Advice needed.

Re: Advice needed.

Darrell in Oakville

>You need all three of those jack planes.

Keep the new Stanley as a loaner for klutz neighbours to borrow. This protects your 'good' tools from harm.

Sharpen one of the others straight across, to be used for jointing small work, or final cleanup of broad surfaces etc. Put a heavey camber (curve) on the last plane, and use it for rough levelling or light scrub planing tasks.

darrell

Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

Re: Advice needed.

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>JL

Darrell gives good advice and I agree you could use all three planes. I don't think that I would set one aside for a neighbour, however, although the idea of the worst #5 set up with a widish mouth for "rougher" work is appropriate in my view.

I would set up the best, with extra tuning, as a smoother - tight and tuned mouth, aftermarket thick blade, attention given to a flat sole and flat frog. Blade would be set up with a very gentle camber, just enough to feather the edges of chips.

The third #5 could be set up very similarly to #2 but with a blade with a straight edge, to be used for jointing and on a shooting board.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Advice needed.

Nemo Tools

>I more or less agree with Darrell. I've managed to come across 3 number 5's also and I have them set up for different tasks. One is for rough work with a blade with a strong curve on it, one is for general purpose work with a stock blade that has the corners relieved slightly and one is for fine shooting with a blade with dead square corners, an aftermarket Hock blade. The chip breakers and frogs are all adjusted differently to reflect the different tasks.

The files are probably toast.

Hope Someone with Boggs

Bob Hutchins in central TX

>experience will respond WRT the files. From what I've read, some of the older files made by reputable manufacturers were very good and could be sent to Boggs for return to better-than-new condition. Someone posted recently about sending a whole gaggle of tiles to Boggs and they sorted out the ones worth their attention from the ones not worthy.

Have you considered using them to make chisels (pig stickers)? Being the packrat that I am, I wouldn't throw good -- or potentially good -- steel away.

Wish I could offer better, but I've run my string out on files.

BobH

Re: Advice needed - Thanks all.

JL

>OK, I'll keep the three jack planes. Next question, I found a small plane that is smaller than a #4. Could this be a #3?

I'd also save one of them....

Ted Owen, Pittsburgh

>for use on plywood. I don't let my good planes touch anything but solid stock.

Best, Ted

Dimensions?

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>

Re: Dimensions?

JL

>The plane in question is about 9 1/4" long and 2 1/8" wide. The iron is about 1 3/4".

Re: Dimensions?

Glenn Madsen in the SF Bay area

>pictures and descriptions at www.supertool.com, under the Blood & Gore headings.

If it's a #3, and it might be, it is an extraordinarily useful little plane, at least in my shop. The measurements are closer to those listed for a #4, which is also a useful, although far more common handplane.

Re: Dimensions? *LINK*

JL

>Garrett Wade shows a #3 with similar measurements (see link below). It does have a Stanley cap and it does have Bailey marked on the plane body. It is smaller (and lighter) than the Craftsman/Miller Falls #4 that I also inherited.


Stanley UK #3