A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

Re: But..

mike recchione

>I don't have a Stanley 60 1/2, so I can't judge. I do have a new (couple of years old) Record 60 1/2, and it works OK - not great. For finer low-angle work, I use an old #65 that I got for $1 at a garage sale. Never had to tune it, just sharpen the iron. Very sweet plane. I also love my old #18 that I got for nothing.

But extending your #7/#8 comparison, what would you say about spending the extra $$ on something like a LN jack or scrub? I can't imagine something working better than my old horned scrub with the add-on brass sole, or my old #5s - they do exactly what I want them to do, and I don't notice them requiring any inordinate fussing. I don't think I'd even want to try the LN version of these, since I'm happy now. Why take a chance on becoming unhappy? :-)

- Mike

Re: Correction

Frank Mutchler

>It would cost almost that much just to buy a LN #5 & #7. It's like getting the #4 free.

Re: A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

AW

>Sorry for the long Post,

I know it's customary to post a bio here first, and I promise I will later this week,

I'm not a very accomplished woodworker, you will never see any of my work enshrined on the net, or in a magazine .... ain't gonna happen, Tool chests and Bookshelves are about my speed.

What brought me to woodworking was a combination of love of History and absolute necessity,

I had some MDF (Yuck!) Bookshelves, which quickly degraded to the point that they would no longer hold books, So I went to the lumber yard and got some S4S pine and screws and built some wood bookshelves .... and they didn't turn out that bad, except for the fact that here and there things could have fit together a bit tighter, Which took me back to reading the Books I keep on those bookshelves, and learning a little bit about traditional woodworking.

Somewhere along the line, between Bookshelf one and bookshelf two I happened to pick up a Old Bailey #5 for ten dollars at a flea market . Tote cracked, covered in filth, and with a blade that looked like it had been honed with a sawzall. I bought it because I knew what it was...not because I had any real intention of putting it to use ... I being pretty well attached to electron tools ,

Just for the heck of it one day I began to take it apart and clean it up , eventually I had about four hours of scrubbing gluing and flattening and a little sanding,

But the basics of a well designed well thought out tool were all there, I did a little research and found out it was a type 9 made between 1902 and 1907. And once I had everything straightened out it worked great!

I decimated a few pine 2X4's before trying it out on a unsurfaced hardwood skid I had laying around, and it did really well on that too! I'll never be that much of a cabinet maker, but every time I use that #5 and the various other old planes that have followed it home I feel like I am part of a living connection to My Great Grandfather and thousands of other Cabinet makers and carpenters through History.

I hope modern Companies keep turning out there product, I'm sure they are terrific, But Stanley and the other Companies turned out planes for Decades,

If they weren't capable of working well, they would not have kept making them so Long, For what I need to do, they are appropriate technology and very cost effective,

I have a Type 9 No 4 Bailey on the way, but right now my favorite smother is a 1940's Millers Fall's 900 with a Buck Brothers three dollar blade from HD', Yes I have it very sharp and yes ...it works pretty darn well

There are many different roads you can take, not everyone travels the new expensive one

Aaron W. Gonya

Re: But..

William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I agree, save your money for something you need the precision on. I've never felt the need or desire to buy a L-N jack or scrub. Maybe if I were independently wealthy, but I'm not.

There's nothing much more fun than pulling a beat up old Stanley #40 with a sharp iron out of your pocket and running circles around someone with a power tool. Usually you'll have the job done before they can find an extension cord or a fresh battery pack. It doesn't happen every day, but when you find one of those jobs at which it excels, it's worth every penny you paid for it.

Not every 60 1/2 is as far off as mine was, and I'm sure the older ones had better quality control, etc., but I don't like to "play the lottery" when I need a tool to get a job done.

Re: A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

Steve Knight

>skill is key in getting the most out of a plane. the best plane in the world won't make you a better plane user. getting help is a great way to go.

Now I Have TWO New Planes ...

Lewis Lamb

>O.K., I'll confess, I had actually ordered a new plane (the LV Med. Shldr.) a week before I posted my question. Even though ya'll seem nearly unanimous about that one, I've still had a few lingering doubts about spending so much for a plane - especially one I won't use all that often.

