is there any need for a no3 ?

[big soft moose]

Hi folks

after my slide down the planey slope last year I have quite a few planes

(a bloody great wooden smoother, a Groz no.7, a QS no6, a record no.5, a stanley 4.5, a stanley 4, 2 block planes (one record one stanley,) and a mujifang micro )

and thats after i pruned the collection to one of each and gave my spares to mike reid earlier this year.

Anyway my question is , is there any point in getting a number 3 (other than completions sake) ? ie are there jobs that the 3 will do better than those i already have ?

 

[jimi43]

I got the numbers game bug last year and got a No.3....a good old one...used it a couple of times and now it sits in its numerically correct slot gathering dust.

My 4, 4 1/2, 5 1/2 and 7 along with my ancient smoothers and shoulder planes ALL get used for one job or another whilst their little cousin sits alone unused but not unloved...

I will have to go clean it now...you made me feel guilty Moose!

In answer more directly...have you got plans for a No.1 and No.2? :wink:

Jim

 

[Paul Chapman]

My Clifton #3 is one of my favourite and most used planes. Particularly good on free-hand end grain work in very hard woods where the block plane doesn't have enough heft but also great as a general smoother on smaller work. However, as with all planes, whether you need one and would find it useful depends on the work you do.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[big soft moose]

In answer more directly...have you got plans for a No.1 and No.2? :wink:

Not as yet (do they actually exist ? )

I was thinking about a no.8 for those turnip smoothing jobs (like sign posts from uk oak - which have more than 1/2 inch variation on the sides ), however we invested in a wadkin planer instead for those jobs

 

[Pekka Huhta]

I do much restoration work on site (wooden boats & timber houses) and I think that a #3 is best for that kind of site work. There's never a good bench anywhere and sometimes you will have to use the plane in one hand only, keeping the other for holding the work.

Otherwise a #3 is fine for smaller scale work, but not absolutely necessary in any way.

Pekka

 

[jimi43]

In answer more directly...have you got plans for a No.1 and No.2? :wink:

Not as yet (do they actually exist ? )

I was thinking about a no.8 for those turnip smoothing jobs (like sign posts from uk oak - which have more than 1/2 inch variation on the sides ), however we invested in a wadkin planer instead for those jobs

Go on...you have £115 spare!? Bargain!

No.2 On FleaBay


And a No1 on Old Woodworking Tools

A tad dearer methinks!



Jim

 

[yetloh]

Personally, I have never felt the need for anything smaller than a No 4 in the 1 - 8 series. The plane I use most is a block plane,followed by No5 then No 7..

Jim

 

[Alf]

Must admit I spent a long time not having much time for the #3, but I've quite taken to the Quangsheng jobbie and find I'm using it a good deal more than I expected. Even to the point where I was using it for end grain instead of taking the long four foot trek to the cupboard for a block plane (of which I have one or two to choose from). No, you don't need one, but how will you know if you don't try one? :wink: Plane favourites are such a personal call, and even then your tastes can change over time, as in my case. (Or maybe I'm just exercising the female right to change my mind... No, don't answer that. )

Incidentally, you seem to be missing a 5 1/2 as well...

 

[woodbloke]

Anyway my question is , is there any point in getting a number 3 (other than completions sake) ? ie are there jobs that the 3 will do better than those i already have ?

Personally...no, I can't see the point. For end grain work a half decent block will do all you need, even on the hardest timber (and I've used mine on Greenheart)

However, if you collect these things and haven't got one then you might need one. Me, I'm a minimalist :^o so I don't do plane collections - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

Me, I'm a minimalist :^o so I don't do plane collections

 

[paulm]

Me, I'm a minimalist :^o so I don't do plane collections

:lol: :lol: :lol:

(a bit rich coming from me )

 

[jimi43]

Me, I'm a minimalist :^o so I don't do plane collections

Anyone got a Pinochio emoticon?



Jim

 

[woodbloke]

Me, I'm a minimalist :^o so I don't do plane collections

Anyone got a Pinochio emoticon?



Jim

I find the last three posts a bit harsh :lol: Avid perusers of the Blokeblog will have long since realised that I have forsooken the pursuit of all things shiny (for the time being) in favour of re-plenishing the wood store prior to Jan 12 (Plan A)

Plan B (the abandonment of Plan A) is a WIP - Rob {wooden hill time apres vino and ale (hic)}

 

[jimi43]

Problem is Rob...I see your slope in my future and it is really slippery...

Mine have so many pistes too!

My name is Jim and I'm a slopaholic...there I've said it!



Jim

 

[woodbloke]

I'm a slopaholic...



Jim

...so it's going to get messy then Jim? :lol: :lol: - Rob

 

[dannykaye]

No 3 is often my plane of choice, I have two a Stanley about 35 years old shiny and in the original box and a Record, think it is a SS model, that is older and looks it, needless to say it makes much better shavings and the shiny one stays in the box

Oh and sorry everyone I just bought that no 2, it looks dodgy somehow but for £124 I couldn't resist

 

[big soft moose]

theres a nice record no7 on ebay - 22 squid iirc - i was tempted but it would undermine my contention that the groz no.7 works fine.

 

[jimi43]

I'm a slopaholic...



Jim

...so it's going to get messy then Jim? :lol: :lol: - Rob

E by gum!!!

:wink:

Jim

 

[big soft moose]

In answer more directly...have you got plans for a No.1 and No.2? :wink:

Not as yet (do they actually exist ? )

I was thinking about a no.8 for those turnip smoothing jobs (like sign posts from uk oak - which have more than 1/2 inch variation on the sides ), however we invested in a wadkin planer instead for those jobs

Go on...you have £115 spare!? Bargain!

No.2 On FleaBay


And a No1 on Old Woodworking Tools

A tad dearer methinks!



Jim

in that case no plans for the near future - with the exception of the 6 which we swapped with matthew for a second hand chainsaw, none of my / our planes cost more than a few quid - largely from ebay or booties

The only plans i have apart from getting a 3 is to get some wooden ones - and likewise there is a far higher chance of them being ebayed than of me buying them from philly.

 

[Martin Cash]

Alf is right about forming an intimate relationship with handplanes.
My first handplane was a Stanley 4-1/2 and I learned to do quite a lot with it. It was my only handplane for many many years followed by a 220 block plane and a number 7. For around 25 years these were my arsenal, and there was little that I couldn't do with these and a combination of saws and chisels.
As I have aged and the kids have gone, there is more time to do things and a little more disposable income I have acquired other tools. In particular, I bought a number 3 Stanley when we were renovating flats and houses, and used it extensively. It was my go-to plane on the job site as it was easy to cart around and could readily be used one handed if needed - something that happens a lot on a job site. It is my plane of choice when easing doors for example.
Nowadays with little happening on the buildings front, I make boxes of various types. The number 3 is just the right size for me in taking final wisps off edges and doing final smoothing of box-lids. It gets more use than the 4-1/2 these days.
I find it to be one of the most useful sizes in a handplane and recommend it highly.
But it does come back to what Alf indicated earlier - that it is the relationship that you have with each tool that counts and what you can coax it to do for you. I know my number 3 very well.