Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello all,

I hope everyone's Friday is going well. I am very new to the guitar building process. I'm fortunate enough to be working with a local Luthier on my first build, he pulled out a #7 Bailey plane to use on the soundboard prior to joining the two pieces. This led me to wonder what are the most common planes that I might need in my beginner shop. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

Cheers,

Jimmy

You need a low angle block plane (Stanley no. 60 1/2), a smoother (Stanley no. 3, 4 or 4 1/2), a jack (Stanley no. 5 or 5 1/2) and a jointer (Stanley 7 or 8) for a basic set. You don't actually need all of these though. The best thing is to play with all the planes in the luthier's shop and figure out what you like. For lutherie, my favorite block plane is the low angle #102 made by Lie-Nielsen. They are expensive but well worth it. Old Stanley planes are great for everything else. Take my advice with a grain of sand, I own well over 50 planes. You can do with just 2 or 3 easily.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Hi Jimmy, I would say you could probably get by with a jack plane, block plane, and some kind of little bitty plane like the squirrel tail or violin makers plane. If you plan to thickness your tops with a hand plane then you will need a well tuned smoother and Jedi smoothing skills. Good luck.

I have a number of planes, some bad and some good ones. I have yet to spend big $$$ on something like a Lie-Nielsen because I just can't seem to justify the cost. The best planes I have are Bailey/Stanley and the ones I use the most with the exception on one.

My most used are:
Baily #7
Baily #5
Stanley #19 block plane
And a cheap little Buck Brothers 3" model makers plane (just for shaving braces).

Since you are just learning about planes the first thing you need to learn is how to tune it up. The best way to learn that is to buy a vintage Baily plane on ebay. You can pick them up really cheap if they have not already been refurbished. Then look up how to tune it up and the proper way to sharpen the blade.

Even if you go out and buy a top of the line Li-Nielsen you will need to know how to sharpen the blade to make it "scary sharp" as they say... Only a very sharp plane will work the way you need it to as well as a properly tuned up one.

The other thing you will need in the same line as a plane are a few very good chisels. What you can't do with a plane you can with a chisel. I have a few Stanly SW's and they are very nice and hold a very sharp edge.

Cheers,
Bob

I mostly use a Stanley #7 for jointing tops and backs, a low angle block plane, and one of the little mini planes that Stephen Boone makes that's great for shaving braces and a bunch of little finiting operations... he's a sponsor of the forum and you can find a link at the top of the page.

The ones I keep closest to hand are a no. 5, a low angle block and a modelling size plane.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Guitars are small objects, much smaller than most woodworking endeavours. As such I tend to prefer smaller planes than what I see others have so far listed. So here is what I prefer;

#3, This is my main plane for thicknessing sides and plates. It is typically set up as a jack.
#4, I use this joining plates. I will also use this with a toothed blade in concert with the #3 to thickness highly figured wood.
#60-1/2, for end grain and other general planing chores.
#112, This is a scraper plane, Used to surface plates and sides after they have been rough thicknessed with the Bailey's.
#220, my favorite block plane used for all types of basic planing chores.

I also have an assortment of rebate planes, #90, #98, #99 that I use on rare occasions and some small hobby planes that can be handy by virtue of their size.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I only use the #7 for jointing tops and backs.

I have a number of hand planes but could get by with a #4, which is the plane I use the most. Good used hand planes can be found at flea markets for less than $10 around here, no need to spend a lot unless you want to. Lie Nielsen planes are very nice and if you have the bucks why not?

While I own a few planes, the only plane I truly use on a regular basis is my Stanley No. 92. I use it on my braces and to trim my sides down to the height of my tail and neck blocks. I tried using a No. 4 (Record) for joining top and bottom plates with some success, but quickly switched to my 6" joiner which does a good job. As for thicknessing sides and top and bottom plates, I quickly gave up on this and now use by drum sander exclusively. If I had to rely on hand tools (i.e., not power tools), I'm not sure where I would be. I like to think that I would have forced myself to get better with sharpening and using planes.

my most used and more versatile plane is a Veritas Low Angle Jack (n. 5) plane, it covers a lot of ground. I shoot, joint and thickness with it. Easy to change blades if you need a different angle. Easy to set up, came lapped and square. good stuff.
A low angle block is always good to have nearby and, on top of a regular one i also have the veritas apron plane, which i find myself using a lot (profiling sides and lining, on the head, on braces,...).
Lately i´ve been using more and more wooden planes, though, both bought and shop-made (by a friend).

