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Which size and/or type of hand plane to bring the usual 5mm top thickness to proper size
And what primary angle and secondary bevel do you guys use for tops and back?
Ronald

Top wood is usually pretty easy to plane.
Anything sharp should do the job. Just pay attention to grain/runout direction so you don't get tearouts. I usually plane on the diagonal when I do this.
My main problem with this task used to be holding the work, but I finally made a vacuum 'fixture' to hold the top and it's solved that.

Cheers
John

What are the advantage of a bevel down plane as opposed to bevel up?
What specific plane type utilizes bevel down irons?
Ronald

I'd tend to go no lower in plane size than a #4 unless you've a small build, but you'll find the longer sole of a #5 will tend to give you a flatter initial planed surface prior to smoothing with a #4 and the longer plane is better suited to edging work via shooting board - although I prefer to use a longer #6 plane for the sake of improved linear accuracy. Ground @ 25* and honed @ 30* using a suitable combination stone will give you a decent enought edge on standard bevel down plane irons.

Bevel up planes can handle more fussy/irregular graining better than bevel down planes due to bed and cutting angles, but a well tuned bevel down plane.

I'd honestly try not to get too tied up in the differences between bevel down and bevel up planes unless you're thinking of moving on to using planes on a more serious level, because availability and costs can become much higher than bog standard planes from older makers. The more common bevel up planes you'll tend to find are block planes (With and without adjustable mouths) before moving onto offerings via Lie Nielsen, Clifton, et al., while more common and less expensive bevel down planes via Stanley, Record, etc. are still well within the realms of professional useability. e.g. we all used Stanley, Record, Miller Falls planes before Lie Nielsen, Clifton, etc. came onto the scene.

A basic set of planes could be;

#4 Smoothing plane.
#5 Jack plane.
60.5 low angle Block plane.

As Todd said, sharpness is more important than bevel down/up.

Of equal importance is the condition of the sole of the plane, it doesn't have to be totally flat all over, but it is vital that the area in front of the mouth (ie directly in front of where the blade protrudes) does not have a dip or hollow. You can test this by pushing the plane over a sheet of sandpaper (120 grit is about right) on a flat surface (machine bed or such) and seeing where the abrasion marks occur. If there is a hollow, then you need to grind it out.

You should remember to retract the blade before you do this, of course ...

I just bought this one and with about 10 minutes invested in iron sharpening (two blades) it is the nicest plane I have ever used.


http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 1182,48944

I have found that on top woods tear out is better controlled with a low cutting angle and that hardwood tear out is better controlled with a higher angle. This plane does both easily with the two blades available and changing from one to the other is fast and easy. The adjustable mouth also makes tear out very controllable and wispy thin shavings are easy. I am going to order the toothed blade to speed up the early thicknessing operations.

I highly recommend this plane. The size and weight are good too.

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On figured wood I find a higher pitched blade minimises tear-out. If you want to try a bevel up plane at a higher pitch you can put a high micro bevel on the blade of a Stanley 60.5 - kind of a cheap introduction to bevel up planes used as a mini smoother.

Thank You to the respondents
Ronald