Buying a used hand plane: what to check
Hand planes are the one woodworking tool where the used market genuinely beats the new one at the low end. Millions of good bench planes were made, they were built to be rebuilt, and most of the ones for sale need an evening of work rather than parts. The trick is telling the evening's work apart from the ones that are not worth the bench space.
The faults that end the deal
Two things cannot be fixed cheaply. A cracked casting — look along the sides, around the mouth and at the cheeks where the sole meets the body — makes the plane a wall ornament. And a sole that is badly twisted along its length is a long, dull grinding job with no guarantee at the end.
Everything else is repairable. Rust that has not pitted deeply cleans off. A chipped iron grinds back. A cracked tote or knob can be replaced or glued. Missing screws and levers are available second-hand, because the same parts were made for decades.
What to look at, in order
Sight along the sole with the iron retracted to judge flatness, then look at the mouth: a mouth that someone has filed open unevenly is hard to correct. Check that the frog seats solidly and that its adjustment screws turn. Work the depth adjuster through its whole travel, feeling for the amount of slack. Then look at the iron itself — how much of it is left above the slot, and whether the back is pitted right at the cutting edge, which is the one place pitting matters.
Finally hold it. A plane that is uncomfortable in your hand will stay in the cupboard whatever its pedigree.
What the middling sizes are for
The wider versions of the smoothing planes have a following because of weight rather than mystique. A heavier plane carries through a cut with less effort from the user, and the extra width covers a wider board in fewer passes. They were made in smaller numbers than the standard sizes, which is why they cost more today.
None of that matters until the iron is sharp. A cheap plane with a keen, properly bedded iron outperforms a collectible one with a dull edge, every time.
Small toolworks and rebuilt planes
Alongside the second-hand market there have long been small shops that buy old castings, true the soles, fit new irons and sell the result — and others that make replacement irons, chip breakers and wooden parts for planes long out of production. For a first good plane, a rebuilt tool from a small shop removes the guesswork: someone has already checked the casting and set the mouth.
Those shops are also where the knowledge lives. Most of them will answer a question about a specific plane, and their advice is usually the same: get one sound plane cutting properly before buying a second. The tool has not changed in a century, and neither has that advice.