I am a little dumbfounded that Veritas decided that the router plane was the next type of plane to design and manufacture. I was hoping to see a rabbet plane from them before such a seemingly off-beat plane. Is it just me? Maybe I am missing somethng here. What is the order of planes you would like Lee Valley to come up with next?
Discussion Forum
Get It All!
UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month.
Start Your Free TrialCategories
Discussion Forum
Digital Plans Library
Member exclusive! – Plans for everyone – from beginners to experts – right at your fingertips.
Highlights
-
Shape Your Skills
when you sign up for our emails
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. -
Shop Talk Live Podcast
-
Our favorite articles and videos
-
E-Learning Courses from Fine Woodworking
-
-
Replies
Hi Eric,
When I saw their new router plane I was intrigued, as a router plane has been on my shopping list for a while now. My questions are: has anyone used the new router plane - and what do they think of it?; how does its operation compare to traditional router plane designs?; and is it worth the cost of admission?
What are the next planes you'd like to see them introduce?
Sawdust in your shoes,
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
"What are the next planes you'd like to see them introduce?" Excellent question, JD, seeing as how Mr. Lee, Jr., spends a little time here now and again. Might as well get our 2-cents in.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I just don't see that the router plane was the natural next plane in their arsenal. Again, is it just me??? I have never used one and it would seem that a powered router fits the bill for most applications.
Really would like that rabbet plane!
I would like to see what others would like to see in, say, the next 5 planes that Lee Valley puts out. Would the router plane have been one of them. Sorry, I just can't believe it would.
Eric
Last year I bought a 2nd hand Stanley 71 with an aspiration of doing some marquetry. It is a rather nice ornament in the lounge room.
The other day the depth lock on my electric router slipped while cutting dados so I finished up with a ramp. Touching up the edge on the 71 and taking to depth with that was easier than getting the router realigned.
So I now understand why I bought the tool!!!
Dave
Hey, I wasn't arguing with you -- it was a sincere statement, that eliciting suggestions from the crowd here is a good idea. :-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Oh, yes, Forestgirl, I agree! And I think we are getting some good suggestions. It is interesting to hear the choices. In some cases I would not have made the same choices, until I understand their situation. I am starting to get a little appreciation about the routerplane. I am starting to look at inlays and marquetry a little and I can see Patto's point. I would like to test drive one.
hey I have a question since you guys are on the subject of planes. I found this planer in my grandmothers basement it looks like a spoke shave (somewhat) it has a wooden handel that goes across the width like a spokeshave but base is about 4" wide I believe the # on it is 12 not pos though. Does anyone know what this is used for?
My Veritas router plane showed up recently, but I haven't had a chance to work with it yet. I like them for cleaning out the bottom of larger inlay cavities. The bulk gets hogged out with a router, but the hand router planes do a good job of sneaking up to the perimeter - places you just dont want to go with a router for fear of blowing past the line. There always seems to be little nibs left on the bottom of the cavity that you miss with a router bit that the hand router cleans up nicely too. I'd previously been using one of those little Stanley #271's so the LV is a nice step up for me. I don't know that for the vast majority of WW'ers that LV's order of introduction made a lot of sense, but I was kind of glad to see it come out.
I've got a few other LV's and some LN's already. About the only thing I'd like to see next from them is a SMALL shoulder plane - something 4-5" long with a 1/2 to 3/4 wide blade and adjustable - not just a wedge adjuster.
Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
douglas
With regards to your wish for a small shoulder plane, the clifton 410 is outstanding. It has an adjuster that works great, and is one of the planes I reach for first when cleaning up small rabbits and tenons.
I also have the new rabbitting block plane from LN, and the combination of the 2 planes handles everything I need them to.
Jeff
Exactly the combination I am looking for. I have the LV medium shoulder plane and would like the rabbet plane for working areas such as the cheek of a tenon.
