Originally Posted by
Chris Griggs
Hopefully the router plane will find a lot of use in my shop. It will certainly help me to do things by hand that I haven't yet been able to do with out my tailed router. And if nothing else it will be valuable for precise fitting/trimming. Jim, I know your right about block planes being very useful. I'll probably still order a premium one in the future, but right now I'm quite excited about the No 18 knuckle joint that David W in sending me.
The #18 is a good user plane. I sold mine a few months ago. It is a standard angled block plane, 45°. If you enjoy using the #18 you will really love a low angle block plane. For my case, small bench planes seem more comfortable and get more use than standard angle block planes.
Kind of interesting that LV now has a block plane to bench plane adaptation. Where in my case it is kind of a bench plane to block plane adaptation.
If you can, try to handle and use some of the block planes before you commit to buy. In my accumulation are a #65 and a #65-1/2. They are basically the same plane except one has a knuckle cap and one has a lever cap. I like the feel of the lever cap better in my hand. One thing I like about the knuckle cap is it is easier when I want to change the cutting depth. The #60-1/2 is a smaller plane and is sometimes more convenient for its size.
No matter how well or poorly a tool works for me does not mean you will have the same results.
Even if you do buy them all it is hard to always pick one over the other.
jim
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)