Bailey #3 and

Re: Bailey #3 and

Robin Frierson

>Heres my 2 cents. If you already have a #4, the #3 is not going to add much. I do own a #3 and use it some,but the #4 and # 4 1/2 get used a lot more.

I personally would try and locate a # 4 1/2 as its a much more useful smoother IMHO, than the #3.

Re: Bailey #3 and

Darin in Victoria

>Thanks, I understand your explanation for not getting the #3, but don't understand why a 4 1/2. Can you tell me more about the advantages of a 4 1/2 over the 4 and 5.

Re: Bailey #3 and

Glenn Madsen

>I have a #3 Stanley Sweetheart from the '20's, and find it a remarkably useful tool to have in the cabinet.

Bigger than any of my block planes, smaller than the #4, I use it for a lot of tasks where I need to do 'just a little'. Often gets 'pulled', rather than 'pushed'.

Doesn't seem to need sharpening very often, either. Good original blade in it.

I don't understand these folks who only seem to have room for only 3 or 4 handplanes....;-)

Re: Bailey #3 and

fkrow

>I have many planes and duplicates,,,,the No. 3 is used for almost all smaller projects.

Regards.

Fred Krow

The 4.5 is...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Wider than a 4 and a bit heaver also. I use a 3 all the time and would recommend you get it. It works on small boards and in situations as stated as a large block plane. I mostly use a 3 and 4.5 not a 4 anymore. The 5 is a jack plane, not a smoother. No real reason to bring it up here.

Re: The complete set

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>The set includes #'s 1-8, and 602-608, in plain bottom and corrugated. Is there any reason not to have one of each? And then of course you can focus on getting a set of each different type of Stanley bench plane, and when that's done, move on to Sargent and Union.

Re: Bailey #3 and

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>I have a nice bailey #3 with a LV iron it. It never get's used.

Re: Bailey #3 and

Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO

>I have made several boxes over the last year and have used two (2!!!) Bailey #3 planes quite a bit making them. I have one with a cambered iron for use as a small jack, and the other set up with only a slight camber as a smoother. There are many times that I prefer to use them over larger planes.

Ted

Moses you forget some

Dennis

>The Miller Falls, type 1 and 2, All the VBM Sargent's and when you can find the the Ohio ones with the tapper blades. Like when does one have too many, no idea but i keep working on it and have found a use for all so far.

Dennis

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So the followup...what should I have first?

Darin in Victoria

>I think that I'm going to pass on the #3 since it's already at $32 and I just bought two planes. However, I need to think about after Xmas and my upcoming projects. I know that the #4, #5, and block will get used a lot, but what would the next ones that I should get. I'll be building a few soft maple tops in the next year and most of the work should be in the power planer and jointer. Should I get a #7 or would a low angle plane be a better next purchase instead (I guess both are possible also at some point)?

Re: The complete set

Ernie Miller *Topeka

>Moses I never thought that you could be or were a bad influnce. but all of this has chainged my mind. You are leading this poor man down the path.Besides that you don't hace any thing untill you have two of every thing. any more is collecting.

Slippery slope, or don't listen to these people

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>To some degree, with bench planes (the #1 - #8 series, and other equivalents), you'll use what you have.

In my opinion, with what you have, long planes are now more useful bench planes than shorter ones - a #7 or #8 should be your next bench plane purchase, if you're doing planing of stock longer than two feet. However, depending on what you're making, a shoulder plane (ideal use for this is cleaning up tenons and similar joints) or rabbet plane (#78, #778 by Record, #10 or #10-1/2, useful for making rabbet joints) might be your logical next purchase. There could even be others, like a #71 router plane, that would make most sense -- again, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

Ideally, you'll buy a plane because you're frustrated by wanting to accomplish something you can't with your existing planes, but this can be a trap, because if you don't own a plane, you don't know what it can do that you're either not doing or doing in some awkward way.

Suggestions:

a) haunt your library or your bookseller for two books: "The Handplane Book," by Garret Hack, and "Planecraft," sold by Woodcraft (www.woodcraft.com). Personally, I think the second book is more useful for understanding of what planes are capable, but the two books complement each other for a broader understanding of these tools. The first book is more likely to appear in your local library, as it's published by Taunton Press, which publicizes itself better to librarians than Woodcraft does.

b) Locate a friendly woodworker or local woodworking guild or go to one of the shows, if there's one within reach, where you can either watch or fool around with the tools and get an idea what their uses are.

(a) and (b) are not forced choices: doing both is best.

Or, of course, you could do what some of our colleagues here on the forum are ever-so-subtly proposing, which is to buy lots of tools and figure out later which ones you really need. This is fine, if you have the money, but many of us don't.

A plane is a jig that holds a chisel in a specialized way. That's it. One of the traditions in Scandinavian boat building uses a hatchet for almost everything, and they build some lovely boats. Don't let the mystique get you intimidated, but now I'm starting to rant and had better stop and besides LOML wants me to go get ice cream so we can watch the movie so I'm stopping now goodnight and enjoy the wood, Darin.

Re: Slippery slope, or don't listen to these peopl

Darin in Victoria

>Thanks Bill, your words are well taken. My knowledge of planes is certainly lacking. I don't have a lot of experience with planes beyond what I learned in Jr High shop class and the few tops that I've tried to flatten (and of course the information that I've gathered on the forums). I think that I'll try to read at least one of those books that you mentioned before jumping into anymore plane purchases (although the #7 would probably be a safe purchase). The #3 was more of a compulsive urge since the plane was in such good condition and the seller would have been able to drop the plane off in my city (no shipping charges).

Re: Bailey #3 and

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>I have a #3. I like to use it for final fit and finish on drawers, boxes, and other small delicate constructions. I got it at an anteekmaul for #35, which most will tell you is too much to spend, but it was in very good condition and works supurbly after I upgraded the iron to an LN, and required very minimal tuning, so I still think it was a good deal. It stays in the shop. I don't take it out to work on boats, kitchens, etc. where it might get abused.

Re: Slippery slope, or don't listen to these peopl

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I was focusing on need issues. I'd never suggest that someone who can afford it deny tool lust, however.