Shoulder Plane

I agree that some of the lie-nelsons can be useful in some situations,
but I prefer the cheeper stanley planes. Some of my friends have taken
classes in which they build their own Japanese planes. This might be a
good way to go.

Yeah, I ruled out the stanley planes at some point. I like the lower
price, but want my handtools to provide pleasure while using, as well
as give me a good value. The feel of the stanley tools in my hand
doesn't inspire any confidence in their use, something I find to be the
case with Lie-Nielson and most wood body tools.

Thanks for the thoughts on planes though. I imagine I will try a
Veritas shoulder plane and see what I think of it. If nothing else the
initial cost is lower than the Clifton, so even if I end up with a wood
body plane, I won't be out as much money.

Still hoping for thoughts on japanese chisels though.

Andrew

Tattooed and Dusty wrote:
>
> So I am planning my next hand plane purchase and was hoping to get some
> advice from the wreck.
>
> I find that I am most missing a small shoulder plane for trimming up
> mortice and tenon joinery. I have a lie-nelson shoulder block plane,
> but have found it unwieldy on the shoulder or the tenon. So far I have
> been drawn primarily to either a japanese style, probably from Steve
> Knight, wooden shoulder plane, or the Clifton shoulder plane. I am
> reluctant though to drop up to a couple hundred dollars on something in
> case I later find it's not what I really want.
>
> I must admit the depth adjustment knobs on western style planes is
> appealing, but I have found my japanese smoothing plane is reached for
> much more often than my number 5.
>
> I guess I am wondering what peoples thoughts are on these two types of
> shoulder planes, though realize that the fit in the hand and some other
> number of intangible things contribute to the ideal handtool.

snip

> Andrew

I have - and actually have used- both the small Veritas
and Clifton shoulder plane. I found it tricky to get good
gripping positions on the Clifton, solved nicely by the
Veritas - finger hole under the iron, handle that fits
nicely between thumb and forefinger and is adjustable.

Neither is the ideal for working on long tenons - that
gets taken care of with the LN rabbet/block plane.

Tip - if you put a small chamfer on the edges of the
mortise any "high spots" at the base of the tenon
won't prevent the joint from closing completely.
Also helps get the tenon started easier, especilally
if you also chamfer its end as well. This should
explain it better. Works for hole snd pegs too.

http://home.comcast.net/~charliebcz/MT/CBbench19.html

(go to the previous page and read how this little tip
could've saved me a lot of grief)

charlie b

"Tattooed and Dusty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I find that I am most missing a small shoulder plane for trimming up
> mortice and tenon joinery. I have a lie-nelson shoulder block plane,
> but have found it unwieldy on the shoulder or the tenon. So far I have
> been drawn primarily to either a japanese style, probably from Steve
> Knight, wooden shoulder plane, or the Clifton shoulder plane. I am
> reluctant though to drop up to a couple hundred dollars on something in
> case I later find it's not what I really want.
>
> I must admit the depth adjustment knobs on western style planes is
> appealing, but I have found my japanese smoothing plane is reached for
> much more often than my number 5.
>
> I guess I am wondering what peoples thoughts are on these two types of
> shoulder planes, though realize that the fit in the hand and some other
> number of intangible things contribute to the ideal handtool.
>
> While I am asking, what is the consensus of japanese dovetail chisels?
> Do they do a better job somehow than high quality japanese bench
> chisels at chopping joints? I have some extra money and want to add a
> partial set of nice chisels to the bench.
>

Have both the LN rabbet block and the Veritas medium shoulder. They're a
pare -uh pair - of beautiful, useful tools. The combination is so pleasant
to use that I have begun making most of my tenons wildly oversize so I can
play plane. If you don't have the Norm tenoner for the tabelesaw, this is
it.

As to Japanese style or wooden planes in general, that Veritas design gives
you the best in adjustment, and plenty of hand room even for large hands.
Wood's good and all, but it's not, in my opinion as reliable and adjustable
as iron or bronze. I've also got an old Stanley smoother with a Hock iron
and a corrugated bottom, and it doesn't fear even resin.

Only thing wrong with buying non-English chisels is the sizes don't match.

Tattooed and Dusty says...

> Yeah, I ruled out the stanley planes at some point. I like the lower
> price, but want my handtools to provide pleasure while using, as well
> as give me a good value. The feel of the stanley tools in my hand
> doesn't inspire any confidence in their use, something I find to be the
> case with Lie-Nielson and most wood body tools.
>
> Thanks for the thoughts on planes though. I imagine I will try a
> Veritas shoulder plane and see what I think of it. If nothing else the
> initial cost is lower than the Clifton, so even if I end up with a wood
> body plane, I won't be out as much money.
>
> Still hoping for thoughts on japanese chisels though.
>
> Andrew

I just bought a Lie-Nielsen low angle block plane on a whim. It is
definitely what you would call mechanical art--meaning it is better than
it needs to be, especially in the finish, materials and detail aspects.
It will be great for end grain, curly figure or whatever on projects I
want to be perfect. But my $20 Buck Bros. block plane will still be a
workhorse. I've never seen anything good said about these planes, but
mine is a functional plane. Maybe I just got the one good one they ever
made. I sharpened the blade and did some flattening on the sole, but
that is to be expected for a cheap new plane. I can get nice, thin
curlies with it, and it isn't too proud to scrape off glue or do other
menial chores. What's my point? I guess it's just that if money is
tight, you can sometimes get by without buying the best.

On 15 Apr 2005 20:53:58 -0700, "Tattooed and Dusty"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>While I am asking, what is the consensus of japanese dovetail chisels?

Lovely things. I've only got one, but there's nothing like them for
getting into the corner underneath a tail. A really narrow one is
particularly good if you're trying to trim the end grain when you're
cutting dovetails with narrow saw-kerf-width pins.

>Do they do a better job somehow than high quality japanese bench
>chisels at chopping joints? I

Japanese chisels (except for the deliberate bevels) are quite tall and
square on the sides. You need _something_ to work these internal
corners and the tall, steep-angled dovetail chisel is stiffer than the
shallow bevel.

--
Cats have nine lives, which is why they rarely post to Usenet.

"woodworker88" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I agree that some of the lie-nelsons can be useful in some situations,
> but I prefer the cheeper stanley planes.

Aside from the original cost, any reason you prefer cheap planes? It took
me hours to get my Stanley shoulder plane to work properly. My next plane
was a Veritas. as will be al my future planes.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/