# Knob on Side of Stanley Jack for Shooting



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

.. I am SOOOO tempted to tap a hole on the side of my gorgeous vintage stanley #5 jack for shooting! My brother is going to machine the right side to be square with the sole.. between the two it seems like it would be a nice shooting plane--as is my hand goes numb within a minute--seriously.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

If your going to make a dedicated shoot (chute) plane you'd be better going with a low angle plane... Better performer for shooting.

Good luck!

...build n burn - live n learn...


----------



## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Bigger question here is why is your hand going numb? Is it hand position, what your hand is pressing against, or the motion?


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

+1 low angle. Couldn't you just make something like the $65 hot dog Lie Nielsen sells?


----------



## joe bailey (Dec 15, 2011)

Woodgeekess -
You are a woodworker now. You need to start thinking like one. Go have a look at this page oin the Lie-Nielsen site: http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1247
Look at the photo and read the description of the "hot dog attachment". Many others have fashioned wooden handgrips which permanently or temporarily attach to the cheek of their shooting planes. I'm sure you can probably google half a dozen build-alongs where someone shows you how.
Best of luck - now go build something!

EDIT: Guess I was being long-winded while Shop Dad was posting...


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Great minds think alike. 

Glad you sent the link. I thought it might be a bit obscure. 

(Not sure why but suddenly in the mood for a martini. Shaken, not stirred.)


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

joe bailey said:


> Woodgeekess -
> You are a woodworker now. You need to start thinking like one.


Whatever that means?

Btw, I've already seen the hot dog attachment that lie nielsen sells.


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

firemedic said:


> If your going to make a dedicated shoot (chute) plane you'd be better going with a low angle plane... Better performer for shooting.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> ...build n burn - live n learn...


Well ideally I'd get a LV low angle jack that everyone raves about for shooting, but I can't afford $219 right now and besides LV planes look kinda ugly--sorry jsut saying.

Actually I am shooting quite well with this stanley bailey #5 .. I have it tuned up nicely. Getting tissue thin ribbons one could blow her nose on.


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

sawdustfactory said:


> Bigger question here is why is your hand going numb? Is it hand position, what your hand is pressing against, or the motion?


Probably mostly due to having the extra pressure of holding the sole of the plane up flush to the shooting board because the right side of the plane isn't perfectly perpendicular to the sole.


----------



## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

I use my #6 for my shooting. It's got enough weight behind it that it slices thin ribbons too. I would love to have a LA Jack too, but not in the works right now. Bailey #5's are a dime a dozen, so I say go for it if you plan to stick with this one for your shooter for a long while. As long as it's working good for you then awesome. How is your brother going to grind the sides and sole square?


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

ACP said:


> I use my #6 for my shooting. It's got enough weight behind it that it slices thin ribbons too. I would love to have a LA Jack too, but not in the works right now. Bailey #5's are a dime a dozen, so I say go for it if you plan to stick with this one for your shooter for a long while. As long as it's working good for you then awesome. How is your brother going to grind the sides and sole square?


I don't know how he'll do it; i sent him some pics of the plane in an email a couple hours ago as he requested. He'll figure out a way. He's been a machinist for 20 years now.


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Handy to have a machinist brother! I'm curious, was the plane restored that it is out of square?


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

Stanley didn't make the bench planes to be square to the sides according to an email I got from Patrick Leach the other day. The plane I got was pretty much untouched, it had a very dark pantina, the entire thing being rust & pit free.


----------



## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Ahhh....he's a machinist. I'm sure he'll find a way. Post some pics of the old girl! We want to see it too.


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

ACP said:


> Ahhh....he's a machinist. I'm sure he'll find a way. Post some pics of the old girl! We want to see it too.


Ok here she is--the same day I got her off Craiglist for $25 after hours of cleaning, oiling, honing, polishing. She's super sharp and accurate (except for the side that isn't square lol).










She has 95% all of her japaning except for chips at foot and toe. I don't know why people give wwii era planes a bad rap in discussion threads on which Stanley's to buy. This one has a pretty, solid rosewood tote along with a black knob. It has brass tote & knob screws instead of just one piece silver metal ones. It does have the hard rubber depth adjuster which I have no problems with (feels good on my fingers). I have no problems with this plane. The Stanley planes to really avoid are the ones with the painted blue beds.

The guy that sold it to me didn't know much about planes but was interested in getting into woodworking at his elderly age (he was about 70 I say). It wasn't performing for him I guess--one problem being that the frog screws were a few millimeters loose (rolls eyes)  He had gotten it at an estate sale recently for $25.

She does have a small drill hole at the toe as you can see, but I don't care--gives it character, lol.


----------



## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

That's a beauty! and nice curls! :thumbsup:


----------



## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Looks good. Love me a pile of shavings! For as good as it looks I would be inclined not to drill a hole anywhere on it, but it's your plane. I'd think you could make a handle and just thread a screw in it and tighten it against the sidewall. I have no idea if that's how hotdogs are attached or if they have through holes, but it seems to me it wouldn't be an issue. As long as the old gray iron doesn't crack if you did do that.


----------



## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

I'd look for a cracked,broken or parts plane on evil bay.The blade angle would be my main concern on a shooter,so would consider coming up with an adj angled frog system of maybe different wedge angles?Just a whole lot easier to justify experimenting on an otherwise,junk/broken plane.good luck,BW


----------



## woodgeekess (Mar 16, 2012)

BWSmith said:


> I'd look for a cracked,broken or parts plane on evil bay.The blade angle would be my main concern on a shooter,so would consider coming up with an adj angled frog system of maybe different wedge angles?Just a whole lot easier to justify experimenting on an otherwise,junk/broken plane.good luck,BW


That's an idea.. I'll look out for a Stanley Bailey #5 base on ebay.. maybe I'll get one that is more square too  I'll just leave this one alone. I can swap the bases at will as well--good idea thanks.


----------



## Billy De (Jul 19, 2009)

This is JMHO but I wouldn`t get to up tight about the cheeks of a plane being square to the sole if you are going to use this as a shooting plane.If the run way is out of parallel with the bass of the board or the cheeks of the plane out of square with the sole then all you have to do is adjust the plane iron in the plane to run parallel to the wood you are shooting.

The method you are thinking about with the handle was originally introduced with the T5.

BTW the best shooting planes are those with a skew mouth but these are not in every one`s budget but a good way to get around this is to make your shooting board with a run way on a incline and this makes every plane a skew mouth.

You can also make the backer on the shooting board pivitable by this I mean you can set it at any angle that you wont and still get good results. Enjoy it .


----------