The 410 is kind of what I had in mind, only I'd be interested to see LV's twist on it. They do a decent job of thinking outside the box and might come up with something cool. I'd also like to see LV's price on something like that. The only reason I haven't picked up a 410 yet is the cost and the LV planes seem to have a lot of bang for the buck.
You're right about the LN rabbeting block plane. I picked one up about 4-5 months ago and have been real happy with it.Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
The blade on the medium shoulder plan is less than 3/4" wide, and at 7" it is only modestly longer than what you have it mind. Of course, it does have a very good adjuster mechanism and fits well to hand, in my opinion.
LV also does have a rabbet plane of sorts in its catalog under the guise of a chisel plane. Not my cup of tea, but is a stab in that direction.
Well, I would not say their chisel plane would be comparable. The Stanley #90 they have is not it either. I have their bullnose plane and it does not have enough area in front of the blade or enough blade width to do the job. Lie-Nielsen's 60 1/2R rabbet is what I am looking for, but I was hoping that Lee Valley would have come up with an innovative design (possibly with an adjustable mouth) soon. It just seems like their best next plane to me. Anybody agree??
I wouldn't want to argue the merits of the chisel plane as a general rabbet plane, but the LN 60 1/2 R wouldn't do much for me either. I'd want to see something based on the Stanley 10, 10 1/4 or 10 1/2 the bench or "carriagemaker's rabbet planes. But for most purposes I can make due with the shoulder plane.
Steve
I use my LN small chisel plane all the time. It's great for cleaning up glue squeeze out after it's dried in cabinets and boxes, and it's fast at removing dried glue lines in table tops. Also great for getting into corners and such.
Jeff
Well - I agree..... :)
We are working on a "cheek plane" - think skew rabbet, with nickers and a fence ... most likely RH and LH ....
There are a number of new planes in the works - but there's a limit to how quickly we can introduce new models...
Tooling takes a long time to produce, and is expensive....we just can't go too quickly. We also have to integrate the new stuff into our production schedules - and new product is somewhat disruptive... but it's a good disruption!
Cheers -
Rob
It's the modestly larger aspect that I'm not crazy about. I've got a Stanley #92 (3/4 x 5.5) and a #93 (1 x 6.5). Both of them feel too big and clumsy to me when trying to trim a tenon on something that's only a couple of inches wide. A lot of the pieces I've put tenons on are rails or stretchers that seem to fall in between 1-2" in width with a tenon length of 1/2" to 1". Ideally my wish list would be for a shorter adjustable shoulder plane, but with the blade still fairly wide. Even the Clifton 410 is too long, and when you get into the Clifton 400 (3-1/8 long) the blade is only 3/8" wide and it's a wedge adjustment. The LN small shoulder (1/2 x 5.5) also has the wedge adjustment. What I had in mind was if LV could take their Medium Shoulder plane and shrink the length from 7" to maybe 4.5". I could live with the 0.7" width, but 1" wide would be even better. I'd be the first in line to order one.Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
Have you used the LV medium shoulder plane? If not you might want to find someone who will let you try one out. The reason I say this is that the ergonomics are so much nicer than say the Stanley 92. The small knob on the top adjusts to nestle in your hand, and the round hold in the side just seems perfect for a finger grip. In my mind it is just not awkward to hold at all. But awkwardness is clearly an individual matter.
I would like to see them or LN make a compass plane. I have a older record 020 that is ok but the blade is hard to seat on the frog and it is hard to ajust. Might be just the plane I have, but that is the type of plane I would like to see from either of those companys.
A compass plane is an interesting idea and quite different. It seems like a dandy way to clean up a fair curve. Troy, I would like you to expand on your experiences with it and its unique abilities. I see Kunz makes one, but as you point out, none of the respected names appear to make them.
A good friend gave me a very nice blade assembly several years ago and has been pushing me to make a plane with it. I didn't want to just make a copy of a standard plane in wood. I see some compass planes made of wood. Making a specialized plane of wood that I could not obtain easily commercially would be a good idea.
