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Hello,
I was wondering if you guys had a recommendation on a good book or website that would show a newbie what each plane is used for and how to use them properly including maintenance and sharpening? I have zero knowledge about hand planes but have interest in using them in my shop. Thanks
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Garrett Hack's "The Hand Plane Book" is good.
Go to your local library system (they probably have a website) and see if they have it. While you're there, find out where in the library the basic woodworking books can be found, and stop in to the library and browse. Check out any of the books that look interesting, and read through.
The basic planes are described in any woodworking book that addresses hand tool work. Older books will generally do a good job. Newer ones will either do a good to very good job or be dreadful, depending on whether the author is a hand tool user or not.
Another good book, harder to find in the library but worth having if you find planes are a useful tool for you, is "Planecraft." This is a British book, so you have to understand British terminology; but well worth it. The older book, by Hampton and Clifford, includes some information that's irrelevant these days, but also goes into detail about some less commonly used but good to know about techniques. The newer reworking of the book, by John Sainsbury, is also good except that, in the course of editing out the now-irrelevant information, he threw out some of the older but still useful techniques. The older one's out of print (Woodcraft reprinted it for years, but has stopped), but is not expensive on used book sites.
Once you have your first plane, get some pine or similar wood, and do some practicing before you apply the tool to projects.
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There is a dvd by Chris Schwartz called " Coarse, Medium, and Fine" that is pretty good. Garrett Hack's book is also excellent. Depending on where you are located, you might be able to find a WN'er that would be willing to let you visit and try out a few planes as well as explain what different planes are used for.
Currently a smarta$$ but hoping to one day graduate to wisea$$
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Paul Sellers is a master craftsman and teacher who you may find helpful in setting up and using your first plane:
Paul Sellers - set up and sharpen a handplane
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Don't shop, other than two options .... well, considering your time on Woodnet, 3 options....
1. Go downstairs to the Swap and Sell and look for a Stanley #4 in reconditioned shape. Talk to the guys on this hand tool forum who post here regularly. This is the easiest and cheapest way to get into hand planes. *Do not* get a junker to rehab for your first plane, or it will be your last plane. I had a new piece of garbage Stanley I never touched for twenty years. No amount of literature and expense would save that piece of crap.
2. Go to Lie-Nielsen Web site and order a #4 new. I like my bronze version a whole lot better than any Stanley I have tried and own. It is truly a smoothing plane.
3. Go to Lie-Nielsen Web site and buy the #102 low angle block plane. You will get this one anyway, if you continue with woodworking. It is my most useful plane; definitely, most useful block plane. You will want one even if all you do is burn up De-Walt planer blades at $70+ a pop.
Later on you can throw time and money into the slippery hole.
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Garrett Hack's book and Chris Schwarz' DVD will tell what you need to know about planes - for a start. Leonard Lee's and/or Ron Hock's books will teach you how to sharpen those irons. Without sharp, planes do not work.
When you've absorbed that, then come back, break out the popcorn, and ask us what sharpening media is best.
Thanks, Curt
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"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
-- Soren Kierkegaard
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12-12-2016, 09:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-12-2016, 09:50 PM by Tynyyn.
Edit Reason: Needed to add a link
)
When grinding a blade, I've found two options worth looking at. One is sandpaper on a dead flat surface. Start with 80 grit and then go up through 120, 220, 400, 600, 800, and 1000. It will give you a very sharp edge and if the plane had been cleaned and the sole flattened, then the blade should cut like a hot knife through butter. The only downside to the sandpaper is the expense of purchasing a lot of sandpaper. I am one who continually wonders if there is something else out there which is better than what I'm currently using. So while trolling the interwebs, especially eBay, I came across some 8" x 8" diamond plates from China. Yea, folks like to bash Chinese junk, but for the price I decided to give it a go. I bought plates of 220, 600, and 1200 grits. Each plate was about $17 which included shipping from halfway around the world. Not a bad price for a sharpening system which should last a lot longer than a lot of sand paper.
I also purchased a sharpening jig so I could maintain a constant angle while grinding the edge. I have yet to put the plates and jig into action because I'm trying to secure a block of granite to put the plated onto. But a preliminary pass over the 220 plate sure made my mouth water. It has a lot more area then a 2" x 6" plate that I've been using and I feel the added square inches of plate surface will make the grinding much easier without the constant worrying about pushing the blade over the edge.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-jade-knife-sto...pK7LujDfvQ
You might want to look into it.
Terry
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12-13-2016, 07:55 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-16-2016, 09:05 AM by EricU.)
Terry,
Had to try those diamond plates at that price. Hopefully they aren't radioactive or something
on edit: they might be here sometime between Jan 2 and Feb 22! So I might forget I ordered them
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(12-12-2016, 07:50 PM)hbmcc Wrote: 2. Go to Lie-Nielsen Web site and order a #4 new. I like my bronze version. It is truly a smoothing plane.
3. Go to Lie-Nielsen Web site and buy the #102 low angle block plane. You will get this one anyway, if you continue with woodworking. It is my most useful plane; definitely, most useful block plane. You will want one even if all you do is burn up De-Walt planer blades at $70+ a pop.
Later on you can throw time and money into the slippery hole. + 1. I learned from scratch and to me and think I am pretty good, so I would add ...
1. While at Lie-Nielsen, order David Charlesworth’s DVD on sharpening plane and chisel blades. That is the secret to successful handplaning.
2. Find the thread on woodnet regarding placement of the chip breaker. That helps.
3. As Dave Parkis said, there is a dvd by Chris Schwartz called " Coarse, Medium, and Fine" that is pretty good, also Chris Schwarz’s book, Handplane Essentials. Both were published before the new trend in chip blade placement to which Chris Schwarz subscribed.
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12-17-2016, 08:01 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-17-2016, 08:03 AM by EricU.)
Tablesaw Tom has a ground #4 in the swap and sell.
https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7325865
I didn't notice if it's sharpened, you might want to get him to sharpen it so you'll know what it's like when properly sharpened. I think that's worth it more for that knowledge than avoiding the labor.
on edit: looks like it's sharpened from the shavings he made with it.
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