LV BU planes and Adams article (long)

Re: LV BU planes and Adams article (long)

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I have a mixed power and hand tool shop. I have a few jack planes, including a Stanley #5 and #62. I almost never use them, because the work that they would do is done by my motley collection of power saws. I've had the #5 longer than any other plane in my shop. I have three jointers. The DJ-20 gets used for rough work, but never for jointing edges for glued up panels. There are power jointers that will make a sprung joint, but it's not worth the effort required to set them up to do that. My L-N #7 is quicker and makes a better joint, and I don't have to readjust it when I'm done for just making boards straight and flat.

I also have a few smoothers. I use them all, because I can work more efficiently if I don't have to keep adjusting blade angle and mouth opening as I work towards a "perfect" surface, or move between wood species. My go-to smoother is a L-N #164, and it is a bit of a PITA to resharpen it's blade, so I don't like to use it when a lesser smoother will do the job.

I would strongly advise against buying a plane that will replace the function of a plane (or even a power tool) you already have that both does its job well and works efficiently. You'll just feel guilty for not using one of them later. OTOH, if you are spending an inordinate amount of time adjusting one or more of the planes you now use very frequently, then a Veritas BU version might just be the ticket, just because they can save you so much time and frustration with adjustments, resharpening and retuning.

I agree with the others who have suggested that a paradigm shift would be in order at this point. Instead of duplicating functionality you already have covered, you should consider which new tools would most improve the quality and versatility of your work. Again, in my shop, my rough work power tools don't do a very precise job on mortises and tenons, or on other joinery, so I find I get a lot of use out of shoulder planes and rabbet planes, especially my large shoulder plane, because the fitting work it does shows in the finished product. Note that I've used several different Stanleys for this kind of work, but never found one of those that satisfied me.

Re: Looking for an excuse to buy a plane eh?

Doug Littlejohn

>You all have valid points and the main thing is I believe that 'gift' $$ are for someting other than neccessity (as a fundamental principle). As pointed out, I can do all of the required normal operations with the arsenal I have. I picked old Stanleys (type 11 is my choice) becuase I love working with a tool that has near 100 years of prior use on it. It's just way cool.

Now as to the LV's, I am looking at them for 3 reasons.

1. I want someting new to my existing tools set

2. These new LV are clearly an advance in tool technolgy and their quality and functionality is first rate and

3. While I have a full range of planes, it is also clear that having more than one of many planes is an advantage as I can have them set for different uses rather than having to change a planes setup when the need changes.

Doug

So, when I combine all three of these, I get LV BU series where all of the cutting parts are interchangable from one to the other thus allowing for some savings ie: one 50 degree works in all, etc.

As for other specialty planes, that is a VERY good point and I have been drooling over the 073 for some time. But, if I look at the shoulder planes I already have and the LN 60-1/2R coming, I see more practical, requent use from a jack, smoother, jointer direction.

Where I am headed now (after reading all of your inputs) is the Jack, the Smoother and them maybe the Jointer. Why?, I have 3 planes that will function well as a jointer for my needs. I have only 1 jack and my 4-1/2 (sort of in between) and a couple of smoothers but research indicates having several differnt set up smoothers is more optimal. (also have 4 different shoulder planes, scrapers, routers, etc. so , ,

I really, really appreciate all of the inputs and viewpoints, I just love the amount of knowledgable people on this board who are willing to freely share their reasoned thoughts. I will probably re-read them all at least one more time and put them into what I see myself doing and how I will operate for the next several years.