New Toy...uh, I mean...Tool (Essential)
William Duffield, on the Cohansey
>I arrived home Wednesday to find a very small UPS parcel on the front porch. It had a Warren, Maine return address, but was too small and too light to be the 1" bench chisel I ordered, and was not expecting for quite a while yet, but I had a momentary lapse of memory.
I opened it to be very pleasantly surprised to find a 100 1/2 squirrel tail plane, with a round bottom and curved cutter. CS reported on this new tool in PW this summer (Issue #149, August, pg. 24), so I decided I needed one, in a hurry, and immediately called L-N. For a much better review, see Chris's article. Everything he said about it is true.
A note in the box said it was one of the first hundred made. There is a number on the bottom of the lever cap, maybe it is Serial # 21, but it might be a mold number. The one Chris reviewed probably has a number closer to minus three :^) Thank's for the very timely heads-up on this one, Chris.
I am very pleased with the workmanship and everything else about it. The finish quality is supurb, like I have come to expect from L-N. This is not a plane for everybody, especially not for members of the Flat Plane Society, or for the Gizmosity Factor geeks. There are just five parts, body (ductile iron with powder coat black paint), blade (A-2), lever cap (bronze) and cap screw (brass), and a non-removable lever cap pin. The front half of the back of the blade was honed and the edge was honed. No sharp edges (except the one that counts) anywhere, or any undue roughness in the casting or its coating. Just for fun, I might do some work on polishing the lever cap, just because I like the way Wayne Anderson's look, but not because it needs any work.
In another significant departure from the Stanley tradition, the blade is LABU! And it will cost you about a C-note less than a Stanley in minty condition.
Did I mention that I really love the stealth, plain brown cardboard L-N box, with the model number hand written in magic marker on both ends. A hundred years from now, these will fool all but the most erudite collectors, since the printed logo is hidden inside the box.
As it turns out, it arrived just in time, because next weekend, I will start some critical shaping (backing out) of replacement planks for a boat restoration project I have been working on. Note that, while kindo of modeled after the Stanley plane of the same name, the L-N is significantly different than either the Stanley or the bronze version offered by WoodCraft. Both of the others are correctly called modelmaker's planes, and are designed for hollow cuts in model boats. The L-N, coming as it does from real shipyard experience, has much larger radii of curvature, and is thus intended for use on real boats. I don't think it's intended for shaping violin backs, either. I honed the edge and tried it out on a piece of cherry. It comfortably made smooth, controlled cuts, without chatter. It should cut the Atlantic White Cedar like it is butter, but a report on that will have to wait until next week.
This is one small plane that will never be thrown at the new cat, which also arrived this week, or any other cat. Currently, I think the cat weighs less than the plane, but that will change. Blackdawg has suggested we name it Tasty Cat. I figured if I let her get the cat, maybe she will forget about getting the horse. I'm not in the mood to build a barn.
