I Need Help with Lie-Nielsen Planes

[Prashun Patel]

I find even the #7 fatiguing to use for larger jobs. I suspect an 8 would be even quicker to exhaust. There hasn't been anything (even @ 8-12 feet long) that I haven't been able to do reasonably well with a #7 (I use a bevel up Veritas, so it's not totally apples-to-apples, but they are the same length.)

When jointing a tricky, long, skinny edge, you may find it beneficial to plane it straight with the #7, and then shoot it square with the piece lying flat on the bench. The LN7 would be great for that.

[Andrew Gibson]

I have a mixed bag of vintage planes that all have new irons and chip breakers (Hock and LV) I also have a LN bronze #4 with both 45* and 55* frogs. I leave it set up for High angle work when the need arises to complement my Stanley #4c and #4-1/2C.
on the long end I love my #6c for the majority of furniture sized work. The #7c comes out for long edge work. The #8c comes out for large flattening jobs such as table tops. I think the #7 and #8 can be interchanged for the most part, but I have run into a couple jobs where the #8 was the only one that would do the trick for me. My Union #7c belonged to my Great Grandfather and was my first plane and I will never part with it, however I think I would be content with a #6 and #8. All my Vintage planes are corrugated soles because the #7 was corrugated and as I collected I wanted them to match even if the brands did not.

[Robert Engel]

Steven, first, I have found I can joint quite well with a #6. That being said, there are times you really need to the long jointers.

Yes the big jointer planes can be a bit of a challenge on 3/4" thick edges. In those cases I'm planing tow boards at once clamped with opposing surfaces to cancel out the angular error. Or, on an exposed edge, I will shoot the edge using a jig.

I went through a similar experience a few years ago I needed a long jointer for a workbench flattening. Since I knew a big jointer would occupy the plane rack way more than my hands, And since I already had their #6, I opted for the WoodRiver #7. Have to say I even compared to a few other LN planes I can't barely tell the diff.

Do love my LN 4 1/2, tho. I think a high angle frog is a good idea rather than having to worry about back bevelling you can sharpen all your irons the same way

My 2¢ hope it helps

[Steven Harrison]

Never had a #8 but the #7 worked fine for two 7' long projects. I can't see the #8 being radically different. Just order a second frog for difficult grain

Trying to avoid ordering a second frog just because of price. I might order the 7 with a higher angle then swap it to the 4-1/2. Still taking in all of the good opinions and wisdom here

[Steven Harrison]

Howdy Steven and a belated Welcome to the Creek. If you are in the Portland, OR area send me a Private Message if you would like to take a test drive of the two sizes to see if that helps you make up your mind.

The choice of the planes one uses is different for each person. If you tend to use your #6 in place of a #5 because it feels more comfortable, then a #8 might be the right plane for you.

On the other hand a #4-1/2, a #6 and a #7 all have the same size blade. This would allow for a back bevel on one to swap around if needed or have a spare blade to fit all three planes.

From my own experience, at one time a #7 seemed to be fine for me and having a #8 didn't seem necessary. Then one day while out for a ride with the wife we stopped at an antique shop. Turns out the guy was a plane collector. He had a complete no damage #8 at a price below my ability to refuse. It is a bit of an odd duck. It kind of fits in between the cracks of a type 6 and a type 7. The lateral adjuster doesn't have the patent dates on it that would be on one of that vintage.

Now it tends to get used more than my #7.

Both planes are very well suited to the job, but for some reason the added weight of the #8 just feels better in my hands.

jtk

Hi Jim and thanks. Unfortunately I am nowhere near the Portland area or I would take you up on your offer. LN is having their Hand Tool Events and will be in Nashville in November which is about 5 hours away from me. Not sure I can get the will power to wait that long though. I usually start with a 5 with a cambered iron when dimensioning and then move to a 6 since it's the longest plane I have before using the smoother.
Seems like you lucked out with the 8. Have you ever used a high angled frog? Thanks for all of the insight

[Steven Harrison]

Record 8, Stanley and LN7, plus various woodies. LN7 is my preference; there are few times when the extra length and weight of the 8 is beneficial. With a humidity-controlled shop, the woodies are a good option as well.

I work in my garage so I've ruled out the woodies. Seems like the 7 is more useful generally than the 8 for you. Good to know and thanks for the reply

[Steven Harrison]

I like my bailey #7c (with hock iron) for the tasks you've listed.

(I would even give some thought to looking for a good-condition bailey over the LN in order to save weight).

I've heard some people prefer a low-angle jointer because it has a lower mass and might be easier to keep balanced on an edge. I only have a bevel-up #5 and the bevel-down #7.

If jointing a thin board, you may end up using a long-grain shooting board on your bench. I'd probably use my LV LAJ for that (same one I use with my endgrain shooting board)

Matt

Good point on the long grain shooting board. I also have a LV LAJ and love it, but I reach for my bevel downs most of the time. The weight of a LN doesn't scare me and I would rather buy with confidence than have an ounce of doubt about a flat sole or quality. Plus I've been saving not to mention all the time I've spent slipping my wife subliminal messages to approve the purchase

[Steven Harrison]

I find even the #7 fatiguing to use for larger jobs. I suspect an 8 would be even quicker to exhaust. There hasn't been anything (even @ 8-12 feet long) that I haven't been able to do reasonably well with a #7 (I use a bevel up Veritas, so it's not totally apples-to-apples, but they are the same length.)

