Favorite Hand Plane

[Birdhunter]

I’m building a box for a very dear friend’s ashes. Using splines for the joints and had to shave them down. Used a LN block plane and looked at a wall full of LN planes I very rarely use. The little adjustable mouth block plane is the one I reach for most often. The second most used plane is a monster jointer plane. I bought it because I thought it looked neat. Turned out, it is a great plane.

I have built boxes for all of our pet’s ashes, but this box is special.

 

[ear3]

Good luck with the project and a fitting send off!

The adjustable mouth 60 1/2 was the first block plane I got and for a time most used, but ironically, after I picked up the smaller 102, whose weight and feel jive with my hand a lot better, the 60 1/2 is now among the planes I use least outside of some specialty items.

 

[derekcohen]

It depends on the size of the piece to plane, how complex the wood is (interlocked grain will defeat a low angle block plane), and how proficient you are using hand planes.

I have a Veritas block plane set up with a 62 degree cutting angle, and I also have a similar sized HNT Gordon mini smoother (60 degree cutting angle). I prefer #3-sized smoothers any way, and with a closed up chipbreaker can plane anything.

Boxes always need a shooting board, and a larger plane with some heft  (e.g. LA Jack) works much, much better than a block plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[jeffinsgf]

Like ear3, I favor the LN 102. Just fits. My wife gave me a Clifton block plane for Christmas, and it is winning its way into my heart when I need just a little more heft than the 102. I have a LN #4, a vintage Sargent VBM that's just a wee bit bigger than a Stanley #4 but not as big as a 4-1/2, and a vintage Stanley #3 that all see quite a bit of work. I have LN low angle jack, a Paragon standard jack and a vintage Stanley #7. I would probably say the LN low angle is my pick of the three larger planes, but as Derek pointed out, low angle isn't always the answer. My plane till isn't a smooth line of ascending sizes, but there aren't any that have been idle for very long.