By the way, I found a site that someone pointed me to a few weeks back that sold Lie-Nielsen planes for less than the Lie-Nielsen retail price. Can't find it right now. Anyone have a URL for that site?
http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/lie-nielsen.htm
Is this it?
Bill/Reading, Pa
I think this may be the one
http://www.finetoolj.com/ln/home.htmlWaddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
Another plus about ordering from http://www.finetoolj.com/ln/home.html is free shipping on all LN purchases.
Thats what I have used my compass plane for, also for smoothing the top and bottom of a small bench that was curved. On my record plane the blade is to far forward and you end up with to small a mouth unless you set the chip breaker to far back from the edge of the blade. I am told that not all the records are like that. Also the plane is a bit sloppy compared to LN products. Anyway planes are like potato chips and chocolate one is never enoughTroy
Eric,
I borrowed an Stanley 113 for a chair and liked it so fond one for myself. Have used it on another chair. I am not god enough to just plane away with continuous shavings, but am yet to find a better way of fairing a curve. Besides, they look cool.
David
I would really like to see Veritas add a miter plane (like a stanley #9) to their lineup for shooting. That's an area where we really can't obtain an antique at a decent price. I'm sure the Lie-Nielsen version is excellent as well.
Edited 10/31/2005 11:26 am ET by ThreeCherries
I've been scouting ebay for a Stanley #71, so the new router plane was a very pleasant surprise. Apart fromt the wooden ECE, I'm not aware of any other router plane currently made. Well, the LN beading tool comes with some kind of a "router" blade (anyone used one?)
On top of my wish list for Lee Valley would be a rabbet/fillister plane, a la #78. I feel like I used to see them in mailorder catalogs, but now that I'm looking for one they're nowhere to be found.
Stanley still produces the number 71. Also, St James Bay Tool company makes three router planes (http://www.stjamesbaytoolco.com/ under "New Products". Here is a link to the English Stanley's current router plane (with icky plastic handles) http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?CATEGORY=PLANES&TYPE=PRODUCT&PARTNUMBER=12-071&SDesc=Router+Plane
Edited 11/1/2005 11:15 am ET by ThreeCherries
Eric, I have not thought about what planes I would like to see in their next lot, but for sure a router plane similar to to the Stanley or Record #71 should be included, because a) I believe it is not made any more and b) when you need one you really need one. Power routers or not they are indispensible for cleaning out the ends of dados for example. They are very accurate on depth.I treasure mine.
Record still make a compass plane as far as I know-I bought one about 4 years ago-actually quite a good item, but veritas could improve on it.
Boy, many of you sure feel the router plane is important. I am trying to visualize what you mean by cleaning out the end of a dado. Square it up? I must be missing something here. I agree that it would be nice for clearing out an inlay area.
Eric,
If you do a stopped dado wuth a power tool, the end is either round (router) or has a concave ramp (saw - although not sure why you would do a stopped dado with a saw). If you then want to square off the end of the dado, you can take out the corners with a chisel and them ake the bottom absolutely flat with the #71.
The reason I needed it the other day was fixing a mistake. The depth stop on my router had slipped part way through a cut, and I didnt detect it until I went back to that board later. I establised the correct depth for abuot 1/3 of the dado using the 71.
David.
Me thinks you should take another look. They already offer several "Rabbet" planes, their called should planes, pretty much the same thing.
I saw the prototype of the router plane last summer at Montanafest and I made up my mind then that it was next on my list. The price looks good, for the quality of workmanship that I saw.
Just in the "for what it's worth" category, I was told by a LV customer service rep. that the irons for the new router plane (sold loose) will fit the old Stanley No. 71's. I know that I have two 71's, but only 2 irons, one at 1/4" and one at 1/8". So, a few irons are now on my wish list.Alan
http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com
Got the medium. Considered the large. The 60 1/2 R is wider, lighter and not so bulky for the purpose of cheek trimming.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled