WTB Shoulder Plane, what flavor?

LV + LN = Great

Jim in Burlington Ontario

>The LV shoulder plane is great and apparently another will follow soon. I have used that plane and why it also pares endgrain so well astounds me. I also use the LN Rabbit plane what I think is a winning combination.

The #90 is not a shoulder plane

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>.... it is a bulnose plane. The absence of a nose on this plane will make it difficult to trim tenon shoulders.

If you want a 1" wide Stanley shoulder plane then look at the #93.

Be aware that new Stanley shoulder planes (#92 and #93) have had bad press for their machining. They require a little tuning to bring them up to scratch. On the other hand, vintage models work very well. I have vintage #90 and #93 versions and am very happy with them. You would have to find one of these on eBay.

At the lower end of the price spectrum, the best shoulder plane is the HNT Gordon. Many here will agree that their performance rivals the best, regardless of cost. However, they come without the bell-and-whistles, requiring a hammer to set the blade (really easy to do). I have the 3/4" brass and ironwood version. There is a size larger (1 1/4" I believe), which would be closest to what you seek.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: The #90 is not a shoulder plane

Randal Todd

>Jim and Derek, thank you both. I will take a look at the options you mention, particularly the HNT Gordon. I have not seen this plane.

Thanks very much.

Randy Todd

Second the LV...

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>I actually like the size. It's great for smoothing machine-cut dadoes and rabbets, as well as it's tenon duties. Very nice plane. Might want to see what the next size'll be, while you're pondering...

How's about...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>The master of all shoulder planes the LN 073 or a record for that matter the blade width is 1 1/4".

Another fine plane is the Record 311 (Clifton makes a nice version of this plane too) 3 in one plane. It's 1 1/4" wide can be a chisel plane, a bullnose or a shoulder plane. It's small enough to use one handed and has a low center of gravity.

Also look at the Shepard tools kits you could build one or two quite easy.

Stanley #93

jim_reed@marietta

>I vote for the #93--it is one of my favorites and I just used it mightily in the past week on tenons and panels. It took a while to tune it up(I even wrote the president of Stanley Tools about the poor finish on such a great plane). Good luck with your decision.

Want a Shoulder Plane?

Brent Langdon, Sterling VA

>Do you want a plane to clean up the tenon's shoulders or the cheeks? What is the best plane for cleaning up the tenon cheeks? I have only recently tried cutting tenons by hand and I used a high tech tool called a "file" for fine tuning.

- Brent

Re: Want a Shoulder Plane?

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>You asked what is the best plane for tuning cheeks. In my experience a L-N #140 left hand skew angle block plane is my overwhelming favorite for this purpose.

Re: Want a Shoulder Plane?

Wendell @ Murphy, TX

>I've had good sucess using the LN 60-1/2R rabbet block plane for tuning tenon cheeks. It's probably not as good as the LN 140 Skew Block Planes but it is slighly cheaper.

Wendell

Re: Want a Shoulder Plane?

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>If you were left handed, the original right handed #140 would be preferred :^)

In any case, I agree, the #140's skewed blade works a lot better for this purpose than the other planes I've tried to make do, including a #10 and a #073. Note that, if you are a leftie, the original Stanley #140 would also work, since the L-N's low angle blade is not a significant advantage for trimming cheeks.