Thread: Veritas Combination Plane Blade Starter Kit think-tank required!

a 1/4" tongue blade to go with the 1/4" grooving blade supplied with the plane

a 1/8" (or 3 mm) grooving blade for drawer and box bottoms

a beading blade -- pick a size -- to cut decorative beads on the edges of stuff

a 2 or 3 "hump" reeding blade

a 10, 12 or 16 mm wide dado blade

the 1-1/16" rebate blade

a blade storage box

Lou, these are the ones I would choose (to start, at least) ..

1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" grooving blades. These are for grooving drawers, rebating carcases, and dados. 3/4" s the widest I want to go for a rebate with a plane like there are better planes for wider rebates (such as a dedicated moving fillester).

All the T&G blades. This will come down to how often you plan to use tongue and grooves. I see this as useful for the backs of cabinets. I have the LN 1/2" T&G plane, which is fantastic ... but with a small range of board thicknesses. The Veritas Combo takes a (very) little time to set up, however it can work a wider range of thickenesses.

I am less enamoured with reeding/beading blades, since these are tricky to achieve tearout free results on Oz hardwoods. It can be done - I do it - however, I would rather use a dedicated plane or a beader (scraper), such as a #66 LN or Stanley. The fluting blades are more reliable in use, but the question is whether you need them .. perhaps later.

Regards from Perth

Dere

Thank so much Gents

Your primers were really informative and after a lot of asking around and forum reading across the net I went with:


1/4 Inch tongue

1/8 3/8 1/2 & 3/4 Groove

The 1/4 2 Reed

The 1/4 Inch Bead

Coupled with the HNT Moving Fillister its likely it will give me a broad spectrum of options I can broaden and build from here

That said if there were any tips n tricks that would really help mitigate some of the issues Derek has raised that would be really helpful

Are we taking back bevels and using slipstones to razor the edges? certain setups??? or useful techniques and so on and so forth?

Am really curious about your thoughts combination planes and such are very new territory for me

Regards Lou

Hi Lou

There are a few tricks to achieving good results (on Oz timbers) with combo planes. Certainly, sharp blades are a prerequisite, but the limiting factor is the common angle (45 degrees) at which they cut. Terry has the right idea in making his beds high.

To get around this, I began adding a 10-15 degree micro backbevel to my blades. This is a well-known trick, but I had not read about anyone doing so with combo blades before I posted the article below. As demonstrated here, it works with beading blades as well ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...dingPlane.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by NewLou

Thank so much Gents

Your primers were really informative and after a lot of asking around and forum reading across the net I went with:

1/4 Inch tongue

1/8 3/8 1/2 & 3/4 Groove

The 1/4 2 Reed

The 1/4 Inch Bead

personally I would have gone with a smaller beading blade. (but I have the opportunity to try the different sizes and select the one that best fits my project.)

Lou, I agree with Ian. A 1/4" bead actually looks enormous. It is useful for large pieces, however drawers and most edges work better (in my opinion) with 1/8" and 3/16".

Regards from Perth

Derek

Yes,

Thats great feedback fellas

I haven't really seen what they produce yet so am really relying on your experience and Frankly flying Blind

It might be worthwhile dropping down the bead and reed to 3/8 ?

Regardless really appreciate the feedback

Sincerely Lou

It might be worthwhile dropping down the bead and reed to 3/8 ?

ooohhh ... Lou .... 3/8 is larger than 1/4. Well, I guess it depends on whether you stand on the left or right of it

Regards from Perth

Derek

based on the opportunity I had to "play" in store with the different sized beads, my consideration was that a 3/16" bead gave a better "look" on a nominal 1-1/2" x 4" cross brace.
The 1/8" was nice but too fine at the scale of the piece I was working on, while 1/4" (top and bottom edge) was big enough to dominate the rail.


The other way to look at bead sizes is to compare them to the equivalent hollow and round plane
On that basis, a
1/8" bead matches a #2 round
3/16" matches a #3 round
1/4" matches a #4



In terms of grooving blades -- to some extent it pays to match some of these to the width of your chisels.
so if you have metric chisels, my recommendation would be to purchase metric grooving blades -- except that the smallest (1/8") is particularly useful for grooving box and drawer bottoms.

Laughing Yes I meant 3/16 where are my bloody glasses - Lucky ive got old timer status

Seriously though all the feedback is really valued and appreciated am feeling like im getting out of the forest and into a clearing

Regards Lou

What a timely conversation.

Thanks for the reccos on blades. Its saved me a lot of pain.


Q - will the Combination blades fit the Small Plow and its adjuster? I can't seem to get a straight answer with searches.... yes, they FIT the plane, but can they be adjusted with the winder?


I ask as I've a left Plow and soon to get a good second hand rightie. I felt a left+right was better than a combo. I'm a leftie for 80% of the work, but can use the right well enough. I've a lot of blades for the left, but the right will use blades from my el-schmicko #45

Q - is it the opinion of others that a left+right would be "better" than a Combo? I do subscribe to the ethos of "one tool for a specific job, than a Swiss army knife for all"... but its not a religious canon... I'm flexible and prone to heresies

Originally Posted by woodPixel

What a timely conversation.

Thanks for the reccos on blades. Its saved me a lot of pain.


Q - will the Combination blades fit the Small Plow and its adjuster? I can't seem to get a straight answer with searches.... yes, they FIT the plane, but can they be adjusted with the winder?


I ask as I've a left Plow and soon to get a good second hand rightie. I felt a left+right was better than a combo. I'm a leftie for 80% of the work, but can use the right well enough. I've a lot of blades for the left, but the right will use blades from my el-schmicko #45

Q - is it the option of others that a left+right would be "better" than a Combo? I do subscribe to the ethos of "one tool for a specific job, than a Swiss army knife for all"... but its not a religious canon... I'm flexible and prone to heresies

Brett, the blades for the Small Plow and Combination plane are interchangeable as long as they are the same hand. You cannot swap left-for right handed plane blades as the notch is on the wrong side.

You also only need a right handed set or a left handed set, not both. Planing against the grain is accomplished by first knifing the boundary lines to prevent spelching. Also, a 15 degree back bevel will create a 60 degree cutting angle (excellent for beading cutters).

Regards from Alice Springs

Derek