Time to show up at the woodcraft store.

5lbs. of meat?

Jack from Maine

>Hi Steve, Did I miss something in your message? What is the meat for?Angry dogs on the way?---Jack

Re: 5lbs. of meat?

Steven McKinley from Calgary

>After planeing the "Mesquite" fast and furiously, the resulting heat from the friction will be used to cook the meat. ;^D

Please give results

Derrell in Austin

>Steve,

Please give us the results tomorrow. I would be very interested to know which planes went head to head and what the results were.

Re: 5lbs. of meat?

Steve Knight

>there is a good meat shop down by my shop. so I have to lug it home often. glad no dogs chase me the ride is uphill (G)

Re: Please give results

Steve Knight

>I already know what both can do. on normal woods there is no real difference. on tricky American woods it depends on how good the user is. on tropicals and such I think a good woodie (not just mine) will do a better job. it's not that there is anything wrong with a LN plane but that it is a limitation of the plane style. That the iron is bedded on metal. Once someone makes a metal plane that has a better iron bedding surface we will see a better or I should say plane that can handle more challenging woods.

I want to see someone invent such a critter.

But I doubt the fellow doing the test knows all that much about any planes.

But I bought a ringer my new 60 degree coffin with a Japanese iron and extra weight so it weighs 5# (G) it is made out of some type of lignum vitae. My Japanese infill could plane purpleheart with careful sharpening and bubinga but throw any figure in and look out. This plane can handle them well but does not leave as much shine

Re: Please give results

Steve Knight

>Well there were only about 8 visitors but it was fun to let them try out a working plane. Only had a bench that was not stout enough really to plane on so I was standing on one end (G)

We planed some purpleheart and the LN #4 did not do too badly. The wood was really straight grained but i had never tried it with a 45 degree plane. But it left the wood rough just like my infill did. Only my 60 degree plane smoothed so it was smooth to the touch. Now the bubinga was almost impossible to plane with the LN planes. But that wood is some nasty stuff. I could barely plane it with my infill on a good day. The 60 degree Japanese coffin it was no sweat.

The fellow doing most of the planning found with a 47 coffin he was planning against the grain on some poplar that the LV could not go against the grain. But both did the same with the grain.

The curly cherry was a bit tricky. I think both planes would need to be really sharp to really see good results. I only had the 47 to compare to the LN I just did not have a 45 to have them more closely matched.

Re: Please give results

Scott Post

>It sounds like you weren't involved in tuning and sharpening and the people who did weren't very accomplished. Even a flea market Stanley #4 should be able to leave a smooth surface against the grain on poplar. An LN #4 and any properly tuned wooden plane should have been able to handle any of the woods you mentioned and leave a silky smooth surface. Doesn't sound like it was much of a plane-off.

Would they not let you sharpen the irons? Sounds like it would have been painful to watch.

Re: Please give results

Steve Knight

>the LN was sharpened not too bad. but it has not been tuned behond factory tuned up. Plus it had a fair amount of use. I did not want to sharpen it I am not used to free hand sharpening thinner blades.

but Most planes won't give a silky smooth finish on bubinga and purpleheart. I have planed a hell of a lot of purpleheart and it is extreamly hard to plane. it resists cutting. the puprleheart I get is far harder then what most poeple find. even my japanese infill smoother does not leave a silky smooth finish on it. only the 60 cuts it cleaninly. though not with the same gloss.

Re: Please give results

Eric Lund

>Steve,

If the planes have not had other than factory adjustment, then they were not ready for the test, no matter how sharp the blade. I've learned this the hard way. All my planes are LN, and the only one I get tearout with is the scrub. But, in order to get this type of performance, you have to adjust the frog and the chip breaker. The factory setup is for carpenters. The mouth is way too open. It should be adjusted to within a few thousandths. Same goes for the front of the chip breaker, which should also be polished and very close to the blade edge. You only need as much blade protruding as the thickness of your shaving.

Testing a fettled plane against an unfettled one is no test at all. I'll match my LN 4 1/2 with York frog and new style chip breaker to anything out there. I may not always win, but I won't be embarrased by my results. I'll freely admit there are probably better tools, and circumstances may give the advantage to another tool, but properly tuned, I usually get excellent results, and at the very least, satisfactory.

Just for grins, I grabbed a piece of purple heart I had laying around. No problem. Stuff is darned hard, but the 4 1/2 left a good surface. Did OK slicing end grain, though I suspect a low angle plane would have given better results. The face and edges did fine. Don't have any bubinga, so I'll have to take your word that it's a difficult wood.

Cheers,

Eric

Re: Please give results

Steve Knight

>Well it's true the plane could use some fine tuning. Sharpening is all it got. But my plane was just like I ship it too. I bet a lot of people would use both planes the way they come shipped.

This was more in the way of fun then anything else.

Now as far as purpleheart goes there are several types. The stuff that turns brown when you work it is not too bad of wood. It usually has more figure.

The stuff I get only turns a lighter purple and is far more dense. It is only someone hard to plane if the grain is very straight. Add some figure and look out. Lynn can attest to this (G) I have planed so many planes out of it it's not funny and it is never easy to plane even with my Japanese infill. And only the 60 got a nice smooth finish on it. Though the finish was not as shiny.

Japanese infill?

Clay Craig in Miami

>Steve,

Can you post a pic of your japanese infill? I don't remember having seen one.

TIA,

Clay

Re: Japanese infill?

Steve Knight

>here you go.

this one uses a trantitional japanese iron. this sure created problems fitting it to a infill. but it sure made a great plane.

Re: Please give results

Eric Lund

>The PH I pulled out has been around for about 10 years and it's still purple. It is straight grained though. I don't think I've ever seen any figured purple heart. Actually, I don't particularly care for the wood. It has its uses, like in your planes. But I see so many pieces where it's added for color when the piece would have been better off without it. OTOH, that's just my opinion, and it's worth exactly what you paid for it.

I know you ship your planes ready for taking shavings. It is to your credit and your benefit. I really do intend to pick one up some day.

I suspect if LN shipped their planes fettled for a fine shavings, a lot of buyers would be frustrated that they could not get a decent coarse shaving out of the thing. They make a good tool, but it's up to the user to get the maximum utility out of it. It took me a while to decide I could actually put the frog screws to work. That's when I learned that tearout is not an essential evil to hand planing.

Cheers,

Eric

Re: Please give results

Steve knight

>I have debated on how fine to have the plane set for. I finally settled for a bit of a open mouth. otherwise iget too many complaints that they can't get any shavings through (G)

I have found that the mouth opening is not super critical with higher angle planes.

here is some curly purleheart.

I agree I don't care for it much in furniture and such but it seems to work as a plane. plus it is cheap and always avalible (G)