Hand plane suggestion?

gyosh

gyosh

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I need to shave down a bridge so I can adjust a saddle and I wanted to buy a nice Japanese hand plane to do it. Any suggestions for brand and size? Eventually, I'd like to build as a hobby so I don't mind spending for good quality. Researched frets.com for the how, now I just need to know with what. Thank you for your help.
 
Sven said:
Which page at frets.com? I read about the adjustment on the Martin style bridge, and that was done with a shoulder plane where the blade goes to the edge. If you can remove the saddle first, I'd use my 'apron plane' from Veritas / Lee Valley.
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Hi Sven, thanks for the reply. And yes, it was the Martin page from frets.com. I can remove the saddle and it isn't very tall so that's why I'm going to need to take down the bridge a little before I work on the saddle. The saddle is so short, that I might have to router the saddle slot instead of taking the saddle down some more. It's a uke I built myself in a class so my thinking is the more I have to tinker with it, the more I'll learn. It's built with a Spanish neck/heel and the action at the 12th fret is noticeably higher than when it was first built. I thought the bridge may have pulled the top up, but I've put a straight edge over it, and it's still flat so my thinking is the neck/body must have moved a little. Am I even making the correct adjustment?

If I make a mess of it, I'll chalk it up to experience. It's all about learning!

Thanks again for the reply. There are so many tool choices out there I want to buy quality the first time and not have a bunch of "not quite right" tools I never use.
 
Lie-Neilsen makes nice planes. I have a L-N low angle block plane and find it suits most of my needs.
 
Chris_H said:
Lie-Neilsen makes nice planes. I have a L-N low angle block plane and find it suits most of my needs.
Click to expand...
Same here. This is a great plane.
 
I own 4 or 5 small LN planes. When you said your grandfather's handme down I forgot how old I was. Didn't realize LN has been making planes since the '70s.
 
Thank you all for the replies. It looks like there are a few that I need to research. I really appreciate the help. I can just imagine my workbench full of tools I don't use because I just didn't know any better and I'm hoping to avoid that by asking the guys who already know.
 
I went ahead and bought the miniature shoulder plane from Lee Valley. Mostly because it was cute, but I have put it to very good use. Adjusting braces right up/down to the soundboard, cleaning up one piece bridges and other stuff. But I hesitate to recommend it if you want a slim collection, I could have used chisels or other [small] planes.
 
Sven said:
I went ahead and bought the miniature shoulder plane from Lee Valley. Mostly because it was cute, but I have put it to very good use. Adjusting braces right up/down to the soundboard, cleaning up one piece bridges and other stuff. But I hesitate to recommend it if you want a slim collection, I could have used chisels or other [small] planes.
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HA! Sven, I'm the same way with the Veritas "Little Victor" plane & the mini Ibex planes... and they all ended up being some of my most-used tools.
 
Yeah! The little Victor is such a marvelous tool. And I have several Ibex planes, but I like the smallest 8 mm ones the best.
 
Sven said:
Yeah! The little Victor is such a marvelous tool. And I have several Ibex planes, but I like the smallest 8 mm ones the best.
Click to expand...

Okay, you guys are evil. Now I'm looking at all the cool stuff on the Lie-Nielson and Veritas websites.

So here goes. Eventually I want to build ukes as a hobby and I definitely want to start out building mostly, if not entirely, by hand. I want to understand the wood, what it will do, what it won't want to do etc. I want to learn about the wood in a way that probably can't be done using a bunch of power tools. I want the entire journey if you will. I might even use hand drills since I have a couple on hand in my workshop. So with this in mind, what other types of planes am I looking at down the road?
 
22 years ago I started building a house off the grid, on 15 acres of raw land in the Northern (very snowy) US. There was no power, not even a road in. I had about 5000 bf. of 1x6 t&g pine, and lots of other salvaged wood, and not much of a budget. As I had been working with tools since i was a little kid, I had a decent selection of power tools. I traded them all for hand tools. I started building with hand tools only. This bothered a neighbor who had moved from California, so he gave me a generator. I bought more power tools, and used them. Eventually I got a solar/ battery system, and a nice propane fired generator which could run a table saw. The day that 'real' power came in (8 or 9 years in)was momentous.. the first time I flipped the 'on' switch on the table saw, the way the motor started told me that this was a good day... Hand tools are great, indespensible. Power tools too. You can do the job either way, power, or hand. You can end up at the same place. There is something satisfying in using only hand tools, beautiful, romantic ( maybe in some sick, masochistic way) Using a quality power tool and doing quality work is just as satisfying, at least to me.

