Last weekend I attended a woodworking show near Baltimore. Lee Valley had all of their Veritas planes on display, and available for trying. They had a couple of benches set up, with some sample workpieces in hardwoods with very challenging grain. I tried their low angle smoothers, and was very impressed. They have made some very innovative improvements to this somewhat basic concept. Specifically, the planes incorporate side setscrews, the purpose of which is to lock in the side-to-side orientation of the blade, so that after sharpening it can be returned to its original (presumably correct) orientation. This, along with the natural advantage of a low bedding angle, minimizes the risk of introducing corner striping. Another innovation is in the adjustable nosepiece. A small knob is provided that sets a lower limit on the throat depth. The nosepiece can be adjusted for a greater throat depth, but not a smaller one, thus preventing the nosepiece from sliding right into the blade. The nose assembly is rather substantial, providing heft right where it is needed. The cut I obtained with these planes was outstanding--thinner than my .001-resolution caliper could register, and very consistent. The feel was very comfortable. Unlike the high bedding angle smoothers (I have two--a LN 4-1/2, and an old Norris infill), the right hand is more in line with the direction of motion, which seems more natural. The cutting angle that is presented to the workpiece is roughly the same for the two styles. For the bevel-down design, 45-deg is typical. For the bevel-up design, a 15-deg bedding angle plus a 30-deg bevel results in...45-deg. To top it all off, the low-angle smoothers are available in three different sizes. And then there is the jack...and the jointer. I have used hand planes extensively for more than 30 years, and I have never handled a better smoother.

Ron, don't blame me!!! You know you are powerless to resist.

With bevel up planes, I think it is better to make a decision between Veritas and Lie Nielsen before you start buying. Then you can switch blades between the planes. I have the Lie Nielsen Low Angle Jack plane and I have my eye on a Veritas bevel up smoother but the blades are incompatible (I presume). I would love to have one plane and a bunch of different blades for it. It's cheaper than buying a new router bit!

So true. I have a pair of frogs for my Lie Nielsen jointer plane, and I never use the lower angle one. The more I try the bevel up planes, the more I like them over the traditional bench planes. My one gripe about the Veritas planes is with the lateral adjuster- it's so much more fiddly than the Lie Nielsen type.

Hand tools are very similar to most people's Festool learning curve. You start out with a bunch of different brand tools, before coming to the realisation that you should have just gone with Festool from the beginning.