It's time I buy a good plane. I need it for fitting doors to openings, drawers to openings, and the like. I don't need one for surfacing large areas. What size would you suggest? I'm leaning towards a No.
Thanks, Dave
The Veritas planes are very good -- square and flat right out of the box, quite sharp with only light honing needed, sturdy and well balanced. Excellent planes, and a good value.
But if you're not concerned about the price, buy the L-N.
Or buy the Veritas, and send the difference to me.
Low angle block plane (with adjustable mouth) is perfect for small trimming tasks like that, and the low angle works well on end grain.
I don't think you could go wrong with either one. I have the LN, which performs beautifully and is arguably "prettier" with the bronze cap. However, I have the Veritas Shoulder plane and one of their replacement blades, which are also top-notch quality, and everything I've heard about the LV LABP is positive. The only real differences I've come up with from checking specs, reading here etc. are that:
1.) the LN doesn't have a lateral adjust lever (I haven't missed one; it's easy enough to just move the blade by hand), 2.) the LN doesn't have accessories like a choice of blade materials (A1 or O2) or an add-on ball tail and knob
Veritas planes are made in Canada, by what I assume are fairly treated Canadians working in good conditions. Not USA made, but not a cheap-labor import, either.
If money were no object, I'd buy the LN for the glitz (_real_ and perceived). However, money is always an object at some level, so most of my own hand planes are Veritas. My bottom line is that either brand makes me a happy 'dorker, as I've gotten to use many brands during various classes.
If I were going for a low-angle block, I'd probably buy the Veritas.
If I were looking for ONE, really awesome, highly useful plane, I'd consider this:
This plane is slightly wider than many block planes, and the open sides allow extra duty adjusting rabbets and tenons. However, you'd give up the adjustable mouth of the LABP, which is also a valuable feature.
Decisions...
Sort of like asking what is better, steak or prime rib. Both are good. I've used an L-N plane and I bought a Veritas. Both are excellent so check out to see if there is some small detail that happens to suit you better, be it the feel in your hand or the color of the box it comes in.
Well, yeah, but if I were looking for ONE, really awesome, highly useful TOOL, I'd consider this:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
It's a dandy. I use it for general block work and for rabbeting and fitting tenon cheeks. The geometry is a bit clumsy for shouldering, but with a bit of effort it's possible. Got the Veritas shoulder to do that now, and no complaint or difficulty.
For me the smoother from Veritas is a real joy, because I have large hands. The frog/mouth adjustment is positive, easy, and makes a smooth translucent shaving. Amazes the kids when they see me reach for the plane rather than the sander, but then they see and feel the surface, and understand.
The LN low-angle smoother
And then spend more overall than the Veritas getting it comparable, by replacing the iron, missing or broken wooden parts, and possibly the chipbreaker. Old planes are easy to find cheap. Old planes that haven't been messed up (mouths widened, parts broken, holes dripped, dropped and cracked) are NOT easy to find cheap. Old planes in excellent to mint condition usually sell for ridiculous prices, based on user utility.
Who says an LN tool won't be? Some LN limited runs are already collectable. Maybe Veritas planes might also be worth something, who knows? Both are definitely suitable for handing down and capable of lasting generations. If you're going to really _use_ the Stanley to actually work wood, your fettling and replacing poor or broken parts will probably destroy any collectible value.
From a user's standpoint, I think modern Lie-Neilsen and Veritas planes are BETTER than many Stanley tools _ever_ were.
And the bargain hunting
I'll give you that, if that's your thing.
I have many antique Stanley planes. After I've installed Hock, Veritas, or LN irons, and spent many hours tuning them, they work well, but they still aren't as good as an LN, and few are as good as a new Veritas.
Make it a couple. The Veritas low angle block for starters, because it's probably the most useful single plane-like tool you'll ever find, especially if you're not regularly planing stuff.
For a bench plane, I'd suggest the Veritas #5. A #5 is a better general purpose plane than a #4. Also old #4's really do grow on trees. If you want a small plane for taking to a door rather than benchwork, think about a #3 instead.
I prefer the Veritas design to the L-N and there's nothing between them in build quality. L-N are prettier and more traditional, but I think the Veritas adjuster design is just better thought out than Stanley's.
If you want a smoother later, it needs to be a separate plane just so you can sharpen and tune it differently. A #4 1/2 would be good here, or a Steve Knight. Also by that time you're probably due for a scrub plane (cheap old Stanley #4, rersharpened).
B A R R Y wrote in news:hAygh.25094$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net:
I bought the LN Standard Angle Block (9 1/2), and have loved it a lot. It's the right weight, fits my hand and my work, and feels great. My dad calls it 'my high tech plane'. I bought him a LV Low Angle Block plane, which he opts to keep in my shop. (He's in his 80's now.) It gets some use, but not nearly as much.
One of the LN Rabbet block planes follwed me home from a wood show last spring, but it sits still in its packaging, in the bottom of my tool shrine. I haven't had the need to open it up, and use it yet.
For the OP: I don't think, from your description of what you've said you want to do, that you need consider a much larger plane than a Stanley #3. The Veritas Low Angle Smoother, a LN #3, a LN 9 1/2, a Veritas Low Angle Block. Pick two, and get some decent sharpening gear, if you haven't yet. And maybe the Veritas Apron plane, too.
It's only money. ;-)
Patriarch
Good conditions? In Canada????
I don't think most people count cold and snow as unfair working conditions...
We do have a few buildings up here. Some of them even have furnaces!
B A R R Y wrote: [snip]
At the rate folks are going to Canada for their planes, LN may be out of business as soon and as LN himself gets too old maybe he'll call it quits or sell it to somebody less capable or to, oh my a foreign company....Then they would most definitely be collectibles.
I care less about supporting Canadian, who've trash mouthed the US a little too much for my taste, than helping a US company. There's better ways of changing American opinion than insulting us.
Flame? None-intended!
I'm very sorry if you take two-way discussion as a flame.
Having been down the down you mentioned, I just thought it deserved follow-up, especially the part about passing the tools down.
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