to try to use it. He said he knew several very good woodworkers who used their 45s a great deal, but a few had 55s, and almost none of them used the 55 much at all. He advised that the 55s were much harder to set up, and the 45s would do about any of the things that are needed most of the time. I thought he was probably correct, but wanted the moulding capabilities of the 55, although a recent project by Steven showed that the 45 can be made to do some moulding work also, if you are clever about it.

    Thus, please comments on any combination plane you have, and if you have more than one please comment on any that you have used.

    I can only comment is on my 45, since I have only used the 45. In spite of what some folks have said, I think that the 45 does not seem hard or time consuming to set up, and I think it works fairly well.

    Thanks and regards,

    Stew
    Last edited by Stew Denton; 05-10-2020 at 3:58 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    664
    Veritas Small RH Plow Plane with all the available blades (PMV-11), including beading. Purchased it before they released their Combination Plane. It’s obviously not vintage but a fantastic tool and very easy to set up.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
    Posts
    12,120
    Usually just set up my Stanley #45 and go to work....might take....5 minutes to have it ready to work....since I usually have the plane torn down and in it's case....not a biggie...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    DuBois, PA
    Posts
    1,898
    I have two #45s, a Craftemen equivalent of the 45 and a #46. My favorite is a late model 45, though I didn't spend much time with the 46, as it is more collector than user. My 45 is stored and set up ready to go, with a 1/4" blade and really excels at plowing.
    If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    My #50 is set up and ready to go for a 1/4" slot for setting in box and drawer bottoms.

    A #45 gets used most for other sizes, beading and other work.

    My #55 has been used occasionally for some of the more intricate shaped blades.

    My #46 only has one blade at the moment and hasn't yet been used on a project.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,973
    I have a couple of 55's that get used when I need a combination plane. I don't find them more difficult than the 45's when setting up for the same tasks that you do with a 45. If I had a 45, I'd probably use it for those things, but have never spent much time to get one of the 55's ready to go to work.

    This one doesn't even have much of the nickel plating left, but still produces good work.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Connecticut Shoreline
    Posts
    336
    I have (and regularly use) a 45 and a 46. They aren't really hard to set up once you get the hang of it. But I use the 45 more. I just recently bought an old Record 040- tiny little thing, but I bought it to plow 1/8-inch grooves for small drawer bottoms. It works like a charm!

    DC

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