Tools not made - yet

[Eric Brown]

A long time ago there was talk of Lie Nielson making a chamfer plane. They also indicated a shooting board to go with their plane. I also heard they hoped to use the shooting board as a foundation for a miter box.

Lee Valley also indicated they would be making a premium line of tools but so far the only ones are a block plane and some limited edition type tools.

So what happened? While I respect them not rushing and wanting to do it right, just how much time will it take? The longer they wait the more likely we will have bought old tools and found they work just fine.

Sorry, it might just be me, but I think they need to speed things up a little.
As a side note I also think its strange that Lie-Nielsen doesn't make the 4 1/2 plane in bronze again.
Seems like the demand is there as they sell for $800 and up on e-bay.

[Frederick Skelly]

The new LN catalog hit my mailbox today - still no campher plane, shooting board or miter box.

I don't recall the discussion of a premium line of LV tools - must be from before I started using hand tools a couple years back. Could that premium line have morphed into their new "custom" planes, I wonder?

What happened? Could be a lot of things. It's fairly clear that both these companies carefully choose what they produce. I mean, they have design costs, tooling costs, etc every time they make something new, so they need to have a credible business case. I'm guessing they also prioritize among several new items they want to make/sell (after deciding there's a credible business case for all of them) because they are both "relatively" small businesses and only have so much working capital and personnel to do the engineering/design. Maybe the items you mention are "planned" but just haven't made it to the top of their list yet?

I don't have a clue why some planes are bronze and others are iron. But I'll bet someone here does and can explain it to us.

FWIW,
Fred

[Jim Koepke]

Unless Rob Lee or Thomas Lie-Nielsien chime in, this is all likely to be speculation.

My guess is there is a lot of investment involved in developing a new tool. It is not likely to be a high return on investment for some of the 'planned' new tools.

As far as a chamfer plane, until recently it was my impression that it was a needless luxury. Since then a few old wooden chamfer planes have been put into service. The uniformity of the chamfer over a long piece is impressive. So now that my opinion has changed on the chamfer plane, there are two old ones in my shop and no need in my opinion to purchase another, at least not until a wider chamfer is desired.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Could that premium line have morphed into their new "custom" planes, I wonder?

My recollection is the NX60 and the DX60 block planes were the first planes in the line up of "premium" tools. There was then a spokeshave to introduce the PM VII blades, then a wider selection of the PM blades and chisels, then came the new "custom" planes.

It all takes time and money. For a relatively small company it may be too much to expect multiple developments at the same time.

Seems like Lee Valley has been working on a some what regular release of "premium" tools.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

The downturn in the economies around the world have a significant part to play. These are small companies catering to a niche market. Would you not proceed cautiously? Profit margins are not large.

With regard the #4 1/2 in bronze, that LN represented that as a one-off. Similarly, LV have produced a few planes (such as the side rabbet) and at least one other anniversary tool (the wheel marking gauge) in stainless steel. These are unlikely to be repeated. All of these tools from LN and LV are available to be purchased, but now in alternate materials, materials that are less of a risk to manufacture and produce a greater profit.

LV released the Custom plans recently, and considering the costs of setting up for production, these involved a major investment and risk.

What will LN produce next, now that the honing guide is available to be purchased? The plough plane appears to be the front runner, and somewhere in the background there were rumblings of a circular plane. This is an example of the situation: which would you produce first if you were LN? One is going to be in much greater demand than the other.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[john zulu]

From what I gather the LN and LV offering is pretty complete. There is always the next best thing that tends to fall under a niche again. Like the compass plane. Actually it has been about 2 years now after LV shooting plane. Custom planes about a year?

I rather have LV and LN develop newer products than to repeat a better product as it is.