Plane p*rn....

[BuilderBill]

Yes, I said Plane Porn.... (c'mon, everyone, sing along. I know you know the tune....)

I didn't say Jane Porn....

I said Plane Porn....

Tonight I finally gave up working ON my shop(the remodel job from Hell) and decided to just have some fun... My latest additions from Warren, Maine had been opened, toyed with a little and put away for when I had time to hone and tune. So I figured I'd pull a couple out and take Ian Kirby's advice and just "make some shavings"... I grabbed a piece of wood left over from a trim job I did about 15 years or so ago(had to dismantle the overhead storage to run wires, probably a good thing I did) and was wondering what it'd look like cleaned up and opened the big plane drawer....

First the MacDaddy, the #5-1/2:

(And yes, That's Grandad in the background, the first L-N plane I ever owned. He's been hanging around for 25 years or so, figures he owns the place by now and I don't argue...)

Next to come out and play was the new(to me) 10-1/4 Jack Rabbet:

Finally, Grandpa had to show he could still cut a rug or two and keep up with the big boys:

I also played some with the end grain and the #9 Miter plane and a couple of block planes that I've had for a while but didn't get any pictures. I'd have posted this with the Neanderthals but I have too many tools with long tails to hang out there and thought I'd just share with everyone.

What amazed me was that, except for Grandpa, all the planes in the pictures were right out of the box taking shavings at .002" or less with basic adjustments(the shavings kept getting hung up in the Starrett micrometer so there wasn't any way to get a real good reading). In 15-year-old hard maple... Are they worth the premium price? I'd have to say definitely yes! but your mileage(and the size of your wallet) may vary....

Best to all,

BuilderBill

P.S. Almost forgot, larger photos on my Smugmug site: http://www.billgraha...ion/Hand-Tools/

[PaulMarcel]

I had high hopes of a Megan Fox shot, but that's okay, I have the Internet.

Nice planes and nice photography. I only have 1 real used plane so I come from the same camp as you on buying new, although I admit mine needed honing before a 2 thou shaving came off.

[BuilderBill]

I had high hopes of a Megan Fox shot, but that's okay, I have the Internet.

Nice planes and nice photography. I only have 1 real used plane so I come from the same camp as you on buying new, although I admit mine needed honing before a 2 thou shaving came off.

Hey, I clearly said "Plane Porn", if you want the other kind you gotta use your own credit card....

I still use my old Record 60-1/2 bought back in the mid-80s, it's my tool-pouch plane. I think I paid $69.95 or $79.95 for it new, not an inconsequential investment in those days when the Stanley version was $40 or so. When I think back on the time I spent flattening, filing, fitting, honing and the cost of the Hock blade I ended up with, I would have been better off to buy the L-N equivalent if it had been available back then.

I looked at some of the new Stanley Sweetheart planes at Highland recently. Take, for example, the new Sweetheart Low-Angle Block: At $100, it's an overpriced piece of junk. Plastic cap, sharp edges on the casting, you could tell it'd need a lot of tweaking to get it to cut anything harder than your hand. The new #93 Rabbet had sharp edges everywhere, I picked it up and then had to put it down twice as fast for fear of cutting myself.

So for a little more than half-again the price, you can get a tool that's usable right out of the box? To me, that's kind of a no-brainer. I'm getting older and time is the one commodity I can't earn anymore of, I don't like to waste it making tools work like they should ought to in the first place.

Best,

Bill

P.S. Thanx for the compliment on the pix, that's another hobby.... Feel free to check out the rest of the site.

[Timbot]

Absolutely gorgeous. I'd have to agree with your title. This is some pretty graphic stuff!

[Ben H]

I had high hopes of a Megan Fox shot, but that's okay, I have the Internet.

Nice planes and nice photography. I only have 1 real used plane so I come from the same camp as you on buying new, although I admit mine needed honing before a 2 thou shaving came off.

Just for you man.

[PaulMarcel]

Just for you man.

You know, I was just talking to someone tonight about lil Ms Megan. You see, when I was first smitten (did I just use that word?!) after watching "Transformers", I mentioned to my neighbor that I'd love for Megan to work on my car. Or just hold the hood up for awhile. Immediately his wife blurted out, "yeah, but she has weird thumbs; have you seen her thumbs?!"

Thumbs?!? I watched "Transformers" three times and I honestly can't say definitively that she even has hands.

Thanks to your link, I see she has weird thumbs. It's okay, I have this image forever emblazoned on my mind:

(oh yeah, if I look closely, I see she does have hands!)

[protectedvoid]

You know, I was just talking to someone tonight about lil Ms Megan. You see, when I was first smitten (did I just use that word?!) after watching "Transformers", I mentioned to my neighbor that I'd love for Megan to work on my car. Or just hold the hood up for awhile. Immediately his wife blurted out, "yeah, but she has weird thumbs; have you seen her thumbs?!"

Thumbs?!? I watched "Transformers" three times and I honestly can't say definitively that she even has hands.

Thanks to your link, I see she has weird thumbs. It's okay, I have this image forever emblazoned on my mind:

(oh yeah, if I look closely, I see she does have hands!)

I almost lost it when I read your wife's reply. Sounded like something my wife might have said...after acknowledging, of course, that yeah, she'd do her.

Still, a perfect retort might have been:

"Well, so what? They're just thumbs. Other than opening things, like my car's hood or an ice cold beer, I just don't see myself spending that much time looking at her thumbs."

And then, Eddie Murphy's foot fetish in Boomerang just popped into my head. It doesn't matter how hot the girl is...is she has twisted thumbs...that's just a deal breaker.

LOL