Hand plane and hand brace drill

[Mqutkingdom]

I'd like ur thoughts on hand brace drills and older model hand planes are they fun more trouble than they are worth or are they good fir the experiance and then a shelf shoot me an answer

[muddlermike]

I'm pretty practical, and although I'm noted for being a Galoot I think hand braces are useless. There's nothing I can do with a bit and brace that I can't do with an auger bit and a power drill. That being said, they take me back to childhood, grandpa's shop, and "industrial arts" class in grade school so I do have grandpa's old egg beater drill lying around for nostalgia's sake. As for hand planes, well, it will come as no surprise to most of these guys that I'm on the side of the old stuff. First, you can't beat the value of a good, old hand plane. I have planes in my collection that I picked up for $10 that perform excellent. I can get an average smoother for around $20, clean it up, even replace the iron with a Hock, and still get high end plane performance from a tool that costs barely $60 with the replacement iron. Some guys would rather just but a plane that is ready to go out of the box, but to get that kind of quality you have to go with Lie Nielson, Veritas, Clifton, or some of the high end boutique plane makers. So, you're looking at an average of $200 to $400 for a plane that is ready to go out of the box with a little touch up on the sharpening. There's no right or wrong, just personal preference and budget. The key to buying an old hand plane and tuning it up is knowing what to look for first. I could go on and on, but I'll just refer you to this series:

used hand planes part 1 the stanley rule

used hand planes part 2 what youre looking for

used hand planes part 3 your arsenal

used hand planes part 3.5 your arsenal cont.

used hand planes part 4 cleaning and tuning

forgive the video's length, but it was a live demo.

Again, it's all personal preference. Holding and using a new, well crafted hand plane is a pleasure. The first time you use one you will actually say in your head "ah HA! that's how it's supposed to feel like!!". that being said, finding a good, old hand plane, feeling the tote and knowing that it holds the soul of the craftsmen that used it before you, and tuning it up to perfection is another feeling I can't describe.

[PaulMarcel]

Nice post, Muddler (and glad to see you posting )

I have a couple braces and I agree with you that there's nothing my drill can't do that the brace can. But, I will admit to when I do use them.

The larger brace always has a countersink bit chucked. To me, it is faster to drill a hole with the power drill to whatever depth then come back with the brace+countersink to, uhm, countersink the holes. This compared to using a real countersink bit and having to adjust the countersink cutters and depth collar... (by the time I find the Allen wrench, I'm done with the brace). The palm brace has a 7/64" self-centering bit chucked since I often need to pilot a hole for hinge or slide hardware. For those, sometimes it is nicer to hold the hinge, plant the bit in place with the brace, then give a couple turns to mark the hole. My self-centering punches are often off center (anybody with a decent recommendation for self-centering punches?)

[offseid]

Of course, you could look at it the other way - there is very little that an electric drill does that can't be done with a brace. And a brace has the potential to out-torque the electric drill, at least if you eat your Wheaties.

That being said, there was ONE time when I wished I had an electric drill, and that's when I was drilling a hole in the wall (concrete) about 5 feet up. There's only but so much pressure you can put behind a brace while being precariously balanced on a chair!

[Mqutkingdom]

I was at liwes today and got to looking at block planes and I found that they are mire widely used than mist other planers but for a log of people it's convenaince I guess but my point is what is it that a hand plane can do better than a jointer or regular planer

[muddlermike]

I guess I misunderstood your question. If you're asking what's the point of using a plane then I think you need to go back to basics. That's like asking why buy a set of chisels when you have a router. A jointer and planer will dimension stock, but most bench top planers will still leave knife marks. A bench plane will clean those marks up more efficiently and quickly than sandpaper. If your stock is wider than your jointer then you can joint the board with a bench plane and run it through your planer afterward. A block plane will chamfer quicker and easier than a router bit. and a low angle block will trim end grain much cleaner than sandpaper. A shoulder plane will trim tenons to fit. I could go on and on.

And, going to Lowe's won't give you a good idea of what woodworkers use. Lowe's carries some good tools, but it's still a home center with tools geared for do-it-yourselfers, mainly.

[kesac]

I was at liwes today and got to looking at block planes and I found that they are mire widely used than mist other planers but for a log of people it's convenaince I guess but my point is what is it that a hand plane can do better than a jointer or regular planer

A plane can flatten a much larger table top than any planer I can afford to buy. It can cut coves and radii. It can be taken up three flights of stairs, and into a closet, if need be. And then their is the scrub plane.

