# basic ? for basic planes



## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

Hello all, OK I promise I have read material on planes(some reason I dont get it, and also used the search on this site(will admit I only went back 5 pages)
after reading the other threads, I realized that planes are addicting(so I'm not alone). Have prchased a stanley # 4 and a stanley sweetheart low angle plane #60 1/2, and a LN chisel plane(BTW I feel in love with just the feel of this plane),currently waiting for the LN 98 and 99 side rabbet planes- been using them for various things. LOve It when I get the hang of it.
Any way I know what the chisel plane is used for and I know some have multiple purposes, but can someone tell me in simple terms what these following 3 planes are intended for? :blink:
BENCH PLANE
JACK PLANE
BLOCK PLANE
PURPOSE OF LOW ANGLE
Sorry for my ignorance! Thank you for your time


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## The Engineer (Mar 16, 2010)

I'm no expert, but I have been reading Chris Schwarz a lot lately, and he is.
- I think a BENCH plane is a generic term referring to a plane used at the bench, usually with 2 handles, the tote in the back and the knob up front. The iron is usually seated bevel down and there is a cap iron on top of the blade that functions to stiffen the blade, reduce chatter, and curl the shavings.
- The JACK plane, a #5 usually about 14" long, is the most common plane and depending on the way the iron is sharpened and shaped can handle multiple jobs. With a crown in the iron it can hog off a lot of material almost like a #6 fore plane, or with a flat grind and a tight spacing on the cap iron it can serve as a #3 or #4 smoothing plane.
- The Block plane is usually about 6" long, and has no cap iron but often has an adjustable throat. It is often carried to jobs for trim work, relieving sharp edges, shooting miters, end grain work. It was my first plane and usually stayed in my tool box.
- The low angle planes have their irons seated bevel up and are best for end grain work. They are also useful for working difficult grain, to avoid tearout.
- Not asked about, but might as well mention Jointer planes, the #7 and #8, 22" and 24" long. These are usually used to remove saw marks and prepare edges for jointing.


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

Thank youvery much for your time-greatly appreciated!:thumbsup:


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## glh17 (Jul 7, 2010)

Bench planes serve the functions of planers and jointers and sanders from the power tool world. Using the Stanley ID system bench planes are numbers 1 through 8. The difference is size and the size relates to function. Numbers 1 and 2 are really small for most woodworking. Numbers 3, 4, and 4.5 are typically used for smoothing boards. They are set for very fine shavings (super sharp blade and very little mouth opening) and are in the smaller range of lengths. These are the last planes to use. You want you boards to be flat and true before using because you'll work your rear off if you need to take much off with these planes.

The 5 and 5.5 are bench planes, but they are often referred to as jack planes. These are med length planes and are typically used for rough cuts. They are the first to use on rough lumber (some use as scrub plane, then follow with a jack plane). Here the goal is remove wood. Sharp blade and open mouth are important. You don't want fine shavings at this stage. Typically the roughing is done at a 45 degree angle, sometimes horizontally. Lots of tear out, but the purpose is to remove wood, not finish. 

The 7 and 8 are bench planes, but called jointers. The purpose of these planes is to flatten the surface and edges after the 5 or 5.5 has gotten them in reasonable condition. Sharp blade and medium mouth opening are desirable. You have a lot of tear out and rough stuff left from roughing plane and you're goal is to true the board and prepare for smoothing. This is a very important step. Long is good when it comes to truing. The long bed will ride over the humps and eventually get the surface and edge flat. Keep in mind that you can adjust the depth of cut as you go along. As you get closer to your thickness goal you want to lighten up the cut and reduce tear out. 

I just noticed I didn't explain this is a good order. You start with the jack, follow with jointer, and finish with smoother. You don't need all the numbers 4 through 8, but if you're going to work strictly with planes, it would be desirable to have one from each category. Perhaps, a 4, 5, and 7. There's a lot of ins and outs and different ways to do things but you want to go from rough, to medium, to fine in terms of cuts. Chris Swartz video explains this I believe. 

Generally, block planes refer to smaller bevel up planes. Good for getting into tight quarters and low-angle is good for end-grain.