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

My Lie-Nielsen 60 1/2 is easily my most used. I have a Lie-Nielsen #5 as well. Wish it were a 5 1/2. Had a #4 but found it expendable.

Veritas low angle jack with two different blades (sharpened at different angles), and a low angle Stanley block plane. I do have others, but use these the most.

rent

Thanks everyone for all the information!! I was craigslist surfing yesterday afternoon and found a lot of (4) planes for $75. I got a number 4 and 7 bailey a buckeye that looks similar to the number 4, but with a coragated bottom, and finally a small silver sweet heart. All except the sweet heart are in great condition. I know this is just the start of my plane collection, but at least it's a start.

these are what i use the most, a rabbet block plane and a mini block plane.
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/block-planes/rabbet-block-plane-w/nicker/
http://www.leevalley.com/US/gifts/page.aspx?p=70138&cat=4,104,53212,70138

you'll also want to work out your method for sharpening the blades. the luthier you are building with will be able to talk you through his process. you want a mirror finish on both sides of the blade. i use this and a variety of wet stones.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=51868&cat=1,43072,43078,51868

a scraper is maybe my favorite tool, a bit of a trick to sharpen but when you have the hang of it this is a great tool.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32670&cat=1,310,41069

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http://www.wideskyguitars.com
https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

yes, but only at the very edge, no point in mirror finishing the whole blade ...

............... unless you want to check your make-up.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

what ? you don´t check your mustache at the workshop?

_________________
member of the guild of professional dilettantes

If you do it right, you can count your nose hairs in the polished back - great way to keep tabs on them.

Almost any plane will work for almost any job - I have used a #8 (24 inch long, very wide, very heavy pit-bull trainer) to plane end grain on a 1X4 with success - but generally a longer plane is used for longer work. I think if you have to buy a plane, a 22 inch #7 is a bit much for a 24" long joint in backs or tops. But if you own that plane, it will work.

I have about 200 planes down there, and the one I go to all the time for guitar-length work is a 5-1/4. It is the width of a #3 - 1-5/8" blade - but a bit longer at, I think, a little over 12". Like Brian, I think this width is great for surfacing tops and backs, and the length is about right for those top and back joints.

A 60-1/2 low-angle block is almost a necessity for general, one-handed work, and will work great as a final smoother on the tops and backs, too.

And please don't think that any new plane is better than the Stanley-Sargent-Millers Falls offering of about pre-1960. And if you are stuck on the Lie-Nielson planes, remember that they are copies of Stanley Bedrocks which can be had in user-grade much cheaper. If you have to have a thicker blade, think Lee Valley, Ron Hock (my favorite), or Lie Nielson replacements. And even the more recent or home-duty planes can work wonders with the right set-up and user.

Her is a tip: Keen Kutter offered tools in the 20's-30's but they did not make any of them - they had them made like Sears by the big makers. They had a line of "KK" planes that were versions of the standard Stanley Bailey planes, made by Stanley and identical in every way, but their "K" series were made by Stanley as copies in every way of the Bedrocks. They are real Bedrocks at rock-bottom (bedrock?) prices. Here is a K-4C in good shape with a buy-it-now of $65:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Keen-Kutter-K-4 ... 5d4c1dfcce

There is nothing wrong with this plane from the 20's, and it even has the more-desirable-to-many short knob. There appears to be a slight rash on the sole, but this will not effect its use and if you wanted it would lap out in 5-10 minutes with 220 emory paper on your table saw surface.

Good deal. Now it's time to learn how to flatten the sole, tune them up, sharpen the blade, and technique.

Here is a good book for learning the handplane:
http://www.amazon.com/Handplane-Taunton ... plane+book

And one on sharpening:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guid ... gy_b_img_y