Hand Plane or Jointer

[Daibach]

I've been making big pieces of wood into little pieces for a couple of years now, (and occasionally into something useful) and have been thinking that the next step would be to get a jointer, then a thickness planer.
However it would be a lot cheaper, and take up a lot less room in the shop to get a couple of good planes and learn how to use them.

I know it would take a lot longer to get rough wood 'fair and square' but I'm a low production guy anyway, and I can see that it would be satisfying.
But can an old dog of average ability eventually learn to get good results?

I've got a table saw (BT3100, that's how I wound up here), router, band saw & mitre saw. I've made book cases, small tables, a rockinghorse, built a fold-up wall bed, ....whatever comes along.

(It appears from past posts that there's a definite danger of becoming a planeoholic, and that would blow the 'lot cheaper' arguement, but there's risks in everything)(and I've nearly got my craving for power tools under control,( but a jointer is a neat piece of machinery) )

So how hard is it to learn to use a hand plane competently?

PS Thanks for all the useful information I've already got from this forum. It's great.

[drumpriest]

I have never used a jointer plane, so I don't think that I'll be TOO useful, but smoothers and block planes are pretty easy to use. Once you get used to reading the grain, and tuning up your plane, it's pretty straight forward.

I would suggest the planer first for you though. You can plane a board by hand and get it flat, and you can plane an edge for glue-up, though you could joint using your router. But getting a board to a consistent thickness would probably be challenging.

Here's my router jointing tutorial...

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=27458

[LinuxRandal]

I have a LONG way to go to be able to sharpen, tune, and use any hand plane to it's full potential yet. I started into that because of an inherited plane. After finding it is junk, I started keeping my eyes out and have come across some bargains. I thought I was getting better with them, till I decided I wanted a scrub plane, and bought a LN. NOW I know what sharp is, and how a plane works. I don't have anyone local that I know that can tune and use a plane, so everything I know is from the school of hard knocks, books and sites like this one.

For me, a plane is 1. More for fine tuning and 2. If I want to make something have an old timey feel to it. Depending on money verses time and if you can gain experience well from others, hand planes can be inexpensive, or you can go out and get LN, LV, Knight or a few others, and have them ready to go, for around the cost of your power tools. It's not a straight comparison.

[Red88chevy]

I tried using a long plane to joint edges for a couple of years but was never very happy with the results. Now that I have a jointer I know I'm starting with atleast 1 straight side, then its up to me to make the rest of them straight and square. I recommend getting the jointer. If I was buying now I would get a Rikon.

[Pappy]

I use hand planes on a regular basis inluding a #7 Jointer. To get a square edge I normally attach my 386 fence to the plane. I have worked some stock completely from rough to smooth one side/edge with planes. It takes lots of patience and practice but is a satifying experience.

That said, I have a Rockwell 8" jointer and a DeWalt 733 planer. The only way I would part with either of them is to upgrade to better machines.

[cabinetman]

Properly set up, it is hard to match a good machined edge or face. I love hand tools and working with them. I learned WW'ing with hand tools, I call it a budgetary education. If your hand tools are properly set up and maintained, it's a lot of fun and a lot of work.

[JR]

I was watching a FWW instructional video on frame and panel construction last night. The presenter showed every step using hand tools as well as power tools.

Hand tool usage looks very compelling (I have only a couple of cheapy planes). It's quiet in the shop. You really "create" the piece. But it is decidely not cheaper.

Good planes are pretty pricey and you'd want several of them. Jointer, smoother, rabbet, block, combination, etc. Plus you'd want a good sharpening system - something better than scary sharp if you're going to spend that much time and effort with those tools. That's another 300-400 bucks (as I sadly found out in Calgary yesterday, I no longer have to provide a conversion rate for the Looney!).

You could, as I have done, start with inexpensive hand tools, with a view to dabbling in this category of woodworking. That, however, is not a choice between power tools and hand tools. It's an incremental addition to your shop. If you bought cheapies in order to get started, you will not be happy using as your main production tools. You'd have to have the noise makers in that case.

JR

[jlm]

I'd have to agree with the others - if you're serious about doing this kind of work by hand, you'll need good planes, and a set of planes that will give you the same results you can get out of a powered jointer and planer won't be much cheaper than the machines in the end. If you get lucky and find some good old Stanleys, it might be cheaper, but most old planes I've seen have taken a fair bit of work to get working as well as a new Lie-Neilsen or Veritas plane. That's a whole new set of skills to learn. I rehabbed an old Stanley No. 5 I got off Ebay, and it was a fun experience, but definitely more work than I thought it would be to get it tweaked just right.

Then you need to learn how to sharpen. I'm still trying to learn this one. I've got a few planes and I love to use them, but having to stop halfway through something to sharpen the iron can definitely be irritating.

There's very little in the woodshop that's more satisfying than when everything is tuned just right and the shavings come off the board tissue-thin, with that great cutting sound. But they can be very frustrating to use, too. I'm by no means an expert, I'm still learning a lot (especially about hand tools), so I'm probably coming from the same place you are, experience-wise.

One advantage of planes over machines is that you're not as limited on the size of workpieces you can work with. A hand plane doesn't care how wide the board is like a jointer or planer does.

Overall, though, I'm very, very glad to have my Yorkcraft jointer and Delta planer. As much as I like the hand tools, I wouldn't be as productive in the shop if I were limited to only hand planes. It's so nice to be able to pass a rough board across the jointer a couple times and walk away with a board you know is flat and square. Sometimes I just don't want to mess around with the planes - I just need a flat board so I can continue with the project.

In short, you can go either way, but I would pretty much forget the economic factor - hand planes really aren't cheaper, unless you buy cheap planes and set yourself up for disappointment, or are prepared to put in a lot of time setting up a good "antique" plane.