New dinky plane

Corvus · June 2023

A few years back I was at the local boot sale and bought a total bargain Stanley no.7 plane. We got chatting and the bloke fishes out a Stanley No.1; these are rare and £1k-£3k type money... it was tiny but so nice in the hand, could see uses for it. Wanted one. Didn't need one. I never bought a new plane, all mine were s/h at very good prices, so didn't want to spend for it. Want though.

It seems Quangsheng do versions every few years and I saw one the other day and went for it. A short bit of time fettling and a rapid stain & lacquer of the wood, it was light orange as arrived:

Next to a battleship for comparison

It feels good, not gonna use it every day or anything, but there's times it'll def be used. Quick vid of it against some limba with fighty reversing/interlocked grain -

Danielsguitars · June 2023

I use a no5 by quangsheng, as good as any of the top tier expensive stuff imo.

I'd like a no7 and a smaller plane next.

BlueStrat · June 2023

I remember my grandad had a whole set of these small brass Stanley planes, wonder what happened to them?
he was always making things and fixing things and had a huge collection of tools. Lovely guy

PrecisionGuided · June 2023

Sssssttt - lovely ;-)

Kalimna · June 2023

"Sssssttt" - The sound of silky shavings wafting off the wood?

Whilst I don't have a metal bench plane as small as a 1, I do have a Quangsheng (from Workshop Heaven) No7, and it planes just as well as the 51/2 Lie Nielsen (with lovely cocobolo handles when it was still an option). The edges of the sole are sharper than the LN, but as a plane it works beautifully.

Corvus · June 2023

Cheers all. For a bit of an indulgence I'm pretty pleased with the little thing. I'd love to get a Clifton or something posh some time but got all bases covered with old stuff really.
@Kalimna this did have fairly sharp edges around the sole, I softened them all up though. I bet that LN's a beauty.

Gassage · June 2023

Disappointed not to find a Cessna 152 FG here.

strat84 · June 2023

Looks a belter

Kalimna · June 2023

Corvus said:

Cheers all. For a bit of an indulgence I'm pretty pleased with the little thing. I'd love to get a Clifton or something posh some time but got all bases covered with old stuff really.
@Kalimna this did have fairly sharp edges around the sole, I softened them all up though. I bet that LN's a beauty.

Not great photo's, but here's my LN 5 1/2, and a couple of wooden planes.....

https://i.imgur.com/GKbv8A9.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/6NwjsSD.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/LmqCqpy.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/cBtz3Ed.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/lyvClwr.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/XPhaKjA.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/BxK0me1.jpeg

Cheers,
Adam

DavidR · June 2023

Classical guitar (and violin) luthiers use lots of planes. The smallest ones are often all brass and are called thumb planes. The wooden ones on the left are called box planes. The big cast iron one at the back is called a shooting plane and the funny moustache shaped thing at the front is a spoke shave.

Hand Planes - Classical Guitar

They will also sometimes simply use a sharp edged piece of metal! Not uncommon.

Online Courses Lutherie Academy

WezV · June 2023

DavidR said:

They will also sometimes simply use a sharp edged piece of metal! Not uncommon.

Scaper sharpening and use should be lesson 1 for all woodworkers

prowla · June 2023

I thought it was going to be a diecast model aeroplane.

Corvus · June 2023

@Kalimna very nice all of them Adam, the LN looks nice and crisp in the details. I have one old wooden jack plane, almost never use it but it's been handy now & then.

In the back of that pic DavidR is a try plane. There are dedicated shooting planes but not so common, normal jack planes work fine. Also three wooden spokeshaves to the left. Scrapers very useful, most people who've made a guitar will have them.

On which note spare plane blades make vicious scrapers, a burr is super easy to turn. Can be handy for tough paint removal sometimes. I've got a couple of old spokeshave blades held in mini locking pliers as handles, as scrapers.