To get an idea of the sizes, you can go to Lie-Nielsen's website and look under bench planes and block planes. Keep in mind that the function defines the appropriate plane and its setup. Actually that's not entirely true. For example, you can use a jack plane as a smooth plane, but you want the mouth tight and the sole really flat. Generally, you want a .003 thick shaving or thinner out of your smoother.

P.S. I left out the #6, called a fore plane. I don't have one of these and really don't see a need since I have a 5 and a 7. It could be used as a long jack or short jointer I guess.


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

I have the LN catalog right in front of me. Ok, now I understand that 2-8 are all bench planes, but bench planes are used for every step. Are the #'s the same whether its Stanley, LN, or joe blows planes? That clears alot up in my head. I feel a couple steps further with that alone.

Now, Some planes have an adjustable mouth, and this is the starting plane(right?). Does that mean that you start using it at the most open point, then slowly work your way down? Then in essence wouldn't the larger mouth to the smaller mouth do everything from just taking wood off to final smoothing? 
Then moving to the end grain(that means sides Correct?) you would turn to a low angle plane.
all in all, I would start with the medium #'s, to the larger #'s, to the smaller #s-Correct?
Thank you so much for your time.-Ron


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## glh17 (Jul 7, 2010)

Are the #'s the same whether its Stanley, LN, or joe blows planes?

Lie-Nielsen, Lee-Valley, Clifton, and other modern plane makers refer to Stanley's numbering system. There may be some that don't, but I can't think of any. Older planes may not, but you can compare their sizes to Stanley's and know what you're getting.

Now, Some planes have an adjustable mouth, and this is the starting plane(right?). Not necessarily, but close if you're trying to go through all three steps (roughing, flattening, and smoothing) with one plane (but you really need more than one plane, see above post). You set the mouth opening based on the quality of the surface you want. In roughing, set the mouth relatively open, not necessarily as open as the mouth is adjustable. If you're trying to get a thick roughing shaving (say .009" for example), the mouth will clog if the mouth is not open enough. If the mouth is too open, you will experience more tear out than necessary. You have to experiment with this. In smoothing you want a shallow cut and tight mouth, almost closed. This gives the thinnest shaving (.001" to .003" for example) with minimal tearout. Note, generally bench planes (bevel down variety) don't have adjustable mouths (my Lee-Valley 4.5 is an exception, it has an adjustable mouth). On these you adjust the frog to adjust the mouth. 

Note also, that today with Lee-Valley and Lie-Nielsen, you can get many, if not all, of the most common bench planes in the form of block planes (bevel up). I'm not sure about this, but I think most of these do have adjustable mouths because they don't have frogs. Adjustable mouth is desirable on a block plane. When I bought my bench planes there wasn't a big variety of bevel up planes. I have a LN bevel up jack plane that is one of my favorite. I might have gone the bevel up route if they had been available. Some people have very good results with them.

Does that mean that you start using it at the most open point, then slowly work your way down? Then in essence wouldn't the larger mouth to the smaller mouth do everything from just taking wood off to final smoothing? Yes, but you have to consider the role of the jointer for flattening. Conceivably, you probably could use a #7 bevel up (mouth adjusting) for everything. However, you would have trouble flattening longer boards with a #4. Also, I haven't mentions blades. In roughing you want a significant camber on the blade to keep the edges from digging in too much. You want a very slight camber on the smoothing plane to prevent slight ridges. Some also camber their jointer slightly. Bottom line is that it's easier to have a plane set up for a particular use than it is to adjust one plane for several uses. Size of plane, curvature of blade, and mouth opening tend to vary depending on what you're trying to do. 

Then moving to the end grain(that means sides Correct?) you would turn to a low angle plane.
all in all, I would start with the medium #'s, to the larger #'s, to the smaller #s-Correct?

End grain means the grain at the ends of a board. For example, if a board is 24" long and 6" wide, the end grain would be the two 6" ends of the 24" long board. Don't confuse end-grain with the edges of the board. The edge of the board is the long sides, in this case the 24" sides (edges). If this board is 3/4" thick, you would be "edging" a 24" long board over the 3/4" thickness. You would follow the same procedure for this that you followed for the surface planing. Get rid of many bumps with the jack, then straighten and flatten with the jointer, and smooth with smoother. Of course you could use an appropriate block plane (bevel up) for this, but standard bevel down planes are the conventional method. 

