Have a few of each....
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Half & Half...
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I use whatever is handiest at the time.
I can also do a round over in a few minutes, trim a long dovetail,Trim the edges on a screen door. They work every bit as good as them Fancy-schmansy bronze thingys, IF you keep them sharp.
I have a couple of homemade wooden block planes. Nice for edge treatments (bevels or rounding), leveling hand cut dovetails, leveling small mismatches where faceframe rails meet stiles. Even use them as smoothers sometimes.
(02-16-2017, 09:46 PM)Bruce Haugen Wrote: [ -> ]If you're really good with a block plane, you can also do this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vJIzkIc_wIU
Jump to 4:49 through 5:05 
Interesting, I'm assuming this is aluminum. No reason a block can't be used for that. Would dull the iron a bit, however.....
Well, he claims it's D3, but I kinda doubt it.
(02-16-2017, 09:46 PM)Bruce Haugen Wrote: [ -> ]If you're really good with a block plane, you can also do this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vJIzkIc_wIU
Jump to 4:49 through 5:05
The steel was in the annealed state. Much, much softer than when heat treated, which is what he does later in the video. No mystery on why the hardened plane blade can cut the steel. Tool steels are all machined or cut in the annealed state prior to heat treating. That's how it's done. Pretty cool to see shavings of tool steel, though.
I think you can do almost any type planing with a block plane...except end grain.
I think I am kind of a guy who tries things. I have even used it for end grain but skewed and it does pretty good or maybe OK. So maybe it is just a quirk but it worked for me and it will work for anything else too.
Friend of mine was telling me today he was using standards Stanley block plane with a Hock blade for making bamboo fly rods. A low angle would dig into the fibers. Bamboo is a grass and is hard after tempering.
(02-22-2017, 05:24 PM)RonL Wrote: [ -> ]Friend of mine was telling me today he was using standards Stanley block plane with a Hock blade for making bamboo fly rods. A low angle would dig into the fibers. Bamboo is a grass and is hard after tempering.
LN used to, and maybe still does, provide a specialized milled groove in the sole of block planes for making fly rods.