When jointing a tricky, long, skinny edge, you may find it beneficial to plane it straight with the #7, and then shoot it square with the piece lying flat on the bench. The LN7 would be great for that.

My wife jokes that I'm built like a cartoon character and I have most of my mass in my upper body. Heavy planes don't scare me, but it's very good to know how well your 7 has worked for you. Thanks for the reply

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jim and thanks. Unfortunately I am nowhere near the Portland area or I would take you up on your offer. LN is having their Hand Tool Events and will be in Nashville in November which is about 5 hours away from me. Not sure I can get the will power to wait that long though. I usually start with a 5 with a cambered iron when dimensioning and then move to a 6 since it's the longest plane I have before using the smoother.
Seems like you lucked out with the 8. Have you ever used a high angled frog? Thanks for all of the insight

My bench planes are almost exclusively Stanley/Bailey models, so there isn't any with a high angle frog.

Not so long ago it seemed luck struck again for a #8. There was a beat up #8c with a few things missing and a broken frog. For $5 it seemed like a decent deal. To me it is my most expensive $5 plane. A replacement frog cost me ~$40. Now it is sitting waiting for me to get the motivation to put it together and give it a try. It will likely be like when there were a pair of #7s taking in the shop. One of them ended up going to someone else.

jtk

[Steven Harrison]

I have a mixed bag of vintage planes that all have new irons and chip breakers (Hock and LV) I also have a LN bronze #4 with both 45* and 55* frogs. I leave it set up for High angle work when the need arises to complement my Stanley #4c and #4-1/2C.
on the long end I love my #6c for the majority of furniture sized work. The #7c comes out for long edge work. The #8c comes out for large flattening jobs such as table tops. I think the #7 and #8 can be interchanged for the most part, but I have run into a couple jobs where the #8 was the only one that would do the trick for me. My Union #7c belonged to my Great Grandfather and was my first plane and I will never part with it, however I think I would be content with a #6 and #8. All my Vintage planes are corrugated soles because the #7 was corrugated and as I collected I wanted them to match even if the brands did not.

Great to know and thanks. I use my 4-1/2 far more than my 4. If you used your 4-1/2 a lot would you still leave you high angle frog in? I love my 6 and it's worked great for me. I'm just striving for more flat and true on some of the larger projects I have in the future.

[Steven Harrison]

My bench planes are almost exclusively Stanley/Bailey models, so there isn't any with a high angle frog.

Not so long ago it seemed luck struck again for a #8. There was a beat up #8c with a few things missing and a broken frog. For $5 it seemed like a decent deal. To me it is my most expensive $5 plane. A replacement frog cost me ~$40. Now it is sitting waiting for me to get the motivation to put it together and give it a try. It will likely be like when there were a pair of #7s taking in the shop. One of them ended up going to someone else.

jtk

I've stopped taking on project tools because of the lack of time and space, but for $5 I think I would have done the same.

[John C Cox]

I love my battleship for cleaning up and straightening the edges..

But when its time to candle the joint for gluing - its back to a finely set and very sharp #4 or #5...

[Steven Harrison]

Steven, first, I have found I can joint quite well with a #6. That being said, there are times you really need to the long jointers.

Yes the big jointer planes can be a bit of a challenge on 3/4" thick edges. In those cases I'm planing tow boards at once clamped with opposing surfaces to cancel out the angular error. Or, on an exposed edge, I will shoot the edge using a jig.

I went through a similar experience a few years ago I needed a long jointer for a workbench flattening. Since I knew a big jointer would occupy the plane rack way more than my hands, And since I already had their #6, I opted for the WoodRiver #7. Have to say I even compared to a few other LN planes I can't barely tell the diff.

Do love my LN 4 1/2, tho. I think a high angle frog is a good idea rather than having to worry about back bevelling you can sharpen all your irons the same way

My 2¢ hope it helps

It does help. Being self taught it's forums like this where I've learned and gained some wisdom. I was considering the Woodriver, but I believe they recently moved from A2 steel on their irons to something else. Might not make a huge difference, but for the money I want more. Good to know your opinion on the frog too. Thanks for the reply Robert

[Patrick Chase]

If you're committed to cutting angle as a means of mitigating tearout, then you might want to consider a bevel-up jointer instead. For example the L-N 7-1/2 or the Veritas Bevel Up Jointer.

The big advantage there is that you can have multiple blades prepared with different secondary bevel angles, and swap them in as required by the work. It's a far more convenient way to adjust cutting angle than either high-angle frogs or back-beveling.

Of course the downside is that as you improve you won't have the ability to exploit Cap Iron Magic (tm).

[Steven Harrison]

If you're committed to cutting angle as a means of mitigating tearout, then you might want to consider a bevel-up jointer instead. For example the L-N 7-1/2 or the Veritas Bevel Up Jointer.

The big advantage there is that you can have multiple blades prepared with different secondary bevel angles, and swap them in as required by the work. It's a far more convenient way to adjust cutting angle than either high-angle frogs or back-beveling.

Of course the downside is that as you improve you won't have the ability to exploit Cap Iron Magic (tm).

Ah the ol Cap Iron Magic (tm) is invaluable. I really don't have a problem with tear out most of the time and nothing that a card or cabinet scraper can't take care of. Just wondering if I could improve the process even further with a higher angle. The bevel up planes just don't feel the same. I love my low angle jack, but I reach for the bevel down most of the time.