Derek.. it's not too late... if you back away reallllll slowly you'll escape with nothing more than the occasional nightmare.. be warned... once the slope gets ya... kiss yer ass goodbyeeeeeee.... :wink:
where to start...??
well... I suppose the easiest place is with bench planes... they're the ones that look similar in style to your Stanley, differing in overall length and width...
By their nature, planes are designed to ride over and cut down the high spots in a board. The extent to which they do that depends on their overall length; the longer the sole, the more it will confine its area of work to the highest spots.
Shorter beds will tend to drift partway down into the "valleys" between the high areas. The shortest beds really aren't suited to flattening at all; they're better used as finish smoothers..
Generally speaking (cos there's no hard n fast rules) the longer the plane, the more it's suited to flattening a board; it makes no difference if we're talking the face or the edge here. The regulation "jointing" planes are the #7 and #8.
#'s 6 and 5 1/2 are the closest that iron planes come to being panel planes. These are at their best when used to work on a panel that you've glued up, the planes being used to ensure that any slight misalignment is flushed out, and that the panel ends up smooth, flat and out of wind (twist).
#5's are known as jack planes... jack of all trades... used for rough prep, oversized smoothers, edge jointers etc, they're probably the most often reached for of the bench planes... Their multi-role ability comes from changing how you tune the frog and the shape that you hone into the blade... for course work you want to open the throat pretty wide, and hone a fairly aggressive radius into the blade. Conversely, if you choose to tune it closer to finish smooth work, you want a real tight throat and a blade that's been honed perfectly straight and square, with only it's outer corners "clipped" to avoid leaving "tram lines" on the board...
#'s 3, 4 and 4 1/2 are the recognized finish smoothers... set up with the finest throats, super sharp blades honed flat and square with clipped corners, these guys will leave a finish that's gotta be seen to be believed; there isn't a power tool that can hold a candle to their finish quality.
#'s 1&2 are tiny in size; to my mind they're aimed as training tools for younger smaller hands, although technically they're perfectly capable of filling a similar role to that of a block plane...
Anyway... that lot covers the bench planes...
Alf's reviews of the Veritas shoulder, block, bull nose and bevel up planes are written far better than my blurb; you'll get a clear idea of what they're used for by reading them... she's a pretty good word-smith..
As for which brand is best... that's not so easy to answer...
Common consensus here is that you won't go far wrong if you choose between Clifton, Lee Valley or Lie Nielsen; all three are among the highest regarded manufacturers, each having exceptionally high quality standards and customer service. No one of the three cover the entire range of styles, sizes and types you could end up with, giving the opportunity to try some of each for yourself before choosing which is "the best" to your own mind...
Clear as mud..???
:twisted:
Welcome to the slope.... dinna say I didn't warn ya.... :twisted: :wink: :twisted:
