Sketchup is a deceptively simple and powerful architectural program that used to be $500+ per license for individual users until Google bought the company and made it free recently. I can post a link for a file download if someone can give me a hint how to do that. I did the sketchup just to visualize the joinery and to check the dimensions of my parts before I started cutting into the rough stock to avoid having to go back to the lumber yard.

ps there are some very good video tutorials that will save a lot of time learning how to navigate and get things done in sketchup on aidanchopra.com Before I read his book sketchup for dummies I got frustrated with the program quite often. He explains how to group parts and make components so that you can work a lot more efficiently. On fine woodworking's website, Tim and Dave have a blog on sketchup and they focus on teaching how to use sketchup specifically for woodworking.

i think this is great...but it should have its own heading..we are in a hand plane topic....it will get lost

"we are in a hand plane topic" - the master

I dont have a lot of money and I dont have a joiner..which really sucks, but I do have #4,#5, jack jr, and #7. So depending on the size of the board I will use some combination of the above to flatten, or try to flatten and then run it through the ole thickness planner...sorry to get off on that, my favorite is the jack jr. I guess bc in really hard woods its easier to push with the smaller blade. I spent a total of about $200 for all those planes. There just old stanleys that I picked up at different places but they seem to work fine once tuned up, but that takes a bunch of time! so be very paitent if your going that route.

hey man...congratulations on a wise and penny wise choice....i know it took a ton of time but i am sure you learned so much more by doing it than just talking about it.....chop chop...hehe! i love this forum

Jeremy,

It’s great that you have the collection of planes that you have...you need to get your hands on a scrub plane. I have a LN, but there should be some old stanley’s out there.

If I have a board too wide for my 6" jointer, I will pull out the scrub to get the twist out of it and get the board as flat as possible than run it through a planer. In my opinion the scrub is one of the most go to and hards working hand tools in the shop. It one of those tools most woodworker never think about, until the own one and start using it.

As far as refurbishing old planes and their performance, I would be the first to say that yea they can perform as well as a new LN. However, refurbishing an old plane is not that inexpensive, as most people believe. Unless you think your time is free. In my case, I have different demands placed on my time, so any time in the shop is important to me. I will still probability have more shop time than the average hobbyist.

Lets look at a cost comparison a LN #5 cost between $280.00 to $300 and similar Bailey Bedrock 605 on e-bay sell for a low of $100 to $200 depending on condition (a refurbished will sell in the $225 range). Even the refurbished planes will have stamped carbon irons, where as the LN has an A2 steel iron and thicker chip breaker. You may ask so what the big difference between the A2 steel vs the carbon steel iron? The difference is the time needed between having to stop and hone your iron, and the reduction of blade chatter (A2 blades are much thicker than a carbon iron ).

And to tell you the truth, refurbishing a plane is more than cleaning the rust, putting on new japanning and flatting the sole. The front edge of the mouth should be filed vertical to provide forward at a 15 degrees to provide shaving clearance, while at the same time insuring that the opening of the mouth not be made any larger, Cap irons need to be worked so full contact is made on the chip breaker (another source for chatter, lever-cap should be smoothed and flatten so that iron adjustments operates smoothly, if you don’t want to spend the money for a replacement cap iron…than you need to clean that up so it has solid contact on the iron (blade) so chips do not get lodge between the iron and cap iron (by the way this is 45 to 50 degrees). Oh I forgot one more thing…the steel used in the old planes is like wood there is always some movement…the modern metallurgy is much better than it was when those old planes were built. This means that you can look forward to having to tune-up that old plane more often than a modern LN plane, which also will need to be tuned-up every so often.

Again, I have refurbished planes and sold all of them except one and purchased LN replacements. I just rather work at building furniture with tools that do not require a lot fussing. I know that the tools do not make you a better woodworker, but it sure makes it more enjoyable. Jeremy, I know when I first started out money was an issue. I was happy with any tool I purchase and learned a lot about how to tune it up the best I could. Heck… I think if there was no more to learn I would sell all my tools and find another hobby. But we have woodworkers like The Chizz and Neil out there teaching us and push us in building our skills in both techniques and design. So I don’t think I am in any danger of having to sell my tools any time soon.

Chuck

Tom:

I came across this nice comparison by Christopher Schwarz last evening. Hope you find it enlightening. Here's the link:

http://www.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/Important+Differences+Between+BrBevelup+And+Beveldown+Planes.aspx

just thought I would chime in with my understanding of bevel up planes-Which are commonly refered to as "low angle" while they are bedded at 12 degrees they plane blade typically has a 25 degree primary and possibly a 5 degree secondary bevel so the actual angle is 37 to 42 degrees-but you could put a much higher bevel up to 40 degrees on your blade and end up at 52 degree angle. The other nice things for me-less parts-no chipbreaker, no frog, no lateral adjustment. Makes it very user friendly for a newbie. Also they cost less than the standard planes-I got my lie nielsen low angle jack for 225 shipped-not old stanley cheap but not awful for a lifetime tool. Just my 2 cents

Paul,

Are you breaking in that LN plane on old Crazy Legs? I highly would recommend that you get a second iron for that bad boy...when you start feeling the iron getting dull, just put the second sharpen iron in. I hate having to stop and pull out the sharping tools to hone an iron, especially when the job is not that large. Never want to use a dull iron, due to chip out. (a new LN iron is only $45.00, a Hock iron is slightly thinner than a LN and cost approx. $40.00)

Chuck

Yes, your observations are spot on. I also keep an extra blade for my LN 64 and 162 ground to steeper angles that result in an equivalent York pitch or greater for the these bevel up planes. If I have some real nasty figured wood that is still exhibiting tearout, I switch out the blades and the different angle of attack is usually enough to eliminate the tearout. This technique of keeping an extra blade ground to a steeper angle will also work on traditional bench planes. The cost of a blade $30-50 gives you the versatility of having another smoother with York pitch without having to fork over the $300-350 for another plane.