AWFS: New Veritas plane for shooters
Jul 25, 2013
The new Veritas shooting plane is a whopping 16 in. long with excellent momentum and a low-angle, shear-cutting blade.
Joining Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley’s Veritas division debuted its own version of a dedicated shooting plane. At 7-3/4 lbs. and $330 for the model with an 01-steel blade, this is a tool for serious shooters.
A jack plane works well for the job, especially a low-angle model, but the new Veritas plane puts your hand in a much more comfortable position. With plenty of mass and momentum, it made gorgeous shavings easily at the show, pushed with just one hand, leaving the other free to hold the work tight to the fence.
Typical high-end Veritas features include a Norris-style adjuster, and a nicely adjustable throat. Also, the handle (tote) pivots to to allow you to use the plane face down for other trimming jobs. Also the bed is skewed 20 degrees for shearing action but the blade is a standard Veritas low-angle model.
Veritas doesn’t stop there
The Veritas product designers didn’t stop there, of course. We also liked their new Cabinetmaker’s Chisel Plane ($130), a sweet version of the traditional chisel plane, at $130; and an affordable little trim saw, the Detail Flush-Cutting Saw ($22.50), with no set at all on the teeth, so it can be used on either side. The company is also getting good feedback on their space-age PMV-11 tool steel, and expanding it to a line of butt chisels and plane irons for other manufacturers’ planes.
-
The new Veritas shooting plane is a whopping 16 in. long with excellent momentum and a low-angle, shear-cutting blade.
-
The throat is adjustable, with a smaller brass knob that acts both as a stop and a micro-adjust.
-
The Detail Flush Cutting Saw has zero set on either side of the teeth, meaning it can be used on either side, and won't climb as it cuts, according to Veritas.
-
I could find tons of uses for the Veritas Cabinetmaker's Trimming Plane, designed to make precise paring cuts where a chisel can't easily reach.
Comments
I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on the Lie-Nielsen No. 51 Shoot Board Plane at $500. How does the Veritas compare? I can see already that it's almost 2 lbs lighter. How much will this affect actual performance? I wouldn't mind saving the $170, but not at the expense of long-term happiness with the tool's performance.
I would just get an old stanley #51 chute plane for $400 -the online going rate- to split the difference between the two. It's just a better overall plane.
Thanks for the comments. You can be sure one of our expert hand-tool guys will be testing this one soon, probably against all similar planes. Stay tuned.
Check out the Shop Talk Live podcast, where I interviewed a Veritas guy about this plane, and about how great shooting is in a hand-tool oriented shop. I believe we'll be posting it later this weekend. Cheers.
Looks like a great plane. Will it be available in left hand, too?
Mike.
Mickey: Yes, it will be available in left-handed models as well. They'll be releasing the right handed model first, following up with the one for lefty use about a month later if my memory serves.
-E
I recently purchased the new Veritas shoot board plane. I took the plane out of the box, fettled the mouth opening and iron, and took a 2 thousands inch shaving off a 7" wide 5/8' cherry board end grain. I did not touch the iron, just installed it. I can hardly waite to put a micro bevel and stroop the iron.
Why does Veritas make the BEST plane in the world today?
Low bed angles, the Norris style adjuster, bevel up irons at 25, 38, 50, and 50 toothed and other inovative approaches rather than copy an old style plane.
I make the above claims based on usage and 25 years of collecting hand tools. This collecting has given me an appreciation of the development of hand planes.
Looking forward to differences of opinion.
Heck,
I forgot the most improtant feature of the Veritas shoot board plane--THE MOUTH IS ADJUSTABLE! Regards---Ken
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in