You can get by just fine with just one plane, that Lie- Nielsen low angle block plane could be the one... or another... ( could even be a carefully chosen thrift store score and a little TLC ) a really nice hand made Japanese chisel ( you will totally like that too), a nice combination square ( that might be my most used tool, if it disappeared, I can guarantee it would be replaced within days!) a decent set of dial calipers. Start with a nice bandsaw, not just a craftsman 14", but a decent one... Power tools are your friends too!
 
Last edited:
Chris_H said:
22 years ago I started building a house off the grid, on 15 acres of raw land in the Northern (very snowy) US. There was no power, not even a road in. I had about 5000 bf. of 1x6 t&g pine, and lots of other salvaged wood, and not much of a budget. As I had been working with tools since i was a little kid, I had a decent selection of power tools. I traded them all for hand tools. I started building with hand tools only. This bothered a neighbor who had moved from California, so he gave me a generator. I bought more power tools, and used them. Eventually I got a solar/ battery system, and a nice propane fired generator which could run a table saw. The day that 'real' power came in (8 or 9 years in)was momentous.. the first time I flipped the 'on' switch on the table saw, the way the motor started told me that this was a good day... Hand tools are great, indespensible. Power tools too. You can do the job either way, power, or hand. You can end up at the same place. There is something satisfying in using only hand tools, beautiful, romantic ( maybe in some sick, masochistic way) Using a quality power tool and doing quality work is just as satisfying, at least to me.

You can get by just fine with just one plane, that Lie- Nielsen low angle block plane could be the one... or another... ( could even be a carefully chosen thrift store score and a little TLC ) a really nice hand made Japanese chisel ( you will totally like that too), a nice combination square ( that might be my most used tool, if it disappeared, I can guarantee it would be replaced within days!) a decent set of dial calipers. Start with a nice bandsaw, not just a craftsman 14", but a decent one... Power tools are your friends too!
Click to expand...

I agree with the power tools too. My dad was a machinist and I have a healthy collection of tools handed down from him (endmill, drill press, band-saw in need of a new motor and I'm not sure what size because I've got it in storage). I also have table saws, belt sanders, a couple grinders for sharpening tool bits and buffing wheels. I'm actually pretty well set on power tools. From what I see from lurking in the LL the only thing I might need that I don't have would be a thickness sander or lathe, but I can probably rig a thickness sander on my drill-press if I really need to. I just think for myself, and the way that I am about learning, I need to build one or two at least, completely by hand so I get a feel for it. The most satisfying part of the build class I went to, was being able to "play" on the pipe bender. I could tell the wood had a "speed" to it, meaning I could feel/sense when it was just about to give and bend. I imagine thicknessing a top or back would have that same kind of feel to it if done by hand rather than a sander, at least the first few times.

Thank you very much for your input. I really appreciate everyone's point of view. It can only be helpful to hear as much as possible from as many as possible.

Thanks again,

-Gary
 
gyosh said:
... Eventually I want to build ukes as a hobby and I definitely want to start out building mostly, if not entirely, by hand.
Click to expand...
If you can be arsed, check my blog out. I do most of my ukes with hand tools. The big exception is of course the drum sander. I built two first but eventually sprung for a Jet 10/20 that I had to import from England. But it was a good decision.

Sven
 
Sven said:
If you can be arsed, check my blog out. I do most of my ukes with hand tools. The big exception is of course the drum sander. I built two first but eventually sprung for a Jet 10/20 that I had to import from England. But it was a good decision.

Sven
Click to expand...

Thank you Sven, I think your blog is going to be referenced often. What size saw is that in the picture (shaping the neck)?
 
I received my Veritas apron plan from Lee Valley today. Tomorrow it'll be put to use on my bridge!!
 
The Best Things is such a pretentious name for a store/ business... however, they also carry Japanese chisels made by the blacksmith Tasai, which are my favorite chisels so far. I also have chisels made by Matsumura, and Miyanaga ( from Japan Woodworker) I like the Tasai best, well worth the money. I also have some lesser quality Japanese chisels I use for brutal things like cleaning glue, or other nasty tasks, the quality difference between the nice hand forged chisels, and the quickly produced types, is very significant. It is a pleasure working with good tools.
 
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