planes

[tyro]

    Hi, After U watch the DVDs search for the tools U see at pawnshops and antique shops. I try to buy every old plane, chisel and good steel blade I see. Many times I can use them as is or oil and clean and sharpen or reshape them. U may be able to stretch your dollars that way. often I have found a good used tool I couldn't afford b4.
 I liked the DVD advise and will use that myself to see what works for the pro's and try to copy them. This is a new concept for me, using the computer and DVD to learn with. I'm finding new things every day that I didn't know I didn't know. I may even enter the 20th century someday...TY
 

[whetrock]

Maybe someone else already mentioned this, but if so i missed it...

I have found David Finck's book "Making and Mastering Wood Planes" to be absolutely the best for both building and reconditioning planes. Some of the designs he shows are simple block planes for furniture work. But every thing he teaches has general application for guys like us who really want to master the use of hand tools.

http://www.davidfinck.com/book.htm

I have several other books that show designs for old antique planes, but Finck's is the best for instruction. Several of the others show designs, as would be interesting for collectors, but the authors don't seem to anticipate that the reader might actually intend to build the things. Finck is for the plane builder.

[Jack Hubbard]

I'd suggest getting in touch with Tom Snyder....He makes some of the best planes around for gun building....Might help you with your question.....

[David R. Pennington]

I use my planes a lot in building rifles. I will echo what Mark said. Most of my hand tools came from flea markets, junk and antique stores. I have found some real bargains but you have to be selective when you are buying used tools to actually use as opposed to hang on the wall.  What the other guys said is true as well about learning to sharpen and use them. That is what the old craftsman would have learned in his apprenticeship but we can learn now days through books and videos etc.. I was very fortunate in having a grandfather who taught me a lot of those skills, but there are a lot of good books out there.
Once you learn how to sharpen and tune your tools you will know how to find good quality used tools. I began buying used tools out of necessity (I couldn't afford new ones) but now I find looking for them is almost as much fun as using them. Most of the old tools were high quality and are still a bargain when you find one that is serviceable.
Iron body planes of course are the most common but I also have a small selection of wood body planes as well that are useful.
I find a common ailment with these is that the user didn't understand why the chips were clogging in the throat of the tool and attempted to open up the throat by sawing or chiseling it out. This only makes the problem worse.
One type of plane I find very useful is a rabbet plane. I have 2 old iron Stanley type that can be converted to bullnose  and a couple wooden ones. these have a cutting iron that is the same width as the plane body and can plane up against  a vertical edge (like under the cheekpiece).
Learning to use hand tools properly sharpened and tuned is a joy. I rarely use any power tools any more in my workshop. I love to hear those shavings curl off that curly maple under the plane! 

[Rasch Chronicles]

Planes and Scrapers are my favorite woodworking tools!

If you're new to this, you don't want anything that will make a big mistake for you. So stay away from the Stanley #40 Scrub plane! I would suggest that you get on eBay and pick up a good Stanley #151 spokeshave. Don't pay more than $25 for it including shipping! they come up constantly. And be certain it comes with a blade. The Low angle block planes have been mentioned, and that would be a good second plane.

Now learn to sharpen them both.

The 151 will take whisper thin shavings if you want, and is probably my go to spokeshave/plane for a lot of things.

Next is a scraper. You read alot about burnishing and setting a hook, and all that is well and good. But you can do almost as good work, with one that has been filed and stoned to 90 degrees. Burnishing and turning the hook will make it a superlative tool, but I've done plenty with a piece of banding filed square and honed.

There are a lot of other planes that do wonderful things, but for the basics, that will get you started.

Best regards,
Albert

[David R. Pennington]

I've got a couple iron body spoke shaves that rarely come off their wall hooks since I found a couple old wood body ones. These have irons marked with English makers marks and hold an edge like you wouldn't believe. They are adjusted simply by tapping the legs of the blade in or out and have becomesome of my favorite tools. 

[Danny H.]

Looking through old posts...
  I agree with fm Tim, I bought the Mark silver DVD. It's money well spent for a newbie. Showed me I can hold off for a while on some of the bigger shop tool purchases. You know, save up and get a nice band saw instead of a junker.
  I picked up two rosewood contour planes (spokeshaves) from Lee Valley/ Veritas for $30 for the pair. They are friction fit blades and work well around the wrist area for me. The sets part # is 07P13.50. I got their tool catalog, it has alot of reasonably priced tools. High end stuff too.
  Welcome & good luck.

