Hello everyone. First off, thanks for a great resource - I'm new to timber framing and am learning a lot through lurking and the archives.

Over time I am slowly acquiring the necessary tools as I work on a simple 10X12 shed/cabin. I am harvesting the timbers from my own land and milling them with a small chainsaw mill that I machined.

My toolobox is pretty limited, but I am trying to grow it as finances permit. I am thinking of buying a block plane, and wonder which one would be best for general purpose; low angle or standard? Lee Valley offers a Veritas and Stanley, the Veritas is three times the cost. Any opinions out there if it is worth the price difference? Ideally I'd like my tool purchasing budget to go as far as possible, but want to get good tools at the same time.

Thanks for any help.

Matt

There are a lot of old Stanley smoothing planes out there that can be had for a reasonable price. Add in a little elbow grease and you will have it tuned up in no time. I have 3 or 4 old Stanley's and a few Millersfalls #9s They may not be the prettiest but they all work great.

Karl

Low angle is a better multi purpose tool as it handles difficult grain and end grain better than a standard block plane.

A stanley that is properly tuned and sharpened works just fine.

But my Lie Nielson might be my favorite tool.

I have the Lee Valley(Veritas) low angle block plane, it works fine for me.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=32685&cat=1,41182,48942

Thanks for the replies. I ordered the Stanley rather than the Veritas. Figured I'll spend some time tuning it up and put the money I save toward one of those swank Barr chisels next payday.

A little late,, but the Veritas is worth every penny.
It's a great machine! I'm sure Lie Nielsons are fine also,, but not quite so readily available up here in Canada.
I think a good rule,, is to buy the best there is of whatever tool you're looking for. You'll never ever regret the money. If you buy a lesser,, you very well may. If you can't afford the best,, wait till you can.

Then again,, my father in law made lots of money with the cheapest tools ever. But he wasn't working wood per say.
my 2 cents!

Oh,, and Buy the Barr. Worth every penny. I bought a 1 1/2 on Mark's recommendation, and love it dearly!

You really do often get what you pay for!

If limited on funds, a hand plane like that wouldn't be near the top of my list in order of priority. It would be pretty low actually. Where do you stand with TF tools? I'd focus on what you need there first. There have been plenty of posts in the past with a list of tools. For me...
the 1.5" and 2" framing chisel and mallet(I really like the one from foxmaple)
7-1/4 circ saw with carbide blade
framing square and combination square
25' dedicated tape measure(for TF only and to be used for all measurements on the project)
Either a boring machine or appropriate drill for boring holes
A chain morticer is nice, but not absolutely necessary(substitute your boring machine or drill with auger bits.
Sharpening method
Some way to do cutoff (chainsaw, or 16in circ saw)
Those are the basics to have first.

I dunno if I would spend $$ on a new chisel. There are LOTS of great old steel available off of ebay and a couple of my fav chisels such as Swan and White came from there at reasonable prices. Even found a matching 1.5" and 2" Canadian made chisel locally too. Very nice steel in it.

Though I did splurge and spend $$ on some LN planes. Worth the $$ and I dont believe Stanley makes anything good in that area anymore.

Thanks for the reply Bruce. I've been unsure about buying a used chisel or not since I don't know how to tell how the chisel has been treated. I've been keeping an eye on ebay though.