[SamV]

Owning both hand planes and a brace and bit set, the hand planes I can back up by saying they are a must have. Planes just do so much more than a sander and all the dust and expense of the special 5" 8 hole hook and loop disks for this machine and plain paper for hand in every grit, dang I used my last one. The auger bits do have an advantage that power drills don't: Deep hole drilling. The auger bits are much longer than standard jobber size bits and are great for those projects away from power 'cause you already forgot to charge your battery didn't you. Buy good planes, especially the Jack and Smoother. The auger bits and brace I would look to score a set on the cheap I just don't use them everyday like the drill press. -Viall8r-

[jwatson]

for someone on a budget hand planes cant be beat. also there are some machining tasks that frankly will always need to be cleaned up by hand. for most people they buy hand tools to finesse their work. some go all unplugged for various reasons. me I cant afford a 12 inch jointer. another thing is you wont wake your wife up planning a board by hand in the middle of the night

[bois]

I am admittedly a very hybrid tool user, but for me it comes down to basic economics. If I can perform a task equally as well with hand tools, and the amount of time and effort isn't dramatically greater, I will go that route. I've done a few tests on the quality of joinery with hand tools versus power tools, and have not found a dramatic difference, but I do think a hand planed surface looks better than a sanded surface and will go that route time permitting. That being said, I'm working on a project with a really tight time frame right now, and have used virtually no hand tools at all. This project requires lots of repetition and surface finishing, so power tools with jigs, and power sanders have been running non-stop on this one. There's no right or wrong, just a better option in different circumstances.

[wilburpan]

I'm pretty practical, and although I'm noted for being a Galoot I think hand braces are useless. There's nothing I can do with a bit and brace that I can't do with an auger bit and a power drill.

As was mentioned before, one could also say that there's not much that a power drill can do that a brace and bit can't. I have found, however, that for drilling holes much larger than 1/2" or so, a brace with a 12-14" sweep has it all over a 18V cordless drill. The extra sweep makes all the difference in the world as far as the amount of torque you can generate.

[PaulMarcel]

They both have their place. I would have been stuck if I only had a brace (even a small one) when I had to run 3/4" holes for electrical chases. A Forstner for cup hinges would get old by the third door, although that is a drill press use moreso than a hand drill (powered or otherwise)

[RenaissanceWW]

There is a lot of great info in this post, and I think everyone has great points. Ultimately what draws me to hand tools whether new or used is that I find I can do things I cannot with my power tools. I only have a 6" jointer so I am very limited on flattening boards so I need my hand planes. My joinery planes can finesse joints to much higher accuracy than I can get with my machines (maybe if I tuned them up better I could) and I can access parts and areas of a build with hand tools that I would be be able to do with a power tools. I find that I can focus completely on the task at hand and not have to worry about what else I have to do with this machine setup while I have it. Maybe I am lazy but I don't have to plan ahead quite so much when I work by hand. I am honestly more prone to buy new because I don't really enjoy the set up and tuning of an old tool. I do have some old planes that I have tuned up but for every one I have found in decent condition I find 5 that are boat anchors that are not worth the efforts. I focus my old plane buying on the woodies and doing tuning with those.

[Heller]

Speaking of hand braces does anyone have any good info or links for sharpining the bits. Just got a brace with some bits and i want to sharpen them. Thanks

[wilburpan]

There is a particular file that is great for sharpening brace bits. Lee Valley sells one, but there are other sources as well. When sharpening the brace bit, you certainly want the flat cutting edges to be sharp, and that is pretty straightforward. The scoring edges should also be sharp, but when working on those it's important to only use the file on the inside edge. If you file the outside edge, you'll change the diameter of the hole made by the bit.

[aengland]

Speaking of hand braces does anyone have any good info or links for sharpining the bits. Just got a brace with some bits and i want to sharpen them. Thanks

check out this you tube for sharpening old bits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO5ZRy_dnNM. A few videos are available to demonstrate the process. Also, go you can try www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/bSmalser/art/sBrace/sBrace1.asp for a general article by Bob Smalser. Be sure to get an auger bit file or grind the side edges off a regular file when sharpening the spurs.

[Bob Rozaieski]

Speaking of hand braces does anyone have any good info or links for sharpining the bits. Just got a brace with some bits and i want to sharpen them. Thanks

The two areas to sharpen are the insides of the spurs (never the outside, as Wilbur mentioned), and the tops of the cutters (never the bottoms). If you sharpen the outside of the spurs, you'll reduce the diameter and the bit will bind. If you sharpen the bottoms of the cutting edges, you run the risk of changing the clearance angle and causing the bit to stop cutting, even if it's sharp. The bottom of the bit needs to be at least a 10 degree angle to cut well. If you have a bit that you think is sharp but just won't cut well, chances are that someone sharpened the bottom of the cutting edges at too low of an angle and ruined the clearance. It can be fixed with some judicious filing to re-establish proper clearance.

Here's a podcast I did that covers sharpening auger bits. It covers sharpening other stuff too, so you'll have to pan through to find the part on the auger bits.

Sharpening - Part 4