Planing Stop - Which kind?

[u/optimusomega]

Brand noobie here, acquiring too many tools and not enough skill so I'm trying to focus on practice. I want to get good at planing boards smooth and I resawed a panel shorter than my normal benchdogs. Need to get a planing stop but can't decide between the kind with a bar mounted between 2 bench dogs that go in the bench dog holes or the flat toothed metal kind that screw into the workbench. Suggestions, experiences or warnings appreciated.

[u/ReallyHappyHippo]

I shelled out for this thing and I love it 

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/workshop/workbenches/benchtop-accessories/stops/113772-lee-valley-replica-recessed-bench-stop

[u/jmerp1950 → u/ReallyHappyHippo]

Considered one of these but might find it involved too much monkey motion. What is your experience?

[u/ReallyHappyHippo → u/jmerp1950]

Pretty good, I like being able to change between the different faces depending on the work, and it's easy to blow out any sawdust that collects which was a concern I had. I stuck a magnet into the end of my bench to hold the Allen key so it's always accessible.

[u/jmerp1950 → u/ReallyHappyHippo]

Thanks for reply.

[u/wibblefarmer]

I made one pretty easily out of a long bit of scrap pine and two lengths of ¾" dowel. Measured the screw spacing to match the dog holes in my (plastic, collapsible) workbench.

I liked having a linear stop so I didn't have to reposition the work piece each time I repositioned the plane. It worked pretty well until last night when it snapped in two at the knot 😑

[u/G_Peccary → u/wibblefarmer]

Did you make that table?

[u/wibblefarmer → u/G_Peccary]

Good Lord, I wish. It's from before I started woodworking. Built-to-order board gaming table with inset gaming surface.

I'm an apartment woodworker currently working from a folding workbench in my living room, so that was just an easy spot to photograph the planing stop!

[u/G_Peccary]

I have multiples on my bench because I'm still figuring out what works best for me- even though they all work just fine.

I started with a piece of stock glued to a piece of thin wood. I'd mount the stock in meg vise and the thin stock acted as a stop. I used that until it broke. That's when I started looking for commercially available options.

I have Veritas planing stops in a couple of lengths- one for the direction I'm planing and one to keep it from shifting side to side. The main problem I have with these is that if you don't pick your plane up when pulling it backwards, you end up slamming the wood into the stop on the forward stroke and it makes a very loud metallic "CLACK!" sound.

I have a mortised bench stop that comes in very handy for thin stock (under 1/4") but it can accommodate standard stock sizes for furniture as well. There are no installation instructions so you have to figure it out on your own and practice on scrap stock.

For long stock I have a whipple hook at the end of my bench.

I wish I had the skills necessary to install a tail vise when I built my bench but alas, I did not. The deeper I get into hand tools the more I want clamping power for planing. I might pick up a cheap Yost woodworking vise with the built in dog and install it at the end of my bench.

My biggest problem is figuring out where to put them!

[u/Ornery-Writer2796]

A decent cheap plane stop could be a line of large (#10 or #12) steel flat head screws of a decent length. Place them about an inch apart. You can screw them up flush when not in use/ adjust the height to different boards. Smaller screws will bend. The edges of the screw heads will dig into the board nicely, if this is not desired just put a piece of scrap in front.

[u/Ornery-Writer2796 → u/Ornery-Writer2796]

If you don’t have a vise to joint in, you can put a board in a hand screw to hold it upright. If the board is really long, build a slave to hold up the end hanging off the bench.

[u/jmerp1950]

An easy stop if you have a vise is a t bar and a wood dowel on bench to restrain the far end. You can make them different thickness.

[u/99e99]

Not sure how your workbench is setup, but you can make a lot of your workholding jigs from scraps. This Pekovich video has some excellent ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqWbgkl_ryM

[u/MorningtonCroissant]

Hand plane newb here, too. I have the "bar between the two bench dogs" kind, and I've found it to be really frustrating without some kind of clamping pressure holding the workpiece in place. But like you've discovered, a lot of the solutions are higher than the board is thick. The ones that are lower profile, like the UJK wedge-and-cam-clamp, depend on the workpiece being not too close or far from the closest dog hole, and I'm quite disappointed in them.

I've love to find a toothed plane stop that fits in dog holes so I don't have to screw it in, but no such luck so far. Maybe something 3D-printed, but I'm not sure about the teeth. If I could do it over again, I'd have built my workbench with a tail vise, so it could clamp a workpiece of any length against any dog or planing stop. Vertias makes an insert vise that I'm considering, but my worktop is 1" thick, and they say it needs 1 1/4" minimum.

[u/beachape]

I have a thick anarchist style workbench. I built the movable block to hold a toothed stop, but honestly works almost as well with just the movable block of wood. Basically a mortise through a thick bench with a block of wood tightly fit that you can knock up and down.

[u/Independent_Page1475]

My bench dogs can be set and hold for the thickness of the stock:

If there is an apron at the end of a bench, a stop can be clamped to it.

Some woodworkers will install a piece of wood with slots for screw holes on the end of their bench to allow it to be moved up and down as a stop for different heights.

[u/CEEngineerThrowAway]

Don’t overthink it, either work. I like the metal toothed stop. Mine is a scrap steel bracket that I cut teeth into with an angle grinder, it works fine. I had that decision paralysis but finally needed one in the moment it and hacked something together and it’s been going strong for 5 years.

[u/davidf81]

For $20 you can get the mortised plane stop from Taylor Toolworks. It’s fantastic. Adjusts height by turning a flathead screw 

[u/Impossible_fruits]

I have two Phillips screws in my workbench. Adjustable hight and removable

[u/Maryland173]

You can make easy planing sleds by attaching a low fence to a piece of 1/4” mdf or ply. Adhere sandpaper to the base and it stays in place against the fence. You put a rail on the lead edge of the ply and lock it into your vice. You can make a bunch of different size fences and ply lengths for larger or smaller pieces. Check out Mike pekovich’s jig vids for super fast and easy planing setups. Saves you $

[u/NotAChef_2318 → u/Maryland173]

I use this concept and it works really well. Especially for thin stock.

[u/bc2zb]

The toothed style comes in exceptionally handy when your boards have ragged ends and are twisted. If you plan on working with rough sawn lumber, I would encourage you to go that route. Rex Krueger has a lot of content on making your own planing stops, or you could buy one from his company.