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