Re: To LV or not to LV...
Christopher Fitch @ Memphis
>Assumption: I will assume that you want to use the spokeshaves you buy for all the normal tasks that shaves perform such as finer cuts as well as more rough work.
Given the assumption,
Should I buy the Bronze LN's are they worth the extra $10 each?
The short answer - no.
The longer answer: The Bronze LN shaves are small shaves designed for very fine work. Those shaves are small compared to a regular sized shave such as the Boggs/LV shaves.
As a comparison point, the bronze shaves are only 6 3/4" long while the Boggs shaves are 10" long and the LV shaves are 10 1/2" long. To get an idea of the difference, cut out 1" wide strips of cardboard and cut them in the lengths listed. Try using the 6 3/4" vs the 10 1/2"size. The 6" size is small...so small that it would be difficult to use for any extended period of time. Also, the shave is so small that it's not easy to increase it's cutting capacity to even allow for bigger cuts. So I would not recommend buying the bronze shaves as a replacement for regular sized shaves. They are good for small fine detail work.
Are the Boggs really worth double the price?
In my opinion, no. Now I like my Boggs shaves alot. But you will not see a significant enough difference in performance (I have not seen any difference) to merit buying shaves that are double the cost and have a little less flexibility.
To give my background on all these shaves, I started out with only the LV low angle shave. It's a good tool that's made great by the price. I used it a good deal in making table legs recently that had a number of different curves, both convex and concave curves. The shave did good for rougher cuts and did fine for gentler curves but I had real problems on the tighter curves even after trying a number of adjustments.
I realized that I needed a better tool so I bought the LN Boggs curved shave. I tried it out and I liked it alot and I bought the flat-bottomed shave. I noticed a number of differences in how the boggs shaves perform. They do better in some areas than the LV low angle shave and the low angle does other things better.
Then Lee Valley came out with their shaves and given the deal and my desire to just own more tools, I picked up a set. They compare nicely with the boggs shaves and are flexible given the adjustable mouth. If the timing would have been right, I would only have the 3 LV shaves instead of the boggs shaves because I would have bought the LV shaves first and never considered buying the boggs shaves.
Now Dan's advice is right. You do need to try them out if you can. But I think you would be quite happy with the LV shaves.
:)
