Buy a new Saw and Plane

Looking to buy a new square, saw, plane, or ?? Have a question about which sharpening stone to buy? This is the place.
Michael
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Buy a new Saw and Plane

Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:32 am

Hello,
my name is Michael, and i come from Germany.
I´m not a absolutely beginner in Woodworking, i already made
some small Furniture from glued Wood, wooden Box, nest boxes
and a kind Carport for wood chips.
I think is time to get forward, an buy a couple of good basic Tools.
I have already a wooden Ulmia Plane (i don’t like the Plane),
a set of Chisels and my Silky Ryoba Saw. Also i have a Jigsaw
and a Circular Saw, they are Old and work not very well.

I think, most important is a good allround Plane and a Saw.
The 2 main tool Shops here recommend and sell mostly
Metallplanes. They say Japanese Planes are very difficult to
set up.
What do jou think is it better? Buy a Japanese Plane and learn
how to work with, or buy a easy uncomplicated Metallplane.

Also i would buy a mobile Saw, mostly for ripping the Wood.
There is no Space for a big Machine. I think either a Saw like
the Festool cs 50
https://www.festool.de/produkte/Pages/p ... 0-eb-floor
or a Bandsaw like the Makita
http://www.makitauk.com/products/saws/b ... d-saw.html
I have no Idea which is better.
Sorry for my bad English.

greetings

Michael
Gadge
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Location: Sydney, Australia
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:21 pm

Hi Michael,

Please don't mention your English. It's very close to perfect.

A japanese plane is very good but does need dedication to learn to use properly. You can buy them already set up but still must learn to maintain them. I also use wooden european planes and have an Ulmia, which I like very much. The wooden european planes also need to be set up well to get the best results. There is information on the web about setting up wooden planes. I could give you some instruction if you are interested.

A metal plane could be the easiest option and will give good results but the pleasure of using a good japanese or european wooden plane is worth the trouble in my opinion. Since you are posting on this forum I think you might feel the same.

Gadge
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RLSIII
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:06 am

wie gehts du!

as gadge points out your English is just fine, far better than my deutch. you will undoubtedly have many opinions to sort through on this topic as it is largely a issue of preference. perhaps I am not the most qualified to answer but il chime in. currently I am lacking a well setup kanna as the tool itself requires more tools to set u. I too am considering purchasing a kanna to learn on but be aware you'll also need a specialty plane to tune the dai in order to achieve the best results. personally ive had a harder time trying to find a reliable starter plane as pricing varies wildly as im sure youve noticed. if you do decide to go this route plan on buying everything you need to set it up properly. im sure someone here can be more helpful.
as to the portable saws, I have little in the way of knowledgeable info. ive never used festool or Makita portable saws but I can say ive hated using every portable unit ive come across in the US due to poor build quality, low power and inaccurate fences.
good luck in your tooling journey
chüß,
Rob Shearer
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Brian
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:50 am

Festool is pretty solid. I have their track saw, router (of1400), dust extractor and Palm sander and they all work very well.

I generally avoid sanding, but it's nice to have the ability to in the event that I need to sand (wild burl woods).

Keep the saw purchases inexpensive such as silky until you have some good experience as a sawyer, Japanese handsaws do not appreciate misuse in any manor. I broke a handmade mitsukawa along the way of learning the ropes as a sawyer.
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BnRadams
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 2:08 pm

Welcome to the forum Michael,
I am still learning myself about planes so I will leave those opinions to others. However I have used my fair share of power tools. There are pro's and con's to both a table saw and a band saw which you should weigh out in your decision on which way to go based on intended use.

Table Saw:
Pro- easy to setup and rip a consistent width and angle
Pro- flat/open table can cut any width board
Con- can only make straight line cuts
Con- typically waists more material due to wider blade curf
Con- reduced cutting depth limits use to ripping

Band Saw:
Pro- deep cutting throat can be used for 're-sawing'
Pro- capable of curved line cuts
Pro- thin blade reduces material waist
Con- requires care and sometimes difficult setup to make consistently straight cuts
Con- width of cut limited by saw size

These are just a few but should touch on the main differences. My first powered saw was an antique table saw that I still have today and use often. My second powered saw was a band saw which probably sees the most use of all my power tools.
Gadge
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:35 pm

Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:05 pm

Michael,
I should have also commented on the power tools. I have experience with the festool portable table saw. I've used one for the past 10 years and highly recmmend it. German engineering!!
Gadge
Gadge
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Location: Sydney, Australia
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:14 pm

Rob,

It's true you have to learn to set up the kanna but don't need specialty tools to begin with. I tuned up my kannas for years using a chisel, card scraper and flat surface. Later you may want to make some winding sticks and buy a scraper plane.

Gadge
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RLSIII
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:43 pm

I am happy to hear that I was mistakenly under the assumption that a sole conditioning plane was needed. I have been troubled with this attempting to shop for a kanna. not being able to see a tool in person before purchase is bad enough but add in a total lack basis to compare relative quality and the wild price variationthe purchase has been long stymied. I hate wasting money on poor quality tools so I am hesitant to just try one, yet finding the right balance has been difficult. is there a kanna worth buying in the 150USD range? searching some blacksmith names listed in the kanna section of the forum has resulted in prices worthy of the first "smiley" ive ever used. :shock: .
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Chris Hall
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:16 pm

If you think top of the line Japanese planes are expensive, you should take a look at top of the line western planes:

http://www.holteyplanes.com/prices.html
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Paul Atzenweiler
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Re: Buy a new Saw and Plane

Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:25 pm

Yes, you can basically spend whatever is in the bank account is you want.


http://www.marcouplanes.com/Marcou_Plan ... planes.php

There are a number of successful plane makers these days. While I can't afford them - I say good for them!! I am glad people are interested in handtools.

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