Are These Shoulder Planes Worth The Asking Price?

[onocoffee]

I've been thinking about shoulder planes lately and been thinking about the medium-sized one from Veritas. I know very little about shoulder planes, but I used the Veritas recently and liked it.

As I was perusing FB Marketplace, I came across a seller with a couple old Stanley 92 and 93 planes. Of course, I know nothing about these, but he's asking $95, and I don't really know how to assess their value.

Might any of you have thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[ChuckS]

Stanley 92 & 93 usually sell for $70 to $100 Cdn (much less in garage sales). Some of them often require "fettling" or tuning, compared to the modern ergonomics and quality of Veritas planes. I suggest that you bring a board and try it out before buying, as you can compare the experience with your use of the Veritas plane. You don't want to end up with a paper weight in your shop.

There're a lot more uses of the shoulder plane than illustrated in this short video:

 

[Duckler]

I bought a 92 for $5. That was around 35 years ago. I did not appreciate what it was at the time.
I quickly realized how useful it is. But the thing with shoulder planes is a really sharp blade is the secret to success.
Can you get the both for a total of $95?

 

[flair woodworks]

I would save my money for the Veritas. The Medium one is a great choice if you don't often work with grooves narrower than it. For large rabbets or tenons, you can use the Medium Shoulder Plane to work in the corner, then a larger bench plane for the remainder.

 

[demographic]

Just to throw a spanner into the works I reckon a low angle rebate blockplane is more versatile.

 

[cdconey]

I've used both the Stanley and Veritas. Veritas is much better IMO, I purchased when it was first released. FWIW, The Stanley 92 was ~ $95 retail at that time. I think I paid ~ $120 for the Veritas when they were first released.

 

[kevinculle]

I bought a Bench Dog #92 from Rockler, it lists for $135 but I got it on sale for $100, I think. With very little fettling I have it working very well.

 

[onocoffee]

Thank you all. This past weekend, I was able to work with the Medium Veritas, another wooden one whose origin I can no longer recall, and the small Clifton. I don't want to feel pressed for any plane. I'll probably reach out to the buyer with an offer since I think $95 is a bit much for one and while it's not a far drive, its in a direction that I don't have any real reason to be heading out that way this week.

I did like the Veritas and may just end up ordering that one from Lee Valley. I did order the Clifton from Woodcraft and they say it may take up to three months to get here. At least I'm not in a rush.

 

[PaulMarcel]

Lee Valley routinely has some Veritas medium shoulder planes on their seconds/blem sale, though I think one just happened. If you need to joint small parts, there's a Veritas Hand Jointer that accepts the medium (or large) shoulder plane. I've used this more than I thought I would.

 

[derekcohen]

Shoulder planes are NOT suitable for the shoulders or cheeks of tenons. There is much misinformation here. They are the wrong shape for these tasks, being high and narrow, which makes them tippy and difficult to control. A far better way to fine tune a tenon shoulder is to knife in the border, and then use a chisel into the line. Tenon cheeks are best tunes with a router plane or a rabbet block plane (which is low and wide).

Rabbet block plane on a large tenon cheek ...



Router plane on a smaller tenon cheek ...

Chisel tuning a shoulder ...

Where shoulder planes excel is in tuning the shoulders of a rebate/rabbet. For this task, my preference is a 1/2" shoulder plane, such as the Veritas Small. A good all-rounder is the 3/4" Veritas Medium.

Tuning the tongue of a drawer bottom ...



The vintage 1" Stanley #93 is actually a good plane for tenon cheeks as it is low slung. It is really a narrower rabbet block plane. The downside of the Stanley shoulder planes is the blade adjustment, which is rather clunky. The Veritas shoulder planes are a delight to adjust by contrast.

But, using a shoulder plane to remove or straighten a tenon shoulder is a recipe for disaster. It is difficult to control, difficult to remove small spots, and missing a cardinal rule of shoulders - the should must be coplanar around the stretcher. This is not easy with a shoulder plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[bertv]

I did like the Veritas and may just end up ordering that one from Lee Valley. I did order the Clifton from Woodcraft and they say it may take up to three months to get here. At least I'm not in a rush.

Is that the 3-Option Rebate Plane No 3110 from Clifton? I bought one last December and am very impressed by the build quality. Haven’t used it yet,. My only beef yet is that there came no documentation with it, so you have to figure out by yourself what the different extra parts are for. Minor complaint, but at this price level you would expect a bit more than just a simple cardboard box and no manual.

 

[derekcohen]

deleted

 

[jeffinsgf]

I'm a bit of a hand plane junkie. I have the Clifton 3110 and love it. If you don't want to wait for Woodcraft, Taylor Tools appears to have them in stock. The chisel plane mode takes a little fiddling around to get nice shavings, but then I've never met a chisel plane that didn't.

As mentioned, rebate/rabbet/shoulder planes demand a razor-sharp cutting edge to do what you expect them to do. Tweaking the alignment and depth of cut are just as critical.

 

[AstroKeith]

I have the Clifton 3110, Wood River no9 (1/2") and Veritas Miniature.
I use the Wood River most and rate it highly.

 

[Duckler]

Shoulder planes are NOT suitable for the shoulders or cheeks of tenons. There is much misinformation here. They are the wrong shape for these tasks, being high and narrow, which makes them tippy and difficult to control. A far better way to fine tune a tenon shoulder is to knife in the border, and then use a chisel into the line. Tenon cheeks are best tunes with a router plane or a rabbet block plane (which is low and wide).

Rabbet block plane on a large tenon cheek ...



Router plane on a smaller tenon cheek ...

Chisel tuning a shoulder ...

Where shoulder planes excel is in tuning the shoulders of a rebate/rabbet. For this task, my preference is a 1/2" shoulder plane, such as the Veritas Small. A good all-rounder is the 3/4" Veritas Medium.

Tuning the tongue of a drawer bottom ...



The vintage 1" Stanley #93 is actually a good plane for tenon cheeks as it is low slung. It is really a narrower rabbet block plane. The downside of the Stanley shoulder planes is the blade adjustment, which is rather clunky. The Veritas shoulder planes are a delight to adjust by contrast.

But, using a shoulder plane to remove or straighten a tenon shoulder is a recipe for disaster. It is difficult to control, difficult to remove small spots, and missing a cardinal rule of shoulders - the should must be coplanar around the stretcher. This is not easy with a shoulder plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek,
I have the Veritas Miniature shoulder plane. I think I bought it in 2016. It was just so cute.
Anyway, it has been really useful. In fact, it definitely avoids the tippy problem you mention. I use it very often for making adjustments where nothing else seems suitable.

 

[smorgasbord]

25-35 years ago, it was hard to find good new planes, especially less commonly used ones like shoulder planes. I have a Record 073 large shoulder plane that I bought new some 30-odd years ago, which I think isn't made anymore, and it's good. But, many other specialty hand tools were really only available used if you wanted good quality.

However, since then Vertias and Lie-Nielsen have ramped up the variety of products they make, so there are good new choices for these. I would suspect that's hurt the resale value of the old versions, but haven't looked in years.