Originally Posted by
Adam Cruea
If I may ask. . .what's wrong with a weightier plane?
I find my 7s and 8s to be an excellent weight; and I have a 7 with a thinner casting (curved Bedrock) that almost feels a little light to me. I have the LN 4 1/2 smoother and I honestly
love the 5 1/2 pounds (that actually a real reason I love my #51. . .over 9 pounds of iron love, baby!)
I realize everyone has a preference here, so I'm more just curious as I may be able to incorporate something new into how I do things. Just keep in mind, I'm the same guy that has a mortise mallet made from 2 chunks of 7 inch 8/4 hickory glued together.
Nothing wrong with heavier planes. It's a matter of personal preference, combined with what woods one works, and what task one uses a plane for. In terms of long planes I find the weight of my type 11 No. 7 and my MF No. 18 (e.g. No. 6 size) to be perfect for the work I do.
For me I find..
- That as the amount of time I will spend using a given plane increases my liking of weight decreases. That is I tend to like heavy planes for making already fairly flat board a little flatter, but when it comes to really getting a surface flat with a No. 7, following a coarsely set jack, I prefer the lighter weight of a vintage bailey. I do like heavy smoothers (which includes a love affair with 5 1/2s) but when that same mass is proportionally increased on a 6 or bigger I find that that I get tired out pretty quickly.
- On the flip side, I find that as the hardness or difficulty of the wood I am working increases my liking of weight increases. That is, I am more likely to like an extra heavy plane when I am working harder wood...the decrease in effort on the push is more likely to offset the increase in effort on the pull.
At the moment I do all my stock prep by hand (though I do want a thickness planer) and I mostly work moderate domestic hardwoods (e.g. cherry and walnut). So for the work I'm doing which involves extended periods of heavy work with my fores and jointers, a lot of weight tends to tire me out more than it helps...so for my larger planes I gravitate towards vintage Baileys and MFs.
If I were working harder woods or doing less intense surface prep with my planes I think I would generally prefer the heavier planes. That weight really does make things easier when your taking a heavy cut through really hard wood, but again for what I do it tends to tire me out more than it helps.
Despite my personal preference, I think among people who are in the market for new premium plane, I am the odd man out. I mean, why spend $300 on a new plane if its exactly the same as an $80 vintage plane. I certainly see why manufacturers have gravitated towards heavier castings, and I think they were smart make them about the same weight as the new Bed Rocks on the market (LN, Clifton, WR). I certainly don't think they went overboard or outside the modern preferred norms. I just personally have found myself gravitating towards something a little lighter than the 8-10 lb modern jointers for most of what I use a jointer for, which again is typically extended periods of flattening of moderate domestic hardwoods (and that context is inseparable from my weight preference...which even with all that is a mild preference and likely won't stop me from buying a new 7 at some point).
Long story short, like all things, weight has trade offs, and how/what you work will likely dictate what trade off make the most sense.
Last edited by Chris Griggs; 09-15-2014 at 11:10 AM.
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