I've been using a variety of vintage Stanley and Record planes for my woodworking projects, but I'm getting a bit tired of constantly tweaking them and hunting for parts. Sometimes, I just want to get to work without all the hassle! I'm considering investing in 3 or 4 high-end bench planes to set myself up for life — not including block or specialty planes. I'm leaning towards Lie Nielsen or Veritas, but I'm open to suggestions. What are the 3 or 4 essential bench planes you'd recommend, which manufacturer do you prefer, and in what order should I buy them? I plan to use these mainly for finishing, large tenons, edging, and squaring, rather than rough dimensioning. Some options I'm thinking about include a rabbet bench plane, a #4, a #5 1/2 (thanks, Rob Cosman!), low angle, or even Japanese planes.
2 Answers
I've been using a Quangsheng (Woodriver) #5 1/2 as my main bench plane, and honestly, it does everything I need except for final smoothing and specialty tasks. It’s solid for general work!
I have my hesitations about low angle planes, especially when comparing them to standard ones. Fine Woodworking has pointed out that when you consider the iron bevel and bed bevel angles, both types kind of even out around a 25-degree bevel. But, Cosman did a pretty interesting comparison that’s worth checking out!
For me, the beauty of low angle planes is that they’re bevel-up, allowing for different angles on irons, which is handy for various tasks.
I haven’t used low angle bench planes myself, but I’m intrigued. I doubt I’d buy one first, but they might be beneficial for working with heavily figured wood.
I actually have a Woodriver #6, which is kind of rare in the mix, but it works great for me!