Close-Up and Personal Look at the NEW Lie-Nielsen PLOW PLANE

[Chris Hachet]

So a year later and still nothing? In the meantime, Lee Valley has launched their new plow plane and bought serious loyalty by providing a no frills and easy modification to owners of existing planes.

Just saying...

You really have to love how commited to innovation Lee Valley really is....

[Karl Fife]

Yep! Both are great companies. We're all very lucky to have more than one company with world class customer service competing for our attention.

As to the occasional sense of entitlement that I sense in this forum about "They really ought to be done by now", seems absolutely naive to me.

Nobody who has ever brought a product to market would ever presume to know such a thing, especially for a small company that is trying to maintain quality, service and support as they grow. In case anyone is unclear on the comparative sizes of LV and LN, one would expect LV to outpace them in terms of time to market, R&D budget, capital equipment etc., similar to the way you'd expect Lie Nielsen to outpace... me. :-)

[Hilton Ralphs]

Just winding you up Karl. All good.

[Paul Sidener]

So a year later and still nothing? In the meantime, Lee Valley has launched their new plow plane and bought serious loyalty by providing a no frills and easy modification to owners of existing planes.

Just saying...

What you don't know, is how long Veritas was working on that project. That is not something that happened overnight. Their R&D can just keep a secret, better than Lie Nielsen. I own the Veritas and have had the mod done already. The way that they handled it was not flawless. I was sent packaging for Canadian residents, They had to send me a different shipping label. I would like to try the Lie Nielsen plane, it very well could be better. You don't know until you try both, on the work that you do. They are both top notch companies!

Just saying.........

[Dale Murray]

So a year later and still nothing? In the meantime, Lee Valley has launched their new plow plane and bought serious loyalty by providing a no frills and easy modification to owners of existing planes.

Just saying...

Honestly, I dreamed of having a load of Lie-Nielsen planes for many years - my wife even bought me a #8 for an anniversary present - but now I may be on the LV bandwagon. Two things brought me to this conclusion:
1. An article about the two brands where the two were compared as such, Lie-Nielsen is like Classical music and LV is like Jazz. In classical you play it note for note, in jazz you take all the good bits and pieces and improvise making something new and hopefully better. Considering they are engineers working on these things its safe to assume there are no random notes in the mix; all very calculated and researched.
2. I recently bought a LV 4-1/2 custom. While it is a bit annoying not being able to adjust the depth and alignment with the rear hand it IS very well made. I do hesitate when I need to pull the blade for a quick edge touch-up like I do with my #8.

Ultimately, I dont believe the LV tools are as pretty as the LN but what should I care about, looks or function? I'll go with function.

As for the two plow planes?
Smacking a blade around with a hammer is not for me, I would go with the LV for sure.

When I need a plow/rabbet plane I use my #55 (I have all the cutters plus a few duplicates), I like that is has two skates and nickers on both sides.

[Reinis Kanders]

Smacking a blade around with a hammer is not for me, I would go with the LV for sure.

In my experience hammer taps are more precise than most other things. I laterally tap blade even on bailey style if I need very even even projection.

[Karl Fife]

In my experience hammer taps are more precise than most other things. I laterally tap blade even on bailey style if I need very even even projection.

When I was new to woodworking, I was quite surprised by the precision of hammer taps. As a noob, a plane hammer seemed so needlessly unrefined to me. I didn't like the idea of hitting my beautiful, hard-won new hand plane with a hammer. I assumed that people liked plane hammers because of nostalgia, and a love of old methods. I was totally wrong, and recently, I literally returned an excellent plane because of its inability to be conveniently adjusted with a plane hammer. See item #2 in the link below.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...33#post2555133

[john zulu]

Need to be patient. Good tools takes time to come out. That being said..... I will skip this tool as I already own a plow plane from LV.
I am still eyeing more tools like the chisel plane from LN. Cannot get enough of bronze tools

[Karl Fife]

The bronze bench and block planes are great, but I dislike bronze joinery planes. They always leave bronze oxide marks that need to be cleaned up separately, and that's needless hassle.

Bench and block planes are no problem because typically they move over a larger area, meaning any potential marking is spread over a larger area. Secondly (and more importantly), bench and block planes remove the layer they're bearing on. Before one or two passes, any oxides have been rubbed clean from the bottom of the plane. Moreover the marked wood (if any) has most certainly been removed. Zero problems.

