Planes seem to be the real workhorses in the shop, I used mine for a lot of task's that most people would use a machine for, for everything from jointing boards, and thicknessing stock to taking a few thou off the shoulders of a tenon, they don't take up much space like stationary machines do, so they are perfect for a small shop situation, they are a tad slower than machining stock, but the surfaces they leave is much better, and there quiet, and wont cut your fingers off...which to me is a plus...

     I used to think with planes that more was better, and once I really began trying to understand the truth about them I realized that you don't need that many, but the ones you have should be well tuned and sharp. I also used to think you needed to have really expensive planes to do good work, but after making and tuning a few I no-longer feel that is the case, a well done shop made smoother or jointer will perform as well as the Clifton's and Lie-Nielsen's (I do have both brands in my shop and will get more as I can, because they are wonderful tools) so don't feel like you have to own a whole set of two or three ( or more ) hundred dollar planes to do good work...

     The photo above shows  the planes that I reach for the most, and I feel like anyone who uses planes, will have most ( if not more of ) these planes, these are tools that I use, any value they had as collectables is gone, since rust removal, and repainting/and or plating will devalue a plane since the "patina" no longer exists, so if you want to collect planes don't clean 'em, if you want good users...well, I like to clean them up using whatever means I can, be it abrasives, or a vinegar and salt solution to remove rust, the blades will most always be replaced, and the handles if they need be...the sole will be flattened (although I am still not sure how flat I can make them, but they are as flat as I can measure...I guess they're  flat enough), and the body will be painted, (there is a way to re-japan a plane but I prefer plain spray paint, like Krylon or the like ) and finally the plane will be put to use...

     Some types of planes I recommend owning are a scrub plane, #5 or jack plane, which is a general purpose plane, a #3 or #4 smoothing plane (I prefer a #3 but most folks seem to like a #4) a #7 or #8 for jointing long stock, if you work with small (short) stock...then your #5 will serve as a jointer...also you need a block plane, which is a small plane made for one handed use, some are low angle, some standard. with these planes you should be able to tackle any jointing, thicknessing or surfacing job you may need to do.

     For joinery and other types of work, planes help make things go easier, for door making or tenons that are a tad to thick, a shoulder plane is the way to go, for deepening grooves or dados a router plane is a great tool to use (mine is shop made ) maybe that groove or dado is too narrow, then a side rabbet plane will open it up until its just right. For fine tuning the fit or just making a rabbet, then a rebating plane is the way to go..