Veritas Planes

[Brian Kincaid]

The day I went to buy my #4 LN, all they had was the bronze. I often worry about scratching it and that just isn't right! ...

Same here except it was a gift to me from my wife.

First time I used it a small piece of metal found its way to the workpiece. Left a deep gouge all the way up to the mouth of the plane. So bad I had to take some fine sand paper to the edges of the gouge to keep it from marring the workpieces.
Welcome to the shop! I thought to myself as I was crying on the inside.

About 2 weeks later I set the plane down on the bench to flip a workpiece and my 2yo son decided to pick it up. He wasn't near strong enough to hold on to it so it went crashing down into the concrete.
Welcome to the shop! I thought to myself as I was crying on the inside. Again.

I did have to adjust it after the spill, but it's a great plane to use. Also beautiful to look at dings and all.
-Brian

[paul cottingham]

the low angle smoother can be used for shooting, but its blades are not interchangeabe withe the other bevel up planes. a tough choice. Buy them both

[Jim Koepke]

I have been lucky. I keep a box at the end of my bench to collect plane shavings for the fireplace. The other day an enthusiastic use of a block plane got away from me. It landed softly in a box stuffed full of plane made curls.

So there is a good use for those shavings thick or thin.



jim

[John Adam]

Paul,

I'd like to buy both, but I also want a #8!

It does seem like the dialog is primarily between the BU and the Low Angle, with not many votes for the standard #4 - am I inferring too much?

[paul cottingham]

I have a number 4, and am buying a LAS plane. If I could have only one, I would buy the LAS, because it is so versatile with additional blades. Also...no chipbreaker to fight with, although I suspect that may create problems of its own.

[Jim Koepke]

Paul,

I'd like to buy both, but I also want a #8!

It does seem like the dialog is primarily between the BU and the Low Angle, with not many votes for the standard #4 - am I inferring too much?

Your original question may have looked like you were only interested in the LA or the BU.

For a smoother - #4, low angle smoother or BU smoother?

For my uses, a few planes in the #4 size range of the Stanley/Bailey pedigree work fine. I have the time and desire to keep fine tuning them and have not found a need for the LA or BUs as smoothers. I do have a BU Jack, #62, from LN. It was bought mostly for a shooter, but has also had some other use.

Currently, I am more inclined toward a high angle smoother or a scrapper plane.

Yesterday a few swipes of a saw blade turned scrapper impressed me with the results on some supper swirly grain.

jim

[John Adam]

I need to win the lottery - cash for tools and the time to use them!

[paul cottingham]

Amen to that, brother.

[Steve Milito]

Paul,

I'd like to buy both, but I also want a #8!

It does seem like the dialog is primarily between the BU and the Low Angle, with not many votes for the standard #4 - am I inferring too much?

I think they are far too similar to justify both of them.

The LA is 10"x 2 1/2", with a 12 degree bed angle, and weighs 3.5 lbs. The blade that is included has a 2" 25 degree bevel (it's a BU plane).
(38 and 50 degree bevels are available as is a toothed blade).

The BU smoother is 10" x 3 1/8" with a 12 degree bed angle, and weighs 5 lbs. It includes a 2 1/4" 38 degree bevel blade. (25 and 50 degree bevels are available as is a toothed blade).

Seems to me that getting one of these planes with an extra blade would allow you to have both bevels without resharpening., and the same functionality of the two planes.

[Derek Cohen]

In a nutshell, the LA Smoother (LAS) is the all-rounder, while the BU Smoother (BUS) is a dedicated smoother.

The LAS may be used as a smoother (with a 35-50 degree bevel), large block plane (with a 25 degree bevel), and a shooting plane.

The BUS is only a smoother. It has extra mass over the same shortish length as the LAS (keeping in mind that shorter is better with a smoothing plane). It is geared towards a low centre of gravity.

With a high cutting angle, say a bevel of 50 degrees on the 12 degree bed, both planes are superior workers and their performance can stand up with the best smoothing planes anywhere, and with the low centre of gravity will do this with less effort than a BD plane with the same cutting angle. I must add, for balance, that the performance becomes increasngly more noticeable as you work with woods with increasingly greater interlocked grain. On straight grained and softer woods you would not necessarily notice any difference between one of these planes and a Stanley.

As a smoother, especially with a high cutting angle, the BUS performs slightly better than the LAS, and does so with a little more ease, owing to its greater mass.

Which one? It may come down to what you want the plane to do, or what your preference is in terms of mass.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John Adam]

Here's what I decided...

I bought a nice #4 Stanley from James T. I figured than since I mostly work with fairly well-behaved wood, the price and his reputation I couldn't go wrong and could use the savings to get a stanley #8 as well.

When I get the 8, I'll have a basic set of old stanleys (4, 5, 8, block) that were reasonably priced. I can test my skill and learn about technique, wood, etc. The next plane could be a premium, but by then I hopefully will know exactly what I need....

After all, I've first used a decent hand plane about 3 weeks ago.

I may even have enough to get an 8,000 grit sharpening stone!

Thanks for all your input!

[Don Dorn]

When I get the 8, I'll have a basic set of old stanleys (4, 5, 8, block) that were reasonably priced. I can test my skill and learn about technique, wood, etc. The next plane could be a premium, but by then I hopefully will know exactly what I need....

After all, I've first used a decent hand plane about 3 weeks ago.

I may even have enough to get an 8,000 grit sharpening stone!

Thanks for all your input!

Your selection in addition to learning how to make and keep them sharp takes care of your planing needs in my opinion. Anything beyond that is gravy.

[John Adam]

But you can never have too much gravy !!

[Steve Milito]

In a nutshell, the LA Smoother (LAS) is the all-rounder, while the BU Smoother (BUS) is a dedicated smoother.

The LAS may be used as a smoother (with a 35-50 degree bevel), large block plane (with a 25 degree bevel), and a shooting plane.

The BUS is only a smoother. It has extra mass over the same shortish length as the LAS (keeping in mind that shorter is better with a smoothing plane). It is geared towards a low centre of gravity.

With a high cutting angle, say a bevel of 50 degrees on the 12 degree bed, both planes are superior workers and their performance can stand up with the best smoothing planes anywhere, and with the low centre of gravity will do this with less effort than a BD plane with the same cutting angle. I must add, for balance, that the performance becomes increasngly more noticeable as you work with woods with increasingly greater interlocked grain. On straight grained and softer woods you would not necessarily notice any difference between one of these planes and a Stanley.

As a smoother, especially with a high cutting angle, the BUS performs slightly better than the LAS, and does so with a little more ease, owing to its greater mass.

Which one? It may come down to what you want the plane to do, or what your preference is in terms of mass.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Great post, thanks.

[Jim Koepke]

But you can never have too much gravy !!

I'm swimming in it and still will look for chances to add a little more to the pool.

jim