Grizzly Premium Hand Planes?

[Jimmy Harris]

thanks for the response, I get how planes work and done the circles enough times. What I dont get not ever having a high plane if they are needed to do the work he is doing there take a full consistent very thin shaving from end to end. i guess I could go to lee valley one day and ask to try some planes. What type of plane is he using at 3 minutes in or what brand?

Yeah, that looks like a Lie Nielson No. 4 with a high angle frog. A high angle plane would be your best bet for planing figured maple like that. The downside is, it wouldn't be a good choice for planing most other wood. It would be much harder to push and you'd have to take much thinner shavings. It's kind of a specialty tool for a specialty wood. Most people just starting out in woodworking, would be wise to avoid this type of wood. Or if you must, probably attack it with sandpaper instead of a plane. Even with the right tool, it's going to take a lot of skill to pull off.

There are other options though. You can use a standard pitch plane, like a Stanley No. 4, and put a 10° or more back bevel on the blade. That will give you the same cutting angle, and work just like the plane he has there. The downside to that is, you can't get the cap iron as close to the tip, if that becomes necessary. And you'll probably want to buy a second iron to put the back bevel into, because they're a pain to use when you don't need one, and switching out blades might be more hassle than it's worth. Plus sharpening a back bevel is a little harder. So there are some advantages to having a separate plane dedicated to this one task. But I wouldn't buy that as a first, second, or even third plane.

[Jimmy Harris]

Paul Sellers says a lot. He likely hasn't gone from here:

Attachment 516445

To here:

Attachment 516446

Using only a #4.

jtk

Paul Sellers doesn't recommend using only a No. 4 for everything. He just stays that a No. 4 is good enough that it could do practically anything any of the other bench planes could do. Not that it SHOULD do anything. He's got hundreds of planes and I've seen him use other planes on many, many occasions. I think he just touts the No. 4 to give beginners a starting point to feel confident in, so they'll buy one plane and focus on technique versus focusing on buying a dozen planes in the beginning. And I think that's good advice, though I would recommend the No. 5 jack plane for starting out over the No. 4.

And yeah, he says a lot. He's a grumpy old man stuck in his ways with some strong opinions. But he still knows a lot. He's a good source for information. But you shouldn't ever rely on one source for all of your information. No one's word is gospel.