# Stanley 55 or a set of hollow and rounds?



## tim407 (Nov 24, 2012)

I'm a hobbyist woodworker so time is on my side here. I own a few power tools (to include a router) but prefer hand tools and have found I haven't even bothered plugging in anything but my orbital sander in the wall in over a year. 

That being said, I've collected enough hand tools I'm at the point where all I really need now is the ability to creat profiles. Nothing too terribly fancy just a moulding here or there or a simple profile to break up lines in a project. I've read the Stanley 55 was intended to replace wooden profile planes and came with a plethora of profile irons. 

The pros in my mind is the ease of sharpening since you don't have to exactly match the profile of the iron to the plane body, the price since a set of hollow and rounds costs in excess of around 1400 and from what I see 200-300 for the 55, takes up a lot less space. 

The cons is where I'm stuck, without the support of the plane body do u still get a good reliable cut? Is the trouble worth substituting a 55 for profile planes or do u think down the road ill probably end up investing in wooden profile planes anyway?

Thanks in advance!!


----------



## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Sorry I do not own a 55, I have a 45 but have only used it once and that was for a test.

I think looking at the original instruction manual may help in your decision.

http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanley/comb-planes/55man.pdf

There are special thin plates of steel called runners used to support the plane in the cut. 

I can see this working easily for cuts parallel to the grain, I wonder if it is difficult to make cuts on the end grain.


----------



## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

I've got 2 45s, and a set of wooden molders. I've always been partial to cast bench planes, but when it comes to the molders, I always grab the wooden ones.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

The 55 is much more capable than the 45 for moulding but no combination plane can really replace moulding planes. 

Overall the best option if you chose to go the combination route is a 46. It has skewed irons making for smoother cuts with and across the grain. Either way the nickers must be engaged for cross grain operations.

A filister, dado, a few beading planes and hollows and rounds, will allow you to make any mouldings you could possibly desire. 

As you suspect, the combination plane's lack of a soul, lol that sounds funny, means that they aren't the greatest performers.


----------



## Woodenhorse (May 24, 2011)

I would advise to go with the hollows and rounds. The 45 & 55 require the correct base and unless you already have the appropriate parts they are very difficult to find and set up is quite the challenge. Switching between a dedicated hollow and round is much easier since you won't have to disassemble and the reassemble and tune each time you need a different profile.


----------



## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

I don't have enough experience to make a meaningful suggestion, but if you decide to go the hollow/round route, you might want to see if you can find a set from Mujingfang. I saw a set (I think there were 16 planes?) for around $200, new, from them. That was maybe a year ago, but if you can find them it might be a cheaper way to go. They're still listed on the website (as "Veining" and "Radius" planes), but I can't figure out how to buy direct from the site.

I've heard some fairly good things about them, and saving $1200 might be worth some reduction in quality.

EDIT: And another 30 seconds of searching shows them being sold as a set at Lee Valley.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=64009&cat=1,230,41182

It's a set of 6 hollows and 6 rounds for $250. They're metric, though, which might cause you trouble or might not.


----------



## tim407 (Nov 24, 2012)

Thanks!! Def looks like a good starter set, I'm going to give em a purchase before next month and post what I think of em.


----------



## toolemera (Nov 4, 2007)

Truth is, you don't need to buy a set. Only buy pairs in sizes you need for a particular project as needed. If you buy a full set, you'll end up with planes you may never use or may not use for years. That pretty much goes for any type of wood plane.

You can also buy partial sets in the most common sizes but even then, unless you know what you plan on building, you may end up spending money on something you don't need.

Gary


----------

