Best shoulder plane on a limited budget?

[SteveL]

Have never owned a shoulder plane and now realize that I should have gotten one long ago instead of a number of other tools than tend to sit on the shelf. What do the experts here suggest for someone on a limited budget? Probably looking for a medium size but really don't have any experience to base that on. Any help would be appreciated.

[Dave Ring]

Your cheapest option would be an old wooden rabbet plane. You should be able to find a good one for $20 or less.

[MauleSkinner]

Here's mine...homemade with a 1" hock iron.

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

For a shoulder plane you cannot do better than the Veritas Medium or Large. They are both wonderful instruments of surgical precision, exactly what’s needed in a shoulder plane. The Large carries a lot of mass and moves with real authority; the Medium is sized to fit into a 3/4” dado. I probably use the Large more, but I could live nicely with either one. I would not like to be without one or the other.

Depending on budget limitations, you could think about financing the purchase by selling some of the other tools you mention that get little use. A shoulder plane is not the right place to compromise on quality.

You could make one, as MauleSkinner suggests, but before you go down that road, consider the investment in specialized floats, etc. shown in the background of the photo of his nice plane. Making one might be fun, but probably wouldn’t help the budget much.

[Admiral]

Agree with the suggestions of vintage wood bodied. I've seen the web pics of ShopFox versions, I think Anant makes one too, but the reviews indicate significant fettling may be required, but with varying QC of manufacture in China you may get a good one, its a crapshoot, but they are about half price (maybe less) of the gold standard (IMHO), the LV medium. Personally, I'd try and snag a woodie from a flea or antique store, or the S&S when they show up, or just cut out Dunkin Donuts coffee and save your loose change for 6 months to get the LV, you won't be disappointed.

The homemade one that was posted looks pretty good too.

[AHill]

"Limited budget" is pretty subjective. Can you give us a range of your budget? Vintage is nice. Veritas are, to me, the cat's meow of shoulder planes. You can also get vintage Stanley which are serviceable, but not necessarily the best. I would imagine that the WoodRiver shoulder planes are decent, but some prefer not to buy Chinese made tools. They are similar to the Preston planes that Lie-Nielsen also copied. One other option is a Hock shoulder plane kit, for a mere $95. You get a really good blade and the wood is pre-cut. All you have to do is assemble, shape the top, and go to town.

[johnnysuede]

I've got 3 shop made tools on my list, third is a shoulder plane. Marking knife, mallet are the first 2. I considered the hock kit as a neat project, but at that price the small or medium Veritas would be a ready to use option like others have said, the Hock would be more of a I can do it option. Even though the Veritas are double the money of a Hock kit, hone and go as they say is worth it IMHO. The reviews for the asian made stuff is so polarized from horrible to good I'm personally trying to avoid them on products like this that should be a buy it once, last a lifetime.

My budget is really limited, working part time, dad full time. Just a few hours in the late evening to work in the shop so I'm going to purchase this blade off Grizzlys extensive closeout list and give a homemade option a go. I can always add a (and probably will) Quality shoulder plane to my arsenal later. For now I'm really enjoying fetting out budget planes and learning a lot that will be useful later when I can afford the good stuff.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Replacem...265/T23170

[EricU]

can always just make one. On a more serious note, I cut this down from a scan of a Norris(? I think) that someone made me. They recommended that I cut it down to about 3/4 or 2/3 of the original size, so that's what I did. Glad, because it's still really big and has some heft. I wish I had the original scan, but it's lost. Took this picture before I opened up the mouth.

[SteveL]

Thanks for the quick replies. Had not thought about making one and if I decide to go that route, what bed angle would be best for the most versital use?

[JR1]

Wood craft has a number of options: plans for $6, a Hock kit for $95 and the Woodriver $150 (medium). Some folks here really hate Woodriver—they did make some pretty crappy tools a while back. The current ones will just need sharpening and then are ready to go. The Veritas medium sholder plane with the PM-V11 blade is $209 and probably worth the extra ~$60.