Hand plane recommendation

[transatlantic]

I'm mostly a beginner at using hand tools, and am wanting to purchase my first hand plane, so was looking for some recommendations.

I have about £100 to spend and am trying to pick something that will last as opposed to getting something really cheap and then having to upgrade later on.

Currently I'm looking at (apparently I'm not allowed to post links yet, so here are the names)

* Axminster Rider No. 4 Smoothing Plane - £57 (Axminster tools)
* Stanley Sweethear No. 4 Premium Smoothing Plane - £90 (Axminster tools)
* Qiangsheng No 4 Smoothing Plane - Bedrock Pattern - £100 (Rutlands)

I should point out that I purchased an Anant No 4 Smoothing Plane, but am currently in the process of returning it as the quality seemed very poor (movement in handle, yoke very loose, adjustment knob kept getting stuck, lever cap spring bent, blade had about a 1mm blunt edge and numerous other issues)

 

[morfa]

Buy a no 4 record or stanley from ebay. Shouldn't cost more than £20-30 or so. I bought my first no 4 off ebay and it was perfect, great plane.

Or ring up Ray Iles and buy one of his reconditioned planes - http://www.oldtoolstore.co.uk/ - I bought my no 7 and no 5 1/2 from Ray and they were in excellent condition.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As above except for one plane I'd get a No.5 or (by choice) a No.5 1/2. A little more general purpose than a No.4.
You can spend £100s if you wish, but my most expensive one is an old American Stanley No.8 that I paid £30 for. Steer clear of Silverline, Anant and so on.

 

[Ed Bray]

I have a selection of planes which will be for open sale soon, a Record #4, #5, #6 (England), and a Stanley Bailey #6 (USA) all in good condition, with sharp blades and not abused.

 

[niagra]

If you've got £100, get a Record/Stanley No.4 and a block plane to start with and still have loads left over.

 

[Beau]

As above except for one plane I'd get a No.5 or (by choice) a No.5 1/2. A little more general purpose than a No.4.
You can spend £100s if you wish, but my most expensive one is an old American Stanley No.8 that I paid £30 for. Steer clear of Silverline, Anant and so on.

This.

I own a No 4 but never pick it up. It's always the Record 5 1/2 or a block plane that I reach for. No Idea on all the new brands around but never had any complaint with my Record but did a bit of fettling to get working spot on.

 

[MartinCox]

I'm going to assume that you know enough to be sure that you want:

1. A number 4 and not a 5 or anything
2. To buy new with the (probable) ability to use out of box with minimum work

If not to one or both, then follow the advice already given
If yes to both, then:

1. I recently bought an Axminster rider no 7. I worked on blade for 10 minutes and am very happy with it
2. I bought some time a qangsheng low angle plane. Same work and same degree of happiness as with rider

If you are ,as I say, you are set on new, then perhaps add wood river to the list. I haven't tried it but people whose opinion I trust, seem to like the wood river series

 

[deema]

A lot of people find it hard to master the technique of using a hand plane, I know I was one of them. The problem often encountered when starting out is trying to work out if your results are due to either a plane that's not properly setup or not having the required skills.

I would recommend anyone picking up the hobby to go down one of two routes, either buy a secondhand plane from someone who can show you how to use it / ensure that's it properly setup, or alternatively to buy a top end premium plane such as Clifton, Veritas or Lie Neilson. You will then know firstly how a plane should 'feel' and also that any issues are down to technique rather than a problem with the tool. The premium tools are good to use straight out of the box.

The other suggestion I would give is to start off with a No 5 1/2 plane rather than a No 4. The jack plane (No 5 or 5 1/2) will do almost everything you will ever need until you become adventurous in what your making....or get the bug like most of us to own tools! The 5 1/2 is a little longer than a No 5 and takes a slightly wider blade. The extra length is good for flattening and straightening edges, whilst not being too long to prevent it from being used as a smoothing plane.

For some reason planes fit into two families for blade width, the No 4, 5, 6 and the No 4 1/2, 5 1/2 and the 7. (the no 8 is a different blade width again) Usually you select one family set or the other.....although lots have a mixture / all of them. The reason being is that the blades are fully interchangeable win the 'family', and unless you will be a dedicated hand tool user, and have almost a complete set of planes in which case the blades will be sharoened with varying degrees of camber, the norm is to sharpen them all the same and therefore you can interchange them if one becomes dull.....you seldom need to use all three at one time.

Before I was able to indulge in a buying multiple planes I used a no 5 1/2 for everything without any problems at all. In fact today, when I have a choice of almost any plane I still select the 5 1/2 in preference to anything else. I also use for what the block plane is intended for!

Buying a secondhand plane off a proficient person is the cheapest route, buying a premium plane is the most expensive. However, if you were to give up the hobby you would be able to sell the premium plane for circa 85% of what you paid for it, making it a low risk option if you can afford the initial outlay.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Sorry to correct you - the No.6 is a 2 3/8" iron, so sits with the second group. The first lot have 2" irons and the No.8 has a 2 5/8". A No.3 is only 1 3/4".

 

[worn thumbs]

I can't agree with the idea of a 5 1/2 being preferable to a 4 or 5.I have yet to see the man who could take a couple of full width shavings with one.I also wouldn't buy a new plane as there are thousands of perfectly good Stanleys and Records to be had for modest amounts of cash.They may need a good sharpening and maybe a regrind,but these are skills you will need to master before too long.

A couple of years ago I noticed a small crack in my Stanley No4 which has been in daily use since the seventies and which had suffered a fall off the bench and onto a concrete floor.I only wanted a good casting to serve as a donor when the plane broke and a look around Ebay resulted in one arriving for £8 plus postage.It was much better than I expected and the iron had never been reground.One quick sharpen later and I had two totally serviceable planes-until such time as the old one lets go.

 

[deema]

Thanks Phil, as the Americans say, my bad on the No 6, you are completely correct.

 

[transatlantic]

Thanks for the advice guys.

@Ed Bray - I got your message, but am not allowed to respond (I have to participate more to be able to use this feature apparently). I assume these will be posted in the for sale section soon? .. if so, could you also post some detail photos?

 

[charlibalv]

If it is at all possible for you to use a propely set up plane before you buy one, I would strongly recommend you do so. If you can try out a plane from Clifton, Lie-Nielsen or Veritas you should. There are a lot of new planes out there that are complete rubbish, and some of them have famous names. Old Stanley planes are good, but you may need to a good bit of fettling to clean them up, but that cost elbow grease not money.