EVERYDAY PLANES FOR EVERYDAY WORK...

I CAN'T THINK of a tool more fun to use and more integral to a woodworking project, especially with woodworkers that enjoy and appreciate the benefits of a hand plane. I am yet a hybrid shop, using a blend of handtools along with a tablesaw, jigsaw, and router.  (and a bandsaw, though it works mediocre as a resaw machine which is what I really need it for).   I consider it a compromise in that I cannot use only hand tools but would like to;  and that inspite of having sanders and a thickness planer, the fact remains that it would be unthinkable to me now to not use hand planes.  It's now irrelavent whether I enjoy using them or not, because I could not now go back to the quality of work I had before I used them on every project.   Planes have become essential to the kind of work I want to do and I feel I need to do.   On a daily basis, I am increasing my use of hand tools and am still floating between various tools I like and dislike.  Sometimes the competition is close between tools and I can't bear to totally put one aside.  But in reality, shouldn't one good tool in each category should be enough?  For me, I'd have to say hardly.  Another complication that leads to having so many tools or redundancy in types of tools, is the fact of where and how you do all your work.  I am not content, and never have been, to only have tools in a vehicle that get dual use between shop and jobsight.  I greatly prefer separation to a wide extent as compared to alot of guys.  For example, shown in the photos are hand planes that sit on my little bench all the time and get used alot.  However, in my work vehicle, I have a japanese-style carpenters tool box loaded with more woodworking and carpentry tools.   In that box, all the time, I carry another Stanley #4, an old Millers Falls #7 low angle block plane, and another standard block plane with adjustable mouth similar to the one in the middle in the photo below.  That's all I carry for planes in the truck and it's always been adequate.  In the shop I have many more planes, more than what's shown here.  In these photos are all I ever really need for nearly anything I would build.  For years in the field as a carpenter, I only carried a stanley 12-247 and used it alot and yet I was rare in that I was the only one I know of who carried a plane at all.  This says alot about the trade of carpentry since the 1980's and later (and the guys were actually fine carpenters to boot).  If I were really a minimalist, I could do with three planes:  I would have a #4,  #5 and a very standard block plane such as a 220 (such as the sears clone on the left) or better yet would be the plane on the right which is a Sears model which I can't at the moment remember the model #, but is basically a 220 clone variant.  The little black plane I bought new myself around 1990.  Of the three, the green plane is the best cutter, nicest to use and performs exquisitely for such a modest model. 

3 block planes (sears) I love, especially the green mystery model

 None of them are  real stanleys, but sears craftsman clones, and yet the quality of each is very high.  The two on the right I bought very cheaply on Ebay for around 12 to 15 bucks each.  They are for sure ones that date back to the 1960's and all three are US made.  Interestingly, the one in the middle is a sears 3704 and should be the nicest to use given the extra features it has.  It has the adjustable mouth and very fine depth adjustment.  It came with its original box and had a price tag on it stating $3.89!  That sounds cheap but remember in the early/mid 60's that equalled about $29!  So, it was and still would be, alot of plane for the money.  What irratates me about it is the depth adjuster.  Down at the finest settings, the lever arm bottoms out at the sole and won't move.  There is so much play the other way that it doesn't make sense to me.  I could never use the amount of cut it has in the other direction and the iron (which seems to be original and correct) is set in the lowest of 3 slots in the blade.   It's as if I need to sharpen away 1/8 inch off the blade, and then everything would balance out.  At present, it cuts nice, but it bugs me that I am as fine as I can go on the depth.  In contrast are the 220 clones which take as fine a cut as you could want and slice through face grain, edge grain and even end grain with equal ease.  By far, the style with the thumbscrew tightener on the cap iron is the nicest design.  The beefy depth adjustment screw is nicer too for precision and robust size.   

The real workhorse in any shop should be the #4 size, and for me that's certainly true.  I believe the teaching that says you should become so adept with a #4 that for furniture and cabinetmaking it would tend to be all you must have.                                                                   


The planes at right then are the real workhorses for me.   At left is a stanley 12-204 which is the newer variety and has the plastic tote and knob.  I got it for free but it had no iron in it, so I bought an iron and sharpened it with a pronounced camber so as to make it into a scrub plane.  It works well for that on the occasional rough sawn piece I plane down for use. Next from the left is a late 60's craftsman very similar the scrub plane with plastic tote and knob.  I got it in pristine condition off ebay for around $20 with its original box.  When sharpened, it cuts clean and nice, though curiously still not as fine and smooth as a stanley.  For curiousity sake, I should switch the iron with the stanley and see if the stanley at left cuts nicer.  Well, I guess I can't really try that because if you look close, the free stanley has the wrong size chip breaker (I think from a no 3).  Third from left is a Millers Falls no 900 which in fact was a kind of "handyman" series for Millers Falls.  Being MF, it would have to be 1960's vintage since the company died not long after that.  I like the plane alot because of a super nice cut, good adjustment like a stanley though with more travel in the thumbscrew (called backlash), and the largest tote of any other model I have,  At far right, the record has the smallest tote and is noticeably less comfortable to use but cuts the nicest of the four, though no better than the stanley #4 I carry in the truck.  I bought the record new from garrett-wade mail order around 1993.  The quality is very high and the cut/adjustment very fine.  The only drawback is the tiny tote handle (and I have small hands!)  Bottom line:  buy the mllers no 900 if you come across a clean one with original iron (mine was from a flea market) and if you get it for 25 bucks or less.  Otherwise find a genuine stanley circa 1940's -1960's and you'll be set for life.  Of course, if you see a good deal on the higher end millers in 4 or 5 they are great planes as well.  I have the no 5 size called in MF designation a 14CB.  CB stands for corrugated bottom I think since that's what mine has.  It was my grandfathers and I think he got it in the 40's or 50's.  Wow, what a beautiful and fantastic cutter!

AND YET,  does it perform better than a stanley, such as the decent #5 I have in the picture at top?  Well, maybe, but I can't really say concretely.  To be fair, the stanley is not a corrugated sole, so there is that slight difference.  My stanley #5 is clean and decent and a great find from a local flea market, however the no14 Millers is in nicer overall shape.  It's about a tie when both irons are fresh and sharp.  This proves to me that I need never look elsewhere than a good older stanley, or stanley bailey for sure, and that includes with or without a corrugated sole.  I doubt the necessity of a corrugated sole in any particular situation, meaning that the flat sole is fine for all applications.  Some people may justifiably disagree on this point, and I suppose it may be in regards to final planing on very slick and smooth wood where the corrugation breaks the vacuum feeling you get?  As to other planes, I have a late 1980's ECE wood plane in the smoothing size and without the depth adjuster.  I learned to tap it gently as needed to make any adjustment needed and can get nice clean shavings from it, but I still prefer an iron plane for nearly all types of work.  The wood plane feels light in the hands though the iron is thick wonderful German steel.  I grab it more for a "scrubbing" type use and it gets scant use at that.   I will revisit this topic of handplanes many more times in the future, I'm sure, at least to finish talking about my own collection and their pros and cons.