Now, however, I am pleased to report that all of my doubts are gone - erased, eradicated, e-lim-i-nat-ed. The FedEx guy came today, and this is one cool tool. It feels great in the hand; there's a certain, "just right" kind of heft and balance. I love the way it looks. Everybody I showed it to agreed. My neighbor said - very slowly - "ooooh ... that sho' is purr-dee." (A high compliment in south Georgia; roughly translates to "wow, that sure is pretty.")

Anyway, just as with the LA block I got last month, I couldn't be more impressed. Even at $151 (inc. S/H) - the most money I've spent, so far, on a single handtool - it seems like a bargain. And (if this really matters), I have an immediate and pressing need for this tool; I've got some table aprons that have waited patiently for two months to have their tenons trimmed and shoulders squared.

As always, thanks to everyone for your responses; you've provided lots of angles to consider as I decide what to get next. I think it'll be a LV scraper, but I have these other visions. They haunt me. There's a 4-1/2 and a 5-1/4 and a 5-1/2), a big jointer (I see a purple one ... razee ... that's a Knight?) - I could use one of those, really, I could - and that squared-up L-N mitre plane - how cool (not "cool" ... "necessary"? nah ... "essential", yeah, that's the ticket ... "E-S-S-E-N-T-I-A-L") is that thing?

I'm driving myself crazy, and all for nothing: I can't even get another plane right now. Why? Because Tuesday will be my 90th day without a smoke, and my "reward" for that is an Adria DT saw. So, I have to get that first (yes, "have to" - as in "that's just the way it is" - that was the deal, you know, and I've done my part, so I've earned it). Then, after that, I'll get back to this plane thing. Or maybe not ... my chisels are blue; don't I need some new chisels? Or spokeshaves ... did somebody say "spokeshaves"?! .... AAAAIIIGGGHHHH!!!!

Re: A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

Brent Langdon, Sterling VA

>I also own a #5 and a #7. They are both vintage Stanley planes. The #7 from eBay and the #5 is from my grandfather. I definitely have better luck with both of those planes than my #4. I really cannot justify the price of a LN plane. Most likely I will try and pick up a decent vintage smoother and a block plane at the Patina tool sale this spring.

thanks,

Brent

Funny!

Brent Langdon, Sterling, VA

>I feel your pain (or is it joy?). That seems to be a difference between power tools and hand tools. You can save up your money and buy a nice drill press or a tablesaw, but you do not have an immediate craving for another one. Except for Norm, most can get by with two or three routers as well.

Other hand tools aside, I could use (need?) a decent smoother, a block plane, a shoulder plane and maybe a scrub plane. I just know that I cannot afford to fill all these slots with top dollar new planes.

- Brent

Re: A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

Russell Seaton

>If you already have a 4, 5, and 7 then you more or less have all the bench planes you need. Follow Pam's advice and get one Lie Nielsen, Clifton, or Veritas plane if you like and see if its significantly different than your old ones. I know Woodcraft has a good return policy and Veritas has a good return policy if you just did not like the new plane. Or sell it to someone in your local woodworking club. I've heard good things about the 4.5 from Lie Nielsen and Veritas. And the low angle smoothers from both companies. Maybe try one of these as your smoother.

Re: Funny!

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>You don't really need a top dollar scrub, a bottom dollar one does just fine. I'd recommend trying to make one, hard to muck up, pretty simple; and I prefer wooden scrubs.

Pam

Re: A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

Brent Langdon, Sterling, VA

>Russell:

Thanks for trying to talk me out of my money. That Veritas low angle smoother looks real interesting and the price seems reasonable. My birthday is less than a month off, so maybe I will have to remind my wife about the $250 earrings that I purchased for her birthday. ;-)

- Brent

Re: A Different Question re: Old vs. New Planes

Eric Hedberg

>Brent,

Any considerate husband like you deserves the Veritas LA smoother (I love mine). You may want to suggest she also get you their medium shoulder plane. An excellent plane for fitting small boxes (hand plane finished) that can hold all the future treasures she can expect.

Eric

Re: Funny!

Don Thompson - South of Miami

>Pam,

Which metallic scrubs have you had a chance to use?

Re: Now I Have TWO New Planes ...

Ed Falis - Ipswich, MA

>Lewis,

I gotta' say, you have set yourself up with the right kind of incentives for that smoking quitting effort. Good luck with it.

- Ed (quit about 1-1/2 years ago after 35+ years of smoking)

Re: Funny!

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>I used a Stanley 40 in a friend's shop, really like the light weight of my horned wooden scrub. The 40 worked fine, though.

Pam