Re: Advice on spending my bonus on a plane?
William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey
>I don't see much advantage to a dedicated miter plane. Any Bailey or Bedrock from a #5 on up should work fine, as long as the sides are square to the sole. That of course is an issue you don't have to worry about with LNs or L-Vs, since their quality control is tight and they would immediately replace one that was out of specs.
It seems like you have plenty of bench planes and now need to start looking a bit further afield for new functionality to support new woodworking skills. It's hard to tell where to send you. You have to ask yourself what you want to build, and how you want to build it. Where are you currently most uncomfortable with your power tools?
There are several directions in which you might want to proceed, so I will offer some suggestions, in order of priority:
If you are doing joinery by hand, a shoulder plane is essential. Look at the Lee Valley medium shoulder plane, or the L-N. Both are more than competent, and both have adjustable mouths. I cannot imagine doing joinery without one of these (or a Stanley #93, if you can find one within specs and not too expensive).
If you need a shoulder plane, then you probably are considering stile/rail/raised panel construction. Next on the list is a panel raiser (one of the scarier processes done with a router). A #10 1/2, or a pair of #140s will help you do this, but an old wooden badger plane might suit. There are lots of different tool sets that will get this job done, and if you want to make tombstone panels, no plane will get you all the way there.
If you want to do decorative work with your hand tools, then you need to consider beads, flutes and reeds. A #66, or a homemade scratch beader will get you started. Alternately, you might want to consider an old set of wooden hollows and rounds and a selection of side bead planes.
A router (e.g., #71) is also useful, especially for hinge mortises and inlays.
If you do panels, dados, and grooves with hand tools, sometimes the slot is too narrow and the panel is already finished. A #98 and #99 will mostly sit in your toolbox, like a good insurance policy. A good alternative, if you like old tools, is the Stanley #79.
You have no idea just how far down the slippery slope you have slid, much less how far you have to go before you reach the event horizon.
