Thread: Low angle block plane

Greetings OP,

First post, new here to what looks to be a great forum.

My pair of pennies on LABPs: a re-worked 9 or, 60-1/2 Stanley or Record, can do a very nice job. Don't know the woods you are trying to tame, but having both Lie and Veritas LABP's, sure thing, nice, but yes they are $pendie.

Depending on starting condition, it takes 3-4 hours to trick up the garden variety Record, Stanley, Sargent, Fuller, Miller Falls, but I really enjoy it. Go a bit further with a "worth every dime" Ron Hock iron, and your in a good spot to make some grains pay attention.

I've made some very comfortable wooden planes also, that can be a great option too.

Well cheers to you, I'm sure other folks will have thoughts as well.

WN-

The worst would be curly / quilted rock maple...

I expect you mean by "trick up" is add a good quality well honed iron and a lapped sole?

Another i seen is a veritas "apron plane" close to price of a record

Yes, to the "trick up", lapping the deck and an A2 iron (Hock or other).

I like the Veritas apron plane, Lie Nielson also. My favorite though is an old Sargent adjustable mouth, with a rabbeting fixture. I rarely use the fixture, but this plane is the one that I always go to first.

WN-

Originally Posted by old_picker

Looking at aquiring a LAB plane.
# main ones are the veritas, record, stanley, kunz and groz

veritas is wildy expensive and I have heard that the groz line of tools is pretty average.

Any advice greatlly appeciated

I've got too many block planes, or so SWMBO says

Despite the cost you can't go wrong with a plane from Veritas or Lie Nielsen
my picks are
LN #60½ because the adjustable mouth makes it very versitile
LN #102 (Iron) because it's relatively inexpensive
LN #60½R because it's a rebate plane in deguise
these picks are only 'cause I don't own the Veritas equivalents
in all cases get a second blade ground to a steep bevel so that you have a small high angle smoother for those bits of tricky grain which you may easily strike

The LN#140 L and #140 R are to my mind too specialised for someone buying their first block plane


I also have a relatively new (made less than 15 years ago) Stanley 60½ I've done some basic fettling but much prefer the weight of the LN so the Stanley is reserved for tasks where the risk of theft or damage to the LN is too great (like on top of a ladder with a two storey drop to concrete)

In reality, the cost of a decent aftermarket blade for a stanley/record is not much less that the cost of a NEW LN #102 (iron), so unless you already own the stanley/record why bother


If all you want is end grain trimming, you don't really need an adjustable mouth and the new Lee Valley burgundy "victor" (mail order from the States) may be the go. Post a message to Derek, he has one


ian

I have a couple of block planes, none of them anything flash. I do confess to having and loving some good planes in other departments, but in block planes I've kept it pretty cheap.

I have two that I use a lot, both vintage. Both were purchased off eBay at very good prices. One is an old Sargent which is standard angle. The other is an older Stanley 60 1/2 (low angle). I love both these planes. In fact, I was just using the 60 1/2 to trim some end grain about a half hour ago. It is an impressive performer for the money (I actually bought another Stanley 60 1/2 off eBay last year for all of about $15 - in nice order, too).

I think the adjustable mouth is a big plus. Generations of carpenters found these to be very usable planes, and I agree. They produce very good results every time I use them.

I do have some Lee Valley stuff (though not in the block plane dept), and it's real nice, but I still plough ahead very happily with my Stanley.

BTW ... I see Groz (or was it Anant?) have now released their premium (Kamal) line of planes, as promised. It will be interesting to see what reviews come through on these.

Happy planing!
GW

Hmm. How hard do you want to make this for yourself? I build boats - the stanley without the adjustable mouth does everything I ever ask of it. However, it wouldn't be hard to argue that I'm not asking much out of the plane.

Richard

I think that its Anant who have the Kamal line of planes. I bought a couple while I was in Mumbai at the Theive's Market for some crazy cheap price (I can't remember exactly but I think I got 2 Anant spokeshaves, 1 rabbett plane, a wooden body jointer (22"), and a wooden smoothing plane all for about 30 CAD$). The most expensive item was the rabbett plane which was about 20 cad$. The shop had several block planes. Interestingly, the wooden planes use 2" wide hss saw blades for blades.

I posted recently on the Groz LABP, POS, PITA, took it back and paid the extra $150 for a Veritas. The Groz was beyond help with the adjustable sole having a mind of it's own and beyond any form of surgery.
The only redeeming feature it has was that it looked OK at a glance and may have served well as a paper weight or an anchor for a PD racer.

Nah, Pd's need a quality anchor.

Get yerself a Veritas or better yet an LN if you can scrape the cash up. Lotsa $$$$$$$$$$, but top shelf stuff.

A year after finishing my apprenticeship I went to work in a flash custom joinery shop in Sydney.
I bought a stanley low angle block plane which I still have and have used on just about every job, almost everyday for the past 16 years. I'm up to the 3rd or 4th blade, lost count, it's a great little plane.
If I lost this plane it'd be all over. I'd just have to visit centrelink and join the unemployed or 'reskill' for another career.

BTW

I've never seen any tradesman or professional with a LN or veritas.

So what does that tell you?


I tells you how lowly paid us poor bastards are

I have the Veritas.

If I lost it, it might be the only tool I would need to replace ASAP.

And I would replace with it with nothing less than another Veritas.

I have tried the LN, and as beautiful as it is, I won't have one because I don't like the way it sits in my hand. Which is why it's a good reason to try before you buy if it's at all possible. Even to pick them both up might be sufficient.

Avoid any new block planes. New includes NOS up to 25+ years old. Unless you like lessons in frustration...

Originally Posted by boatchippy

BTW

I've never seen any tradesman or professional with a LN or veritas.

So what does that tell you?

They're not available at Glenfords or Mitre 10.

Originally Posted by outback

Get yerself a Veritas or better yet an LN if you can scrape the cash up. Lotsa $$$$$$$$$$, but top shelf stuff.

I read some reviews on Veritas and LN LABP's, can't remember where, but the Veritas came up better for once.
I don't think there is a great deal of difference between these two and both are within a few dollars of each other, the Record is $50 cheaper for memory at about $145.
Speaking of anchors too, I have a Trout Traps float tube anchor at home somewhere, proper little admiralty anchor that fits in your pocket and weighs under a kilo