Skew block plane is the latest addition to the high-quality line of Veritas handplanes. Because its blade is angled 15°, it planes with less resistance and produces cleaner cuts than regular block planes, especially across the grain. Better yet, the blade reaches all the way to one sideof the body, and it has a fence and a nicker blade, making it extremely versatile. It comes in left- and right-handed versions, and if you opt for both, you’ll always be able to plane with the grain. But since these planes are commonly used for joinery where tearout is hidden, you can get by with one that matches your dominant hand (left-handed plane for lefties).

The quality of these planes is outstanding, and they were ready to go right out of the box. For starters, the blades were lapped dead flat and their bevels were sharp and perfectly formed. The Norris-style adjuster, which controls both vertical and lateral blade movement with surprising precision, had almost no backlash. I also really like the setscrews in the side of the body that allow perfect and repeatable alignment of the blade, which is critical on this type of plane. Also, the mouth is adjustable for light and heavy cuts.

The plane arrived for review at an opportune time. I was working on a commissioned dresser with curved drawer fronts. In order to prep the front for dovetails, I needed to cut cross-grain rabbets. The plane worked perfectly for this task, as its low profile gave excellent control. Its fence referenced off the board ends, yielding accurate and nearly effortless right-angle rabbets on the curved fronts.

For fitting joints and light to medium rabbets, this pair of planes is hard to beat. In fact, I give them a hearty thumbs-up. The Veritas Skew Block Planes are available from Lee Valley Tools for $219 each, or you can buy the pair for $389 (leevalley.com).

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