OilCityPickups · June 2023

Ooooo plane porn ... I have a small collection in my workshop that I have lovingly refurbished and sharpened/stropped till you could quite comfortably shave with them. :-)

Corvus · June 2023

C'mon man, pics

I do like having a bit of a sharpening session on a Sunday or something, have everything all fit 'n ready

SteveF · June 2023

Was going to start a separate thread for this but if it’s ok I’ll just ask here (if not, just say and I’ll start a thread). I’m looking at getting started with woodworking and looking at planes at the moment. Are Rider (as far as I can tell it’s Axminster tools’ own brand?) any good? I’m not after anything hugely expensive as I need to spend on quite a few bits but definitely after something useable.

many thanks in advance for your help

Corvus · June 2023

Rider is Axminster's brand, I don't know who makes them though - fairly likely Quangsheng same as this one, but not sure of that. Probably worth heading over to the UK Workshop forum, people there might know or have an opinion (just ignore all threads to do with sharpening ... : ) tends to end up with handbags at dawn, pretty amusing though ).

Also Workshop Heaven sell Quangsheng planes, be worth comparing prices to Ax/Rider. And pics might tell a story too, as in how similar they are.

This is the only Quangsheng plane I have but it's good, been putting it to work just today. Normally I buy old planes for (dirt) cheap and fettle them up. Bear in mind any new plane will need setting up and final sharpening, possibly except for Veritas, Clifton etc. It's worth reading up on, setting up is everything really.

SteveF · June 2023

I did look at Workshop Heaven but the Quangsheng was double the price (Axminster seem to have a sale on - the no7 is 70 odd quid off but even at full price they’re 70+ quid less expensive.) I get that you get what you pay for but I am just starting out and need to buy a fair few bits and sort a basic workbench so I just need something that’s decent enough to last a while and not junk. I’ll check out that forum too, thank you.

Grangousier · June 2023

Despite the fact I don't do woodwork at all, I actually find this kind of thing fascination. That said, whenever I see the thread title, I get this image in my head:

Image: https://blog.tooveys.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Image4.jpg

Corvus · June 2023

Had a quick look Steve, Rider are different to Quangsheng. It's good that Rider have UK made irons with good steel. UKW forum is bound to have a fair lot of info/feedback on Rider planes. Depending what you want from one a new modern Stanley might do the job fine for a good lot less £s.

SteveF · June 2023

Thank you

I’ll have a check out of the forum when I get in later. I’ll also look into Stanley.

It’s really to get started making a guitar(s). So I think it will be jointing and flattening tops etc. from what I’ve managed to glean so far I’m after a No 7, a 4 or 4-1/2 and a small 60.5 block plane?

Kalimna · June 2023

SteveF - I see you're in Scotland. If you're ever out Stirling way, you would be most welcome to pop into my workshop (messy garage) and have a play with some of my planes. I have a fair range, and it mught give you an idea what works best in your hands before buying anything. Ive a selection of chisels and saws too.
Adam

SteveF · June 2023

Thanks mate much appreciated

Corvus · June 2023

In that case Steve skip the modern Stanleys, I would. Also don't get everything at once, like get one Rider and see how it looks or something like that.

Basically-
#7 & 8 is a jointer, long things used for making joints flat & true
#6 you can ignore but is a 'try plane'. short nose - used when a rough board has the worst taken off say with a scrub plane, and before a jointer plane. The short nose helps in this intermediate stage.
#5s - jack planes, can do all sorts
#4s are smoothers - the last step for flat boards etc, refining the finish, taking very fine cuts. Personally very rarely use mine but is sometimes handy.

There is crossover with these^^ like it's perfectly possible to joint blanks with a 4, 4 /12, or a 6 etc etc. But a 5 or 5 1/2 would be a good bit nicer for blank jointing than a 4 and might be all the plane you need. I'd probably get a good 5 or 5 1/2 and a proper machined straight edge, if getting only one plane, or as the first one.
Better to have one good true plane well set-up than a few not-so-great ones, too much runout in the sole or iffy machining and suchlike.

SteveF · June 2023

Thanks @Corvus extremely helpful.

Roland · June 2023

The advice I was given is: don’t buy a tool until you need it. Then buy a decent quality one which will last.

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