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Thread: LA block plane: useless or indispensable

  1. #31
    I've got four block planes: #18, #65, LV LA, and some really tiny non-descript thing. I love the LV LA. I got it after struggling for far too long with a cheap craftsman. Best money I've spent. I would highly recommend it, but then again, I do plenty of stuff where it is nice to have. I picked up the 18 at a flea market and the 65 on the bay, each around $20. I like low angle because you can have different attack angles with a single unit.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Ft. Wayne, IN
    Posts
    1,453
    I love using a block plane, especially a LA one. IMHO a low-angle block plane is one of the most essential planes you could have. I highly recommend the Lee Valley Low-Angle Block Plane:

    http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/pag...=1,41182,48942

    I added their optional Knob & Large Tote and I absolutely love it:

    http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/pag...=1,41182,48942

    I also picked up the optional Chamfer Guide for it and I'm very glad that I did:

    http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/pag...=1,41182,48942

    In Action:

    http://www.leevalley.com/US/Home/VideoPopup.aspx?v=129


    Good luck and happy shavings.
    "I've cut the dang thing three times and it's STILL too darn short"
    Name withheld to protect the guilty

    Stew Hagerty

  3. #33
    Thirty eight years ago I was planing end grain maple with a block plane. My right hand was cramping, my fingers hurting, and I thought "something is wrong here. Nobody put up with this trouble in the 18th century." I never used it again.

    I think the block plane was developed for carpenters to carry around in their aprons to do little trimming jobs. It is useful for many people, but certainly not essential for bench work.

    It seems as if every month I read on a forum about someone on a "limited budget" who has a router plane or a shoulder plane and wants to know if they can use these to make rabbets or grooves. I would not suggest buying a block plane ahead of a plough or a moving fillister.

  4. #34
    Warren, your thoughts are the same as mine. I dumped all of my LA planes (but confess I did buy a stanley 65 after the fact for novelty, and haven't used it) when I planed end grain on a panel with one of the asian made continental smoothers. It was far easier than any block plane, far more capable of quickly removing material to a marking line, and smoother and easier across the end grain than the LA jack that I had bought (probably because of the slickness of the bottom). A #4 works just about as well.

    that spelled the end of my use of any LA planes, but I literally can't think of anything that I'd do with a block plane that I can't do with any other. Getting them away from end grain and using a standard bench plane to size panels to a marked line was one of the more comfortable moves (in terms of how much my hands hurt working wood) that I've made in the last five years.

    Setting aside a shoulder plane in situations where it shouldn't be used was another one.

  5. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Rode View Post
    I've looked at the LN rabbet block plane a few times. Where do you use it most? Also, do you ever catch a finger on the iron while using it?
    I have. Not only that, but the blade exposed on the side can damage work sometimes. I thought I could use it as a regular block plane but it's not very good for that.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  6. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Rozmiarek View Post
    I use mine a lot. My favorite is nothing fancy, an old Stanley 65.
    Mine, too. I put a modern iron in it and it works great. I have a bunch of block planes that I've accumulated over time but the 65 is the one I reach for.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    SoCal
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    22,494
    Blog Entries
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    I imagine this one will get a wide range of responses. I'm on the smaller side and using my LV low angle block plane one-handed did not breed confidence. I would often rest my thumb lightly on the front knob and my control would increase dramatically. I really wanted a one-handed plane for knocking off corners, quick fitting a panel or whatever. I bought the LV apron plane and despite the absence of an adjustable mouth, really like it. I added a knob and ball-tail to my low angle block and use it like one might use a #3.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    I'd have to count my block planes. Have the NX60 and the LN low angle,a LN rabbet block plane,the usual Stanley low angle and maybe a few more. More that I need!

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    12,120
    Last count, I had six block planes, including this little guyIMAG0010.jpga Stanley SW #103. Still has a few walnut shavings in it. Seems to do an alright job, for a $1 plane....

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Earth somewhere
    Posts
    1,061
    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    You mean these, Chris ..



    One day I shall find the time to catalogue and describe all these block planes ....

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

    You really need to catalogue your stuff mate. If you cark it your wife is gonna want to kill you if she's left to figure it all out. You're a physiologist aren't you. What's your definition of an obsession and/or hoarder ;-).

    Hey if you put wheels on all of them and bought some old OH scale rails you could have a chop chop (block block) train
    Last edited by Brian Ashton; 02-27-2014 at 4:04 AM.
    Sent from the bathtub on my Samsung Galaxy(C)S5 with waterproof Lifeproof Case(C), and spell check turned off!

  11. #41
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,469
    Brian

    If I cark it before my wife, I am nominating you to catalogue all my tools.

    I actually do not own most of those block planes. Many of them are on indefinite loan for the review. They are packed away and awaiting a day or two when I am free ... and have been so for about 5 years now !!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  12. #42
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Sioux Falls, SD
    Posts
    372
    But this doesn't answer my question!?!?! CAN I make rabbets with the router plane?
    USMC '97-'01

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    27,347
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Petersen View Post
    But this doesn't answer my question!?!?! CAN I make rabbets with the router plane?
    It is possible, but there are much easier ways.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  14. #44
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Chevy Chase, Maryland
    Posts
    2,484
    yes.


  15. #45
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Sioux Falls, SD
    Posts
    372
    Well, I was being facetious, but now I just feel silly....
    USMC '97-'01

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