[Don Getz]

Sorry, I'm working on gun number 98 right now and I have never used a plane.   I know what a lot of you are thinking, "yeah,
I've seen your guns and I believe you".   Kind of reminds me of the story about the hired hand comes into the farmers house
one saturday evening and says to the farmer, "can I borrow the lantern, I'm going into town to look for girls?   The farmer
says, you don't need a lantern, I never used one.   The hired hand replied, "yeah, and look at what you got"   Kind of like
building a gun without a plane........Don

[Kermit]

While they're not as tiny as the itty-bitty spokeshave shown earlier, Lie-Nielsen has these little models. Very small, very handy.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=SBS

And I really like these Hock wooden spokeshaves from their kit. Inexpensive, excellent, fun to make.

http://www.hocktools.com/Kits2.htm

While it may require a wait to get one, consider a "tavisher." A specialized spokeshave traditionally used by chairmakers. Nothing like them--handier than a scorp for hollowing. Highland Hardware only, far as I know.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/travisher.aspx

[rich pierce]

Sorry, I'm working on gun number 98 right now and I have never used a plane. 

Don, do you usually build from blanks or precarves?  I can't see much use for anything but a spokeshave on a precarve.

[Don Getz]

Rich... almost all of the guns that I now build are made from stocks that have the butt portion pre--shaped, forends are square.
I will admit that removing the wood on the forend portion of a gun is my least favorite thing to do.   My best tool is a #49 Nicholson.   I draw horizontal lines on the stock and rasp the wood off between the lines, or down to the lines, this helps to
eliminate a wavy appearance.  When I get the forend down close to size I go to a 10" sanding block, and, using various grits
of paper, finish chopping it down to size.  I should have mentioned that before I start rasping, I draw lines about 1/8" from the
barrel outline back to the entry pipe, then move the line out to about 1/4" in the foregrip area, then band saw this extra wood
off.  While the stock is still in this "square" shape I will install the underlugs and pin them.  ..Don

[Elnathan]

If you are looking for a decent wooden bench plane at an affordable price, Mujingfang rosewood planes seem to be very nice for the money, and an honorable exception to the rule that Chinese-made tools are junk. They are traditional Chinese style, with the cross-handle, but the handle is removable, so you can use it just like a western-style plane.

I bought one several years ago and have got a lot of use out of it, and it is made in a workmanlike manner - the outside of the body was very well made, sole was flat and smooth, mouth tight, blade well-ground and sharp, and the wedge fitted perfectly to the blade and body but with tool marks and a bit of uneveness where it did not affect the function of the tool. All in all, it is very much like what I imagine a new tool would look like in the 18th century. The one issue with them is that apparently the blades are made of A2 and are hard to sharpen. I haven't tried resharpening mine yet.

[rich pierce]

Don, that's a lot of rasping.  But after years of drawfiling, I bet it's quick work for you.

[Acer Saccharum]

I was getting a lot of tear-out on curly maple with my Stanley spokeshave. A friend told me to flip the blade over, making it more of a scraper-plane. Works like a charm.

[Jim Kibler]

Some use planes, shaves etc. a lot, but some prefer rasps.  Both work well.  What's important to me is the final result.  You see lots of opinions here.  Maybe they should be accompanied by photos of the results.

[Kermit]

I'll shut up about the Hock spokeshave after this. Probably.

It's about the angle; Acer is right. Scraping/ higher angle works with figured woods. So does a lower angle. The Hock shave is at 27 degrees which is lower than most low angle planes.

http://www.hocktools.com/KSPFAQ.htm#KSPFAQ

You still need to keep things scary sharp and learn to take a fine cut. I use mine on figured woods, including birdseye, curly, and quilted maple, about the most tear out prone woods I've encountered.

[Bob Roller]

Results reign supreme.Methods are what they are and what we
are comfortable with.

Bob Roller

[PPatch]

Here we go... Touted as the best living plane maker in the world today:

http://www.holteyplanes.com/

dave

[Don Getz]

Dave.....Holtey planes, beautiful things.   I love to see tools like this, fabulous.   Enough of that, now, using a good plane,
how do you shape a forend, muzzle down to the entry pipe?   You can only get so close to the entry pipe area. how do you
manage in this area of the stock?.....Don

[cmac]

My favorites are a standard block plane, a 1" block plane, and a spokes shave. Snyder's small round ans small straight have been a god send as well. I hardly use sandpaper at all anymore either.....cabinet  scrapers

[heinz]

Don, for shaping the muzzle I take care of the area in front of the ramrod channel with a spoke shave.  I rasp the inlet for the nose cap.  I then finish up that area with a concave furniture scraper.  Works for me but I ain't in a hurry.