So, asking those much wiser, I'm toying with a 60 1/2 as a small plane for end grain. Would that work okay?
I use a 4 1/2 Bailey for most jobs. Would like something much longer but they get pricey
I've never owned one (used to have a 9 1/2 but gave it to the prentice when my father died and I bought the Veritas with some of the money he left.
Anyway, having a bed at 13 1/2 degrees just gives you more choices about your cutting angle. Low (more acute grind) for endgrain and a higher cutting angle for wilder grain.
Same plane with a different grind to the iron. This is much simpler to alter with bevel up planes as you just grind a microbevel to a different angle. With bevel down planes it is possible but you need to backbevel the irons which basically means that iron (or blade as some people call em) can't really be used for normal angles anymore.
I have borrowed someone else's 60 1/2 before and personally found it a bit narrow for my large hands, I've even had a go with the Lie-Nielson version of that Stanley and wasn't right blown away by that either, too narrow but beautifully made.
4 1/2 Bailey is a good smoother. I much prefer that width over the 4. Lot of old time joiners have a 4 1/2.
I bought a 5 1/2 jackplane off a bloke in 2000 for fifteen quid, bought a replacement wooden tote and knob to replace the damaged placky jobs it had and treated it to a Samurai brand laminated iron*.
Got that ground to a slight camber so it removes more from the centre than the edges and it can be used to plane a board without leaving track lines from the corners. Also got another iron that's not cambered, depends on how flat I want something. Plus obviously I have a lecky powerplane, productivity has to be remembered at some point.
The No 6 I bought just because... Its long and nice. No real need but I just like using some tools and would really like to see how those powder metal irons that Veritas makes come on.
Honestly can't remember what I paid for the no 6, wasn't much.
I would recommend that book by Leonard Lee, the section on doing chainsaw chains is a bit thin on good detail (the Carlton sawchain PDF covers it far better) but the stuff on plane irons is pretty much unbeatable. I used to think that it was all about just getting something sharp enough, since reading that I understand that the cutting angle makes a HUGE difference. Just like it does with lathe tools for cutting metal unsurprisingly enough.
*Bit thicker than standard so has slightly more backlash in the adjuster but the iron holds a
lot better edge than the standard one that Stanley supplied.
If all that^ makes me seem like a proper geek? Shucks, I'm gutted.