Block Plane Choice
- Thread starter pmarcusm
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Tim Raleigh said:
Keep in mind that Lee Valley just had a 15% sale on Veritas (coupon for future purchases) so, me personally I'll wait until the next sale.
I do want to buy the Veritas Block Plane with the PM-V11 steel blade and some more of their chisels with the same steel.
I hate these on again off again sales since it reminds me of the old Sears Sales that changed prices on a regular basis four times a year.
Jack
andyman said:
One of those two with the PM-V11 steel option blade would be perfect. Check out Lee Valley's latest Veritas MKII narrow blade sharpening jig.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=51868&cat=51&ap=1
Jack
demographic
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Tim Raleigh said:
I bought it after my father died. I wanted some of the money he left to go somewhere that I would appreciate often.
At the time the block planes were 85 pounds (they seem to be knocking on £180 now) and it was a toss up between the Lie Neilson and the Veritas.
I am very glad that I went with the Veritas as I have handled one of the Lie Neilson low angle block planes since and I didn't like it as much.
Personal choice and all that and in no way a reflection of the Lie Neilson quality, more of a size thing.
I will also be getting one of their PM-V11 irons (for my Stanley 5 1/2 or maybe for the Stanley 6 as they fit the same) at some point but I'm having a bit of a sort out with my van and most of my spare cash is going on Tanos T-Loc boxes right now.
GregBradley
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That is sort of how I got mine. It is a beautiful piece and works very well. Lee Valley seems to be really doing a great job of pushing plane making to new levels of functionality. Lie Nielson is making slightly new versions of classic Stanleys with excellent quality and sometime that works really well too. I love my LN 102 that I've had for 10 years just as much as the NX60 but they are very different in size and function even though both are block planes.mike_aa said:
LVs miniature chisel plane is about the best $20 I've spent in a while.
Birdhunter
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I've got just about every plane LN makes and 2 Bridge City planes that are art pieces. I've tried every sharpening technique and until I bought a Work Sharp WS3000 I hated sharpening plane irons. With the WS3000, I get mirror smooth blades that cut long thin curls off of any wood I use. The water stones are dry, the diamond stones are gone, the Tormac sits idle, but the Work Sharp is busy. Ditto for my chisels. 30 second touch up and they are perfectly sharp.
I could get sharp edges with the old sharpening techniques, but it was hard, messy, and laborious. The Work Sharp is fast, fool proof, and neat.
I could get sharp edges with the old sharpening techniques, but it was hard, messy, and laborious. The Work Sharp is fast, fool proof, and neat.
I totally agree with [member=15289]Birdhunter[/member] my only complaint is the wider plane blades don't fit in the chisel slot of the WS3000 and have to be sharpened on top in a jig, which is much slower.
I also don't bother with a micro bevel as the sharpening is so quick on the full bevel.
I think that the micro bevel is a big help if you have it hollow ground and hand touch up on a stone but that is much slower than the WS3000.
I also don't bother with a micro bevel as the sharpening is so quick on the full bevel.
I think that the micro bevel is a big help if you have it hollow ground and hand touch up on a stone but that is much slower than the WS3000.
tiralie
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Ibuild said:
No but a set of hollows and rounds is on my list. I always have a need to make small pieces of molding for plumb returns etc.
I may make them myself though...
I have an old wooden joiner/smoother plane that my Mennonite Grandfather in law used. I should tune it up and give it a go.
Tim
Wonderwino
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Ibuild said:
I bought one of Scott's oak smoothers last fall at WIA. After pushing iron Lie Nielsens, his wood plane glides like it has teflon on it and makes beautiful thin curls. It takes a few tries to master blade adjustment with light hammer taps, but the results are truly wonderful.
Well, I finally got tired of waiting for the Veritas NX60 (the nickel alloy block plane) and since Lee Valley can only say that it is on "extended hold" and they are not sure when they might get them, I ordered the Veritas DX60 with a spare blade to grind for tough grained boards.
The width of the Standard Veritas Block plane is 2" with a 1 5/8" blade while the Veritas DX60 is 1 3/4" wide with a 1 3/8" wide blade. The blade thickness is 9/64" on the Veritas blades vs 1/8" on the L-N blades for the block planes.
Currently I have the Record 60 1/2 block plane and while I have sharpened the blade to a razors edge, the adjustments are so crude and the blade chatters when trying to cut any thing other than the thinnest shavings - I decided that it will go on the shelf and wait for a "garage sale".
Now, Do I really need that "Jack Plane"?
The width of the Standard Veritas Block plane is 2" with a 1 5/8" blade while the Veritas DX60 is 1 3/4" wide with a 1 3/8" wide blade. The blade thickness is 9/64" on the Veritas blades vs 1/8" on the L-N blades for the block planes.
Currently I have the Record 60 1/2 block plane and while I have sharpened the blade to a razors edge, the adjustments are so crude and the blade chatters when trying to cut any thing other than the thinnest shavings - I decided that it will go on the shelf and wait for a "garage sale".
Now, Do I really need that "Jack Plane"?
zaschaffer
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Howdy!
Well I didn't take the time to read all the replies but here is my 1 cent worth. If you don't have any other planes I would go with LN Rabbit Block plane. It has little knickers on the sides (which I don't use) and it works fairly well as a rabbit plane. I bought this and a Bronze 4 1/2 LN as my first 2 planes and I think it was a pretty good choice. I know a lot of people prefer a skew plane. personally I just turn the plane a little and wallah skew plane.
Ive owned some Veritas stuff (jack planes and whatnot) and they have all been sold and replaced with LN stuff. (food for thought)
Depending on what you are wanting to do/ build you may need to consider a smoothing plane also. I use my block plane for edge stuff and knocking down edges but virtually everything else is done with my 4 1/2.
As far as sharpening goes... buy a tormek... it'll make you happy long time.
Well I didn't take the time to read all the replies but here is my 1 cent worth. If you don't have any other planes I would go with LN Rabbit Block plane. It has little knickers on the sides (which I don't use) and it works fairly well as a rabbit plane. I bought this and a Bronze 4 1/2 LN as my first 2 planes and I think it was a pretty good choice. I know a lot of people prefer a skew plane. personally I just turn the plane a little and wallah skew plane.
Ive owned some Veritas stuff (jack planes and whatnot) and they have all been sold and replaced with LN stuff. (food for thought)
Depending on what you are wanting to do/ build you may need to consider a smoothing plane also. I use my block plane for edge stuff and knocking down edges but virtually everything else is done with my 4 1/2.
As far as sharpening goes... buy a tormek... it'll make you happy long time.
zaschaffer said:
I did buy the Veritas DX60 block plane and I already have the LN Bronze Shoulder Plane (which I love) and the LN Router Plane. My smoother is a Record with a corrugated sole that I bought 35 years ago. I also have a few Japanese wood smooth planes which I save for that special job where I want that perfect finish (and when I don't mind fiddling with the iron setting).
I still can't beat the Veritas MkII sharpening jig with my array of Japanese water stones (14 of them) for sharpening.
Jack
I have a Worksharp and it does work great; also easy to use. However, I am now mainly using the Workshop when I need to regrind for seriously damage edges. Once that is done, I hone with diamond stones (at the coarser grits) and finally with a 4000 and 8000 Norton water stone. My edges aren't yet perfect, but they are significantly better than they used to be. For now, I'm not using the Worksharp as a total solution because I feel my results are better with stones. Yes, water stones do have to be flattened but if you do it frequently and at the end of the sharpening process they are always ready for use and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to flatten.