Low-angle block planes (bevel up) are best for end grain. End grain is tough to plane. You need a very sharp blade and very light shaving to do this successfully. A shooting board designed for end grain is a nice thing to have around for this. Absent a shooting board skewing the plane a bit helps. In fact, skewing helps in most plane applications. 

I hope this helps. I use planes quite a bit, but there are folks with far more knowledge and experience out there. There are also a lot of videos out there with good advice. Jim Kingshott has a great video on bench planes as does Chris Schwartz and Rob Cosman.


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

I so much thank you for your time! I have a MUCH better understanding now. Also, last night I did order two of Chris Swartz's dvd's. You made me much for comfortable with the plane world, and that is priceless. "Everything is simple, the hard part is finding the simplicity" Thanks again-Ron


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## glh17 (Jul 7, 2010)

Good luck, and keep your blades sharp!!


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## Hendo446 (Nov 25, 2009)

I know I'm a little late here, but I had alot of the same questions and all my questions got answeered here. Now I know which planes I need to start aquiring. So thanks for posting the question and thanks to those who answered!


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

These answers helped me incredibly. I had even bought a book about just panes and was still confused-Thanks again


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

I just got a LN #5 jack plane. WOW, love it, cuts like butter. I have a nice power planer and I used my new plane, and kept going back to the plane.


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

I just wanted to add to this post, that as suggested(many times) by posters, that I bought and watched Chris Schwarz dvd's from Lie-Nielson. If anyone wants to know or is confused about planes..As recommended to me, I highly recommend the dvd "Coarse, medium, and fine". WARNING: You will want to buy more planes.
Also, now do not understand how anyone could do any kind of detailed woodworking without a plane(s). I now have a #4, 5, (which was bigger than I thought) 7,(until I got this one). I also have a #98,99 side rabbet , a 1/2" shoulder plane, a chisel plane,and a low angle block plane. What I'm trying to say it just kinda happens.
I bought one plane to help build stuff, now I will build stuff just to use my planes.(kinda wierd). At first I was frustrated because I did not know how to use the first planes, but once you get the hang of it, it is a pleasure and am amazed at the amount of work they really do. So, have fun, relax and have a great day/night.-Ron


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## rsclark67 (Feb 17, 2010)

Hello all,First I want to thank glh17 and The Engineer for giving me the basis for understanding what I was reading and directing me to the proper dvds. Since the original post, I would like to add a little something that is of my own opinion. The block plane to me is the basic plane to have around(I only have a low angle) is for pretty much what the rest may have a slight problem doing-smaller work, around any jointery, if you just need a quick snip off something, and most importantly it excels at end grains. The jack plane(bench plane) ,the jointer plane(bench plane), andthe smoothing plane(bench plane) are next to get- I like them in the order I have them.My favorite though is the jointer plane(it's quite the monster plane).Beyond those I have found a couple others a must have..The shoulder plane, it cleans up dados and any other inner cuts, but I found it necessaryfor hard to get places that the larger planes cannot get to and for very fine trimming of thin stocks. on that note..I wish I had got one that had the removable front,which then turns it into a chisel plane,(very handy )then it is really a necessity for tight spaces.(I got the 1/2 " so I could use it on most dados).If you get the bigger ones they are limited to that size or larger. I also found the side rabbet planes as a necessity, they trim up edges, not only rabbets but any sides within reason of the size of the plane. You will need a set a chisels from 1/8" to 1", and a couple of small files. Most of all as everyone says and says again..KEEP EVERYTHING SHARP, learn that as soon as possible, none of them work as needed when dull. Please note I have only been working with planes since my first post,(but I dove in head first) so I am a beginner and these are just my preferences. Hope this helps.Have a great day.-Ron


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*You Tube Broadcast Yourself*

Is a great source of info on most woodworking subjects and machinery, tips, techniques....here how to tune up your block plane. :thumbsup: bill


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