Hand planes? I got your hand plane...

[BuilderBill]

As much as I love my hand planes, they require fitting and fussing and honing and sweating.... When I want a quick'n'dirty square edge or to straighten a 3' or so board or even to bevel a door(God forbid I mention that here, that's the lower life-form known as Carpentry, right?), I plug in my old Rockwell Porta-Plane and let the spiral carbide cutter go to work.

Actually, it's now a "No-Name # 126" since I sent it off in '03 and they replaced the body casting( bastards didn't transfer the decal) and the color and texture don't match. But to give them credit, the rear bed now is parallel with the cutter and that's a Good Thing.

Knowing the old girl is getting a little long in the tooth and they don't make 'em no more, I went to evilBay and won this:

Looks like she's been rode hard and put up wet a few times but I bet I can fix her up with a little tweaking and a cord. If she's built anything like the Rockwell, she'll be trimming doors long after I'm 6' under. A big plus is the metal case, my old Rockwell case rusted away ages ago and, again, they don't make 'em no more.....

Anybody else have a soft spot for the old #126?

Bill

[nateswoodworks]

I have one that I bought at a auction a number of years ago, paid almost nothing for it and that's good because I almost never use it. The way I build between my jointer, handplanes, and router it is just not needed 99% of the time, and when I do use it it is for more construction based duties. That is my case, if it is effective or enjoyable for you than go for it after all that what this is all about. As far as Marc, he will defend himself here if he sees this but you have to remember that he is talking about typical woodworking tasks, and most of us use either jointers or handplanes as the most desired tools for the job. Does that mean your handheld can't do the job, no, but I don't think it is not nearly as effective. Bottom line, work as you like and remember that we all have our own opinions and respect each others opinions as well.

Nate

[PaulMarcel]

The latest issue of Hand-tool Watchtower, er, Pop Woodworking has an article by Toshio Odate where they level a large dining table with a hand power planer. I think they're great. Odate-san is a fine carpenter

[BuilderBill]

.... Bottom line, work as you like and remember that we all have our own opinions and respect each others opinions as well.

Nate

Nate, thanks for the reminder. I went back and edited the post, that last para was the kind of BS no online community needs My apologies.

This thing IS different from the run-of-the-mill portable planer, it's more like a horizontal router with only one bit. The fence and the spiral cutterhead makes it more useful than its cheaper cousins, you can set it to a light cut and walk it down the length of a long rip and you're left with a perfectly square, clean edge.

I've never had a shop with room for a jointer big enough to handle long stock but I can rip a long board with the TS55 and clean up the edge with this in not too much more room than the length of the board.

So, you wanna sell yours?

Best,

Bill

[Dyami Plotke]

I love that massive old beauty. I'd own one if they still made it. I make due with a smaller Porter Cable (great, but no dust collection) and a Bosh (nice with dust collection). The second I see a #126 on eBay I'm all over it. I'm glad you're enjoying yours.

[BuilderBill]

Dyomi,

It arrived today courtesy of Fedex. I was outside jacking up the floor joists over the non-existent garage door header(only a 9' opening, what do we need a header for?) when the white truck rolled up,took the box inside and promptly forgot about it. Your post reminded me, so I I went out and opened it up..

Case is pretty beat up, no surprises there. Flipped the catches lifted the lid, the plane finish is well-worn and the cord is dry-rotted, again no surprises. Lifted the plane out of the box and got a Big Surprise, no fence. OK, I got this thing for a hundred bucks, Bessie has a perfectly good fence, I can mix'n'match as needed.

Next check, pulled out the Starrett rule and found that the rear shoe is dead-nuts parallel with the cutter(which has a nick but only on one of the blades). That's a real big Good Thing! Front shoe isn't quite parallel with the rear shoe but that's fixable with a blue tape shim ot two. Greatest discovery is that the front shoe is dead-nuts tight on its gib, no play whatsoever. This was Old Bessie's one weak point, I had to remember to give her front shoe a little twist to the right to get it aligned with the rear shoe.

All in all, I have to say I'm happy with what I got for the price. I was pretty much looking for a spare parts with a box deal and I came out ahead. No complaints.

They seem to show up frequently on eBay, there are several up right now: Porter-Cable 126

Just PM me and let me know which one you're bidding on, I might just be looking at it myself....

Best,

Bill

P.S. Dust collection? We don't need no stinking dust collection! Actually, dust collection is getting to be a big thing for me since I'm getting older and find it's harder to take the heat and cold outside under the shade tree. I like to work inside now where it's cool(or not so freaking cold). So I'm seriously looking at the Festool planer just for that reason.

[Dyami Plotke]

Dyami,

It arrived today courtesy of Fedex. I was outside jacking up the floor joists over the non-existent garage door header(only a 9' opening, what do we need a header for?) when the white truck rolled up,took the box inside and promptly forgot about it. Your post reminded me, so I I went out and opened it up..

Case is pretty beat up, no surprises there. Flipped the catches lifted the lid, the plane finish is well-worn and the cord is dry-rotted, again no surprises. Lifted the plane out of the box and got a Big Surprise, no fence. OK, I got this thing for a hundred bucks, Bessie has a perfectly good fence, I can mix'n'match as needed.

Next check, pulled out the Starrett rule and found that the rear shoe is dead-nuts parallel with the cutter(which has a nick but only on one of the blades). That's a real big Good Thing! Front shoe isn't quite parallel with the rear shoe but that's fixable with a blue tape shim ot two. Greatest discovery is that the front shoe is dead-nuts tight on its gib, no play whatsoever. This was Old Bessie's one weak point, I had to remember to give her front shoe a little twist to the right to get it aligned with the rear shoe.

All in all, I have to say I'm happy with what I got for the price. I was pretty much looking for a spare parts with a box deal and I came out ahead. No complaints.

They seem to show up frequently on eBay, there are several up right now: Porter-Cable 126

Just PM me and let me know which one you're bidding on, I might just be looking at it myself....

Best,

Bill

P.S. Dust collection? We don't need no stinking dust collection! Actually, dust collection is getting to be a big thing for me since I'm getting older and find it's harder to take the heat and cold outside under the shade tree. I like to work inside now where it's cool(or not so freaking cold). So I'm seriously looking at the Festool planer just for that reason.

Bill,

Feel free to bid on any you like. I'm not in the market for one now, as I'm saving up for WIA. As for the dust collection, I'm falling for Festool for the same reason. I'm liking having less dust in the shop.