So... you want to try hand planes

• Acquiring

  • What To Get
    There are three obvious candidates for a first plane; a block plane, a smoothing plane or a jack plane. In Stanley model number terms, these are the #60½, #4 and #5.

    A block plane is a superb (and much used) trimming tool, but it doesn't provide much of an insight into "real" planing.

    The smoothing plane can be used for many purposes; it can be treated as a shaping tool, or used as a fine finishing tool; it is the classic "household" plane, used for everything from trimming a door to tapering a stick.

    The jack plane is in some ways even more versatile; being a little longer than a smoothing plane, it can provide a little more intrinsic accuracy when flattening stock; being a little larger, it's easier to get a good grip to perform rapid stock removal.

    But if you fully intend to become a galoot, you will rapidly acquire a smoothing plane, a jack plane, and a longer flattening/jointing plane. If this is the case it doesn't really matter which one you get first.

    If you stay mainly powered, and never buy another plane, your #4 will do a lovely job of removing power planer ripple, or band/table saw marks in a couple of strokes.

    In short, a #4 is the "can't go wrong" choice for your first plane, whether your path takes you to complete neanderhood , or fully powered normite . They're also (and not by coincidence) the commonest, cheapest and easiest to find, both new and second hand.

  • Where To Get It
    Having decided to use hand planes, you need to get your hands on one. The quality of the big factories has now fallen off sharply, so there are two options open. The cheap way is to find an old plane. This is most likely to be a Stanley although many other manufacturers used the Bailey design. If you want to save the labour described in the next coupla' paragraphs, you can buy a new Bailey (actually more like "Bedrock") plane from Lie-Nielsen, Clifton or the distinctive (but very functional, by all accounts) Veritas line of planes.

• Getting it Ready to Work

  Assuming you are now the proud posessor of a bargain tool, you need to derust it (alternative source). Tuning is described quite well in webland, including Jeff Gorman's fettling page, R.J. Whelan's 19 step plan (although he changed his mind on cap iron distance), a fully illustrated version, and John Gunterman's post to rec.woodworking on USENET. The commonly recommended way to flatten the sole of your plane (should you consider it neccessary) is to use abrasives on a flat surface - Zirconia is the best abrasive for this process. However, In the early part of 2002, having always had trouble with this approach I changed to a spotting/cutting based approach.
  • Replacing the blade
    The blades normally found on Bailey planes have been proven over multiple generations. They will work fine for you too. It is most likely that the blade in a second hand plane will be well worth cleaning and sharpening.

    However, there are wide range of replacement blades available. Any one of them offers a substantial performance improvement over all but the most exceptional original blades. At the time of writing (late 2003) most of these are priced around 20-25 pounds (in the UK market). Do not buy a modern Bailey blade from the big factories. They are too soft.

    Modern premium blades are available from:

    • Hock
    • Lie-Nielsen
    • Clifton
    • Holtey
    • Veritas
    • Samurai
    • Spehar Toolworks
    amongst others.

  • Damaged handles
    It's possible (and enjoyable) to repair both smashed off tips and broken in half (another method) totes. If the woodwork on your plane is beyond repair, Crown offer nice replacements.

  • Sharpening
    A sharp blade is the heart of a good planing experience. Leonard Lee (of Lee Valley tools ) has written a book on the subject. Around the net, Ron Hock and Popular Mechanics offer advice, but many people follow The famous "Scary Sharp" post. "Scary Sharp" even went main-stream. All sharpening is, at heart, just the application of a succession of various size grits; Don't get hung up on the details. If you feel you have enough learning curves to climb in your introduction to planing, a honing guide will give you near-perfect edges on your first (almost...) attempt, saving some frustration... Acquiring the skill to get a similar quality edge by hand takes time, but is considered (by some) a badge of true craftsmanship.

• Finally Putting Tool To The Wood

  Now that you have a splendid tool, you're ready for some tips on using it, especially when flattening twisted boards. Absolute basics, 4 sided stock prep, Ian Kirby,

• Other sources Of Information

  There are 2 contenders for the title of "first plane book to buy"; The The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack and Plane Basics by Sam Allen. The Hack book might be described as how to properly worship at the alter of all thing plane-ly, and the Allen book is about how to get the task at hand accomplished using planes. Both carry complete information of choosing, tuning and using planes.

  If you want "period" information on using metal bodied planes, Record used to publish a compilation of their catalogues and/or manuals, thinly disguised as an instructional text, under the title of "PlaneCraft: Hand Planing By Modern Methods", now available in reprint. As long as you feel able to ignore the general "Record's way is the right and only way" bias, there's very good information here.

  More recently, David Charlesworth has published most of his (plane technique oriented) articles from Furniture and Cabinet Making magazine in 2 books ( first, second )

  If you're more "visually left brain oriented" (AKA want pretty moving pictures) instructional videos are available:

  • "Reclaiming Flea-Market Planes"(Ernie Conover)
  • "Bench Planes"(Jim Kingshott)
  • "Special Planes"(Jim Kingshott)
  • "Handplanes in the Workshop"(Mario Rodriguez)
  • "Hand Tools"(Frank Klausz)

  Finally, in the True Internet way there is a handtool FAQ , an antique tool FAQ and a complete newsgroup for your viewing pleasure.

• Other Kinds Of Planes

  To avoid things become even more confusing, I have only discussed the Bailey pattern plane, (as still made in large numbers by Stanley, Record and Footprint ). There are several other types of planes, most of which can be associated (loosely) with a geographical region. Thus you get British infills and wooden bench planes, German "horned" planes , and Japanese planes (alternative link) that work on the pull stroke.

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