Lee Valley Pointed router plane blade - what do you use it for?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I was monkeying around with my router plane today, using it for leveling a recessed field in a gift I'm working for for my wife.

I tried experimenting with the pointed blade, which Lee Valley says is for final smoothing. It worked well at times in regards to grain direction, because of the small area I was working in, it let me work with a little more skew. But in general, once again, I haven't quite found the use for it. Do any of you folks use one of these? Am I missing something?

The first thought that occurs to me is that maybe I'm sharpening it wrong, but because of the tilt of the blade in relation to the sole (the blade isn't perfectly parallel to the sole, of course, because then you'd have no clearance angle) it really only cuts at the very point unless I'm taking a rather large cut. It works well for that at times, but that seems sort of against LV's suggestion on the product page that it's for final smoothing. Should I try and sharpen it such that more than the just the tip of the point contacts the wood? I guess it could be handy for some corners, but the slightly less than 90 degrees of the flat blade lets me get into most corners fine.

Just curious.

[Chris Griggs]

I don't use it. I have used it, but I always go back to the straight blade. I assumed it was intended for crossgrain work, but for getting into square corners (as in hinge mortises and dados) the square blade work better.

[jason thigpen]

Mine was the same way. It worked fine for smoothing if you skewed it, but it did take quite a few passes before the surface was actually level. I prefer the squared off blade myself.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Jason's experience echoes mine - it took a heck of a lot of passes because only the very tip was cutting, which is made me wonder if I should be sharpening it differently so more of the blade edge was engaged.

[Adam Cruea]

I use it for going across the grain. For me, it seems to grab a *lot* less than the square blade when you go across grain.

[Randy Karst]

I've read that it is for producing the final smoothing after having used the the straight blade for "roughing out." Tried it years ago and it didn't seem to make an appreciable differnce at the time and never tried it again, maybe worth re-trying.

[Ryan Baker]

I use the pointed blade far more than any of the square ones. It's better cutting across grain, skewing, and getting into tight corners. But I don't understand those recommendations -- seems exactly backwards to me. I'd say the pointed cutter is more of a roughing cutter, and the square ones are better for smoothing. I suppose it will vary a lot depending on what type of work one is doing.

[Brian Ashton]

I tend to reach for the router that has the spear point first to clean out what ever I'm attacking (except for long rebates or dado). It's very flexible and manoeuvrable in that it cuts going forward and side to side. It also works well for scribing the edge so as to eliminate any blow out or chipping.

[jason thigpen]

It's very flexible and manoeuvrable in that it cuts going forward and side to side.

I do use it a bit in a side to side motion. It does work really well that way. And that is a function that the square blades are not capable of.

[Russell Sansom]

I'm late to the party here, but wanted to share my experience.
I try whatever's in the router. I seem to know right away if the other blade will work better. That's it for me. Like Joshua, I used to search the blades for meaning but couldn't come to a conclusion. One thing: I enjoy sharpening the spear, even though the chisel is a no-brainer since it comes with its own angle-setting jig/arm.

[lowell holmes]

It's good for cleaning up corners in an inlay groove.
It's not used often, but when you need it, it's there.

[Andrae Covington]

Like others, I use the spear-point for cross-grain work. When necessary (and if there is room), I twist the tool a little to run one edge of the blade more parallel to a side to trim along the corner. I agree with Ryan that it is more of a roughing cutter. In the example below of a dado, I don't care how smooth the bottom is, I just want it reasonably flat. (Even so, the router plane can only hog off so much; I started with a chisel and mallet.)

routerplane-spearpoint-dado.jpg