Comments on: Questions answered

By: J Guengerich

J Guengerich — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:16:00 +0000

I’m building my Paul Sellers european workbench right now and I have the first section of bench top laminated and the bottom hand planed. I’ve been a bit of a consumer, especially before finding Paul’s work, and I bought the New Stanley SW low angle Jack plane because the guy at the lumber yard recommended it… and it was the only no 5 that they had. I’ve read bad reviews of it but I have to say that in experimenting with it alongside my 4, 4 1/2, 5 1/2, it di a great job and was a real joy to use. (I guess it works well on other surfaces besides end grain butcher blocks.) Will it take the place of my 4 or 4 1/2? No, but it has its place and most importantly, I really enjoy it. I also have the new SW block plane and it does an amazing job. If I could just not drop the darn thing,
If I had to survive with just one plane it would be the 4 or 4 1/2, and a nice flat set of winding sticks, (I use them to follow the plane and check flatness as I go on wider surfaces like the bench top) the combo is fun and useful but if you bought something else just have fun and learn to use it. A bit of creativity can make most of these planes very versitile.

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:42:00 +0000

I agree, I must say though that I bought a set of the bevel up planes and they are spectacular for a lot of things. Under my bench, I have that set (jointer, smoothers, and jack plane), a standard Record #4 Plane, a veritas apron plane, and an old beat up Stanley #5 which I’ve turned into my jack/scrub plane. I had bought a Veritas scrub plane when I started milling wood by hand and I’m thinking of selling it because it just doesn’t work as well as the #5 with a concave sharpened blade on it. I must say that there is still much to be said about older tools. With a little bit of time and patience, older tools can and usually be better values than anything new you can buy off the shelf. It’s a shame, as Paul said, that there aren’t many companies making quality tools anymore that aren’t from China or Mexico. With the exception of Lie Nielsen and Veritas and the price tag that come with them, there aren’t many choices other than older tools. Truth be told, once you restore them to look like new and work like new, I promise you’ll value that older tool more knowing you brought something back to life, than any $300 chinese made plane. Thanks for all the insight you bring to woodworking and the teaching methods, Paul! I can’t wait for the next series of books/DVD’s

By: Chris Wong

Chris Wong — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Good response, Paul. I enjoyed reading it and I think that many (most?) woodworkers struggle with the question of which/how many tools are necessary.

Chris