Thread: The Veritas Shooting Plane - Reviewed

Thanks Derek. Heading over to read the review now.

That plane looks hot.......

The dark side is definitely calling me now......

Nathan.

Nice well written review - Thanks Derek

seems to be a great plane

not sure I can justify the asking price though - maybe for fathers day next year

Derek,
thanks for your usual high quality review.
Fortunately / unfortunately I purchased a LN #51 last month.

Fortunately because if I hadn't I would be faced with a bigger decision now / unfortunately because I may have made a different decision. (the Veritas has the lines of a Lamborghini... very pretty)
However, the LN is a dream. I keep looking for things to shoot. All of my boards are progressively getting shorter! It is so much fun.

One issue I am grappling with is using more of the blade. As you point out, most use of the shooting plane is on boards 20mm or less in thickness. This means that only the bottom third of the blade is used (on a flat shooting board). A ramped shooting board will use more of the blade, but still not all of it. It is a pain to regrind and rehone the unused section of blade which is perfectly sharp.

My thoughts are a shooting board with an adjustable angle ramp, so that the piece being "shot" can be elevated or lowered to any section of the blade.

Any thoughts?

Mark

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Hi Mark

Don't feel regret about the LN - it is a fantastic shooting plane. It was only this assessment that made me aware that the blade did not hold as long as it could. I simply took for granted that it needed sharpening when it did.

I am looking at trialing a PM-V11 blade in my #51. I suspect that the LV Stanley type is about the same thickness as the Smoothcut white steel blade.

Instead of an adjustable ramp, what you could simply do is have a high fence, and then add a removable (series of) layers to the shooting board's platform (i.e. building it higher). Then the workpiece will be in line with an unused section of the plane blade.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by derekcohen

I am looking at trialing a PM-V11 blade in my #51. I suspect that the LV Stanley type is about the same thickness as the Smoothcut white steel blade.

FWIW my Veritas Stanley replacement blade (O1 steel) is 2.55mm thick. A little thicker than a Smoothcut I believe (2.0mm?). HTH.

edit: For comparison, a standard Lie-Nielsen 2⅜" iron (as used in their shuting plane) is 3.6mm thick, and the Veritas LAJ iron (as used in their shuting plane) is 4.9mm thick.

I enjoyed your review

Cheers, Vann.

Received an email from Lee Valley today. The shooting plane and some sort of interesting little chisel plane are on introductory special until the 14 of September.

"Resistance is futile"

- The Borg

Ok I am sold, put me down for one on the group buy.... hint hint someone out there lol!!

Thanks for the detailed review Derek. Though I suspect this was just another excuse to show us your Staney 51/52 combo .

Aesthetically I really find myself on the fence - both have merits. Which will make landed cost a bigger factor.

That PM-V11 steel really has thrown a cat amongst the pigeons. I wonder if it will force the LN camp to raise their game with blades (or LV to release a complete set of Stanley/LN blades). Or perhaps those that prefer to choose the traditionally designed option will just continue to enjoy the other traditional aspect that is extra time at the stones!

Thanks for another excellent review Derek.

Wow. Looks beautiful and more like a shark or dolphin (imo) than a swooping eagle (sorry Derek ).

I did say to myself that my LAJ would suffice for my shooting needs, however .....

I jumped on LV website & saw the introductory offer of USD315.00 (not inc shipping obviously). Just out of interest I looked at the LN #51 on the LN Australia website (Henry Eckert) and it's AUD630.00 (plus shipping) !!

I am aware that LN make beautiful tools & I've had a play with several LN handplanes at Woodworking shows etc but (for me) I cannot justify the price difference. I have several LV handplanes and find the quality exceptional & the prices reasonable. Not to get into the whole LN vs LV thing

LV shooting plane looks great, but I'm going to be a good boy ..... for now.

Nathan - do you have any birthdays or other significant anniversaries to help justify one of these???

Or have you already used up all birthday credits in advance until 2020????

I'll have to sell a few things to justify this myself - the Festool jigsaw doesn't get used since I got a bandsaw, so that might have to be sacrificed if the shooting plane is to stand any chance.....

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

Nathan - do you have any birthdays or other significant anniversaries to help justify one of these???

Or have you already used up all birthday credits in advance until 2020????

I'll have to sell a few things to justify this myself - the Festool jigsaw doesn't get used since I got a bandsaw, so that might have to be sacrificed if the shooting plane is to stand any chance.....

Hi John,

My birthday has just passed so I have missed that chance. Although I did receive a Chris Vesper square and marking knife to get me started on the dark side. Chisels and planes are next......

Nathan.

Derek

a quick question if I may

does the skewed blade in the veritas negate the slope on your ramped chuting board?

Hi Nick

There was a post today on Wood Central that raised this question. I have copied part of my reply here:

First of all, the ramp angle of the shooting board is about 5 degrees, and the angle of the skew on the plane is 20 degrees.

The main advantage of the ramped board is to reduce the impact as the plane blade hits it. In a flat board with a square blade the impact would be square on. That produces maximum impact vibration. The ramping of the shooting board platform enables the blade to enter the wood progressively, that is, at an angle of 5 degrees, and this reduces the jarring from impact. A plane with a skewed blade, such as a #51-type, would enter the wood on a flat board at a progressive 20 degrees. On the ramped board this gets reduced to 15 degrees. For entry purposes this is insignificant. I would argue, nevertheless, that the main benefit from a ramped shooting board would be found for a shooting plane with a square blade.

The fact that there is a change of angle at impact does not mean that there is any change in the cutting performance of a skewed blade on a ramped shooting board. Once past the impact zone, the blade continues to cut as it always does. It is the shearing action of the skewed blade on the plane that is the strength of the #51-type shooter. The angle at which the work piece is held should not have any effect.

You may wish to read a comparison I made between three shooting planes (LN #51, LN #9 and LV LA Jack) on both flat and ramped shooting boards: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...sCompared.html

Scan down to "Cutting Angles and the Effect of Skew".

Regards from Perth

Derek