Veritas (Lee Valley) #4 vs. the new bevel-up smoother (Hey Robin!)

[C & S]

Can anyone contribute a compare and contrast on Lee Valley's new Bevel-up smoother and their #4?

It seems that their LA smoother is end grain and cooperative grain. Is the #4 in the middle abd the BA for difficult stuff?

Robin, I'd love to hear the engineering mindset between this product offering. I'd also love to hear any reviews, but that is probably premature.

Thanks

Steve

[Robin Lee]

Hi Steve -

I could give you a review of it... ;) .... but will stick with highlighting some of thedifferences...

The new Bevel up smoother is heavier, wider (2 1/4" cut) and has a very low centre of gravity. It's been designed as a single purpose plane - a pure smoother.

We feel that a low bed angle puts the plane blade more in-line with forces exerted by the wood being cut - and that a low bed angle inherently resists chatter better - especially when used with higher bevel angles. In addition - with a bevel-up plane, you can easily match your effective cut angle to suit the wood being cut. Inducing a type II wood failure yields the best finish (wood failure right at the cutting edge) - and the angle required to do that varies by species, and with figure.

Nohing wrong with a standard bench plane though - you can easily change the effective cut angle by adding a back bevel....it's just that not many people are willing to do it....

Cheers -

Rob