This is not so with joinery planes. My Lie Nielsen Infill Bronze shoulder plane, while a beautiful object in a very useful size and package, would leave oxide marks where the sides would rub. As a shoulder plane, this was usually irrelevant, but not always. Bronze chisel plane is the worst offender, because you're often concentrating your movement in a single spot. It often leaves a mess on what might otherwise be a finish-ready surface. I'd have bought the chisel plane in Iron if it had been offered. I may try to laminate a piece of stainless steel to the bottom of the chisel plane. I don't use the chisel plane it as much since getting a wide Japanese paring chisel especially since the 'usu' doesn't leave marks.

Walke Moore tools has an incredible bronze router plane soon to be released. It's the same thing. Since it's bronze, you'll have to clean up the reference/bearing surfaces every time you use it. Not a deal breaker, but again, needless hassle.

[Frederick Skelly]

The bronze bench and block planes are great, but I dislike bronze joinery planes. They always leave bronze oxide marks that need to be cleaned up separately, and that's needless hassle.

Bench and block planes are no problem because typically they move over a larger area, meaning any potential marking is spread over a larger area. Secondly (and more importantly), bench and block planes remove the layer they're bearing on. Before one or two passes, any oxides have been rubbed clean from the bottom of the plane. Moreover the marked wood (if any) has most certainly been removed. Zero problems.

This is not so with joinery planes. My Lie Nielsen Infill Bronze shoulder plane, while a beautiful object in a very useful size and package, would leave oxide marks where the sides would rub. As a shoulder plane, this was usually irrelevant, but not always. Bronze chisel plane is the worst offender, because you're often concentrating your movement in a single spot. It often leaves a mess on what might otherwise be a finish-ready surface. I'd have bought the chisel plane in Iron if it had been offered. I may try to laminate a piece of stainless steel to the bottom of the chisel plane. I don't use the chisel plane it as much since getting a wide Japanese paring chisel especially since the 'usu' doesn't leave marks.

Walke Moore tools has an incredible bronze router plane soon to be released. It's the same thing. Since it's bronze, you'll have to clean up the reference/bearing surfaces every time you use it. Not a deal breaker, but again, needless hassle.

Ken, I wonder if spraying lacquer on the offending surface of the bronze tool would solve this without impairing the tool's use? Might be something to try if it's really a problem for you.

FWIW,
Fred

[Stewie Simpson]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/archive/.../t-49304.html?

I think it is oxidation from the plane sole wiping off onto the surface of the wood. First, see whether it continues as you use the plane.
If this happened to me, I'd first try waxing the sole, then if that didn't work, follow whatever LN's recommendation for polishing the bronze was -- some kind of polishing cloth, I believe. See whether that takes care of the problem.
Like I said above, this hasn't happened with my 2 bronze planes, but I've heard about it from others and LN mention it in their product notes.
I love my bronze planes because I consider them to be "low maintenance" compared to my iron planes that call for oiling to prevent rust.
-Andy

Andrew, I took your advice. Everything is fine and dandy now, thanks for the tips! And yes, I agree with your summation of bronze vs. iron. I live in a damp part of the country, and am looking forward to less rust-stress. Thanks again, Terek.

[Mike Allen1010]

haven't taken a single pill.........trying to not go down that path.........just riding the storm out........

Kent, reading this thread reminded me how much I enjoy your posts! Please come back to SMC – we need more 70s hair band references! Your unique sense of humor can't be replaced.

I hope your shoulder is feeling better and that you're able to have some fun in the shop.

Best regards, Mike

[allen long]

I agree with you Mike on loving great 70s refereces. I beg to differ however on REO Speedwagon being a hair band. They were a band who happened to have big hair. Big difference. Sort of like calling Lynyrd Skynyrd or Black Sabbath a hair band. I was there - with the long hair and a cheesy mustache to compete with even the most bodacious of used car salesmen or pornstar staches the 70s had to offer. Hair bands were a product of the most musically bankrupt / barren of decades - the 80s. Rise of the drum machine and synth bass but heralding a short fall of music. Man but did they know how to rock the clothing and hair though! Music of the 70s A+ (disco doesn't count) Fashion of the 70s as cheesy as the music of the 80s.

Sorry . . . Got caught up in the heat of the moment. What the . . .Wait . . . That was from the 80s.

[allen long]

So that is what causes the marks when I use the chisel plane. I thought it was something I was doing wrong. (At least that is what my wife would say)

[steven c newman]

I think I will just keep my #45 awhile, thank you very much....
cutting a tongue.jpg
Along with the 24 basic cutters.....