What, sir rule, said the plane,
Another reason I will thee say;
Tho oft my master have no stock,
Yet thy master thou should not mock;
For yet a means I shall see,
So that my master shall prosperous be.
I shall him help, both day and night.
To get him good with all my might,
I shall cleanse on every side
To help my master in his pride.
Anonymous, 15th century manuscript
Rob Gates, who has a wonderful blog,
The Offcut, asked me whether I like the Stanley #3 smoothing plane better than the #4 smoothing plane.
I like both, but I find that I will pick up the #3 more often than I do a #4. Why? Maybe because of the #3 seems to "cleanse" wood easier than a #4. I find it interesting that one of my #3's smooths Indian rosewood better than the other, that could be explained by saying I have that blade and plane tuned up perfectly for such wood, or...?
For the record, the two planes I use most are a #3 and a #7.
And another thing-I discovered that these old vintage planes (pre-WWII types) work better with their
original irons capped by a new Hock or Lee Valley chip breaker. Those old blades are made from wonderful steel that I can quickly hone to razor sharpness and with the thicker breaker I experience no chatter, no tear outs, just shavings. The old chip breakers are good, but don't throw them away! They're collectible, you know!
I mention this because I recently read in some wood working magazine that there is a "hand plane revival", but in order to be part of this revival you must buy some expensive blades and chip breakers
and alter your original antique planes to accept those new irons and breakers!
Please, don't alter your old planes for these new blades, they will work fine with original parts issued for them!
I think it is better to spend your time working with the wood and getting to know your old tools than reading opinions in a magazine. Or on a blog.
Now get to work!
