Very nice work on those blades Patrick! They look like they will get the job done very nicely. I'm surprised you use the LVBUS for your roughing plane though. Don't you like it for smoothing? I like mine for the most part but it is a tad bit heavy - most of the time i seem to grab my #3 for smoothing but I might use the BUS for the last pass or two with the PMV11 blade.
I don't use the LVBUS for roughing. There would be two problems with that: At 2.25" its blade is wider than needed. More importantly, its 12-deg bed means that I'd have to put a LOT of camber on the blade to achieve a "roughing worthy" shaving profile.
The 4 blades in the post were from a scrub (the 2 on the left) and a pair of 2" wide BD jacks (the 2 on the right).
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 06-16-2016 at 12:11 PM.
My mistake, I thought the plane in the picture was the LBUS. Now on closer inspection I see it is smaller. From a quick glance at the side view it does look very similar to the BUS. WHy by the way, did they make the casting the way the did? I can't figure out a real benefit unless its simply weight reduction
The plane in the picture is a scrub, and the same size as a Stanley 40-1/2. You don't shoot with one of those so there's no reason to have flat sides. I don't know why Veritas makes the casting wider like that in the bottom-front, though IIRC Derek took his BUS (which also has that feature) to a machine shop and had the sides ground flat. It's a nonissue for a scrub so I've never worried about it.
windows e 004 (800x600).jpgAnother look at a Scrub plane iron. It's definitely the right tool for the job, and also a lot of fun to throw shavings three feet in the air with.
Well it looks like I'm getting a scrub plane. Thanks for the advice gentlemen, much appreciated
If you have a spare jack (or a spare blade for your jack) try cambering that to get a feel for how you like to work. At the very least that will inform whether you want a #40-sized or #40-1/2 (LN, LV) scrub. The one in my picture was a 40-1/2 sized LV, with a 1.5" wide blade. I have 2 blades for it, one at 3" camber radius and the other at 4", though at some point I may increase the 4" one to 5 or so.
Keep in mind that with a cambered blade the actual cut width can be controlled by extension, so you can "simulate" a narrow plane using a wider one.
EDIT: I should note that even though I have a 40-1/2 sized scrub I take cuts narrower than 1.25" with it the vast majority of the time. IMO there's no harm in doing that, and I like having the option to "go big", but I know a lot of people who find the 40-1/2 unwieldly. As with many things, it's subjective.
Last edited by Patrick Chase; 06-17-2016 at 12:39 PM.
As a former timber framer and someone who has built my fair share of monster, slab tables.... I offer 2 words. Scrub Plane.