Didn't know shooting was so painful!

[Steve Clardy]

Steve,
That's great. If nothing else we can take pride in knowing that we own the only two Stanley Improved Mitres in existence :-)

Twins?

Here I am hijacking Brian's thread

[Phil Clark]

Don & Chuck - oh how I wish I had looked at this thread this morning instead of tonight. I just finished a workshop where I was teaching use of handplanes including a shooting board. Both ideas are excellent and will be pursued in my shop.

[Steve Clardy]

Steve,
That's great. If nothing else we can take pride in knowing that we own the only two Stanley Improved Mitres in existence :-)

Chuck. How about putting a Boss 429 emblem and some flames on the side of that.

Just kidding. I keep coming back to your original post for some reason.

[Chuck Hamman]

Steve,
I think I'm too old to put flames on anything but you should feel free.

It's funny you should mention that Mustang. I never had a Boss 429 - I owned a Dodge "Swinger" - 340cc, Holly 4B, 4-speed tranny. There was one night, many years ago out on the bypass (in my less responsible days) -a Boss 429 blew my doors off.
Ahh,the muscle car days!

But back to handplanes: I made this plane because I was looking for something to dedicate for use with a shooting board and I really like the look of the old Improved Mitre planes. To be quite honest I don't see how this shape is an improvement over the box shaped mitres such as the Stanley #9. I wonder if anyone knows why they were called "Improved" mitres?
Harry's suggestion of a skewed bladed plane, IMO would be the ultimate configuration. If I was going to start from scratch to design a mitre plane that is where I would start.

-Chuck

[josh bjork]

Brian,
Don't go looking for this one on ebay or at the flea market, you'll have to make your own. I made this one from a Handyman #4. The infill replacing the original frog provides a bed angle of 20 Degs. It is more comfortable to hold than the standard Stanley configuration. If I keep a good edge on the stock blade it works very well on my shooting board. One of these days I'll buy a Hock or LN replacement for it.

-Chuck

Those pictures are a good wakeup call on monday morning!

[Brian Kent]

Is there a plan or instructions out there for building a skew plane or a low angle plane?

I assume I could build a Krenov style plane, angle the part that supports the blade, then mark and grind the blade to fit.

For a low angle plane I can picture how to build it but I have questions about holding the blade in place. Would the regular Krenov-style wedge be firm enough? Actually, I really like Chuck's idea of using the stanley blade, chip breaker and cap. I hope to copy that idea.

Any step-by-steps out there???

[Chuck Hamman]

Brian,
The only example I could recall was this panel raising plane
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki.../011030059.pdf

If you eliminate the modification to the sole.

-Chuck

[Danny Thompson]

Semi-hijack alert:

So, I did just happen to trip over $250 last weekend and am trying to decide the best use for it. After briefly considering the Nintendo Wii, my attention has shifted to the Veritas Bevel-Up Planes. Currently, in the hand plane department I have access to a circa 1965 Stanley #5, I own a cheap standard block plane, and, a couple of months ago, through an act of pure impulsive lust, picked up a Lie-Nielsen #140 Skew Block Plane (She is a blonde, after all.).

Now I'm looking for one that cooks and cleans.

After reading Derek Cohen's review, I am thinking the Veritas BU Jointer may be the most versatile plane of the 3 Verital Bevel-Up Planes--Jointer, Smoother, and LA Jack--and may be the most versatile plane on the market.

Do you agree?
Would you recommend something different?
A2 or O1?

Danny

[Brian Kent]

Since I own "none of the above" I can pretend I know what I'm talking about - get the Jack with one extra blade.

If you had won $500, I would recommend buying two bevel-up jacks and sending me one.

[Joe Meazle]

Danny,
Let me start by saying I love my BU jointer form LV. It is probably the finest plane I have used straight out of the box.
Of the three I fell the Jack is the most versatile. You cannot shoot with the jointer and you can't use the edge of the plane for a makeshift straight edge while flattening boards. This is due to only a small portion for the sides being machined.
Joe

[Peter Tremblay]

I can't recommend the LV Low angle Jack enough

it is long enough to do some shorter jointing work and small enought to do some smoothing work. end grain is a joy (shooting) and it works great to hog off wood because of its low center of gravity and its weight, it just feels great at work. With two blades (that is what i have) it is by far the most versitile plane that i can think of.

at one point i was working hard at expanding my plane selection but after getting the LV LA Jack ive focused on other things (namely saws). i have yet to use it for something and think that i really needed another plane.

of course the only exception is i do have the low angle block but i see you have one of those.

peter

[Danny Thompson]

Ah! I see. I was wondering why they made a fence for the jointer. But if I already "have" a Stanley #5? and the Skew LA Block can handle end grain, right?

I guess a big concern for me is that I don't own a power jointer, either, so I thought I needed the length of a jointer for jointing long boards. No?

Joe, curious, when do you use your BU jointer? and are there any other benefits of the Jack over the jointer? Jointer over the Jack?

[Joe Meazle]

Danny,

A lot of times will flatten a board with a Millers Falls #22 or #24 (same as a Bailey #7 or #8). Then take the last few passes with the BU jointer. The MF planes I have are pretty good but that LV is super tuned. This really minimizes the amount of time with the smoothing plane. I also had some curly maple to flatten and was able to put a higher angle iron in and close the mouth up. With a sharp iron I got no tear out. I also did a sitting bench out of southern yellow pine. The low angle iron and a tight mouth did a great job on that project. The low center of gravity makes it a great for jointing edges too.

What do you use your # 5 for? Stock removal? Small scale jointing? Shooting?

It sounds like you are looking for a Jointer and the LV BU is a good one. Be warned I know very few people with just one BU plane. I got the Jack first and ordered the jointer the day it came out. The smoother act like it being magnetically pulled to the surface. It is very easy to adjust and is very precise. I still enjoy using my old Miller Falls Bailey style bench planes but if I could only have 3 bench planes they would be the LV BU Jointer, jack and Smoother. Various angel irons are all interchangeable.

The BU Jack is great for shooting and flatening small boards and enital flatening of mid sized panels table tops etc.

[Danny Thompson]

I have only used the #5 on a couple of occasions--chamfering an edge and smoothing another. I have a long way to go on the learning curve, and am really not at the level that would require a fine tool like an LV or LN.

On the other hand, I am done with buying cheap tools that require me to be more expert than I am and eventually rebuy later. I figure a great tool in great hands is best; a mediocre tool in great hands is second; a way back is a great tool in mediocre hands; but worst of all is a mediocre tool in mediocre hands. So, I'll go with a great tool and try to work up to better hands.

Anyway, you've given me some food for thought. Now, who was that that prefered bevel-down? Maybe they want to downsize their collection.

[Joe Meazle]

There is little risk in buying a quality hand plane. Resale is usually pretty darn good, much better than tailed tools. Put that # 5 to work and see where it is coming up short for you the fill that gap and then fill the next gap. You will end up with more and more planes and smaller and smaller gaps. I think your work will get better too. Or maybe you will just get better at justifying tool purchases.