Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

HC Sakman

>Hi John,

If you like it and add it to your "set" by all means, go for it. How about #3,2 & 1? ;-)

I really like and use 95 quite often. 140 is little disappointing as I found it's not that convenient to use. I just got it, need to fettle with it a little. #60-1/2R is definitely a keeper, so is the #65 & #102.

I absolutely have no use for chisel planes. Probably LV's bullnose w/ chisel feature would be money better spent. As far as shoulder planes go, I also vote for LV over LN.

Chico...

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Denis Ch�nard, away in eastern Qu�bec

>If you want to buy a LN plane, I'd say go all the way and get a #8.

The #6 is most probably a fine plane, but if you have a smoother and a jack, the #6 will be too close in size to those to make much of a contribution. OTOH, if you're buying only one plane that wouldn't be a bad choice.

I tried the #8 at the last Ottawa Wood Show and was mighty impressed. But the price gave me pause... Earlier this year I tried the LV BU jointer and was equally impressed, but under different conditions.

I plan to get the LV BU jointer for my birthday in March, and I will test it under the same conditions I tried the LN under. My gut feeling is that the LV will do as good a job, for a lot less money. We'll see...

DC

Comment on the #95

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Hi John

This is not going to help completely (maybe a little) because I know you are set on getting LN, but Chico's comment "I really like and use 95 quite often" invites a response from me.

I decided to buy myself a Christmas present (yeah, because that is difficult!) and had my eye on the #95. At my local Timbercon store here in Perth I had the opportunity to play with both the LN and LV versions of the #95. My initial emotion had been "get the LN" because this was their first product and had a special aura as a result. But the LV product was just so much better in both design and finish. I bought the LV. Later I had a bit of post-purchase stress thinking that perhaps I could have done better to get something more useful, such as a matching #140 to my Stanley version. A few weeks have now gone by and I find that I have used the #95 quite a bit. It is useful to square up an edge quickly, particularly small pieces of wood where a larger plane would be cumbersome.

Of course, you can get the LN version of the #95 rather than the LV. (No, I won't tell you to get a LV LA Jack instead of the LN #6 - you didn't hear me say that). I would probably get the LN #5-1/2 before a #6, if you are going down that track.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Comment on the #5-1/2

HC Sakman

>I agree, #5-1/2 would be more useful over #6. I love mine.

Chico....

Go for an No. 8...

Scott Burr in really rainy Ben Lomond,CA

>Hell if you have cash. I'd love to get my paws on one... A No. 6 makes a fine panel smoother it can rock the house as a small but jointer for smaller boards, but IMHO get the No. 8!

As for what you said about your other wishes, a 95 is kinda usless for the most part, again MHO... It sounds like you don't NEED another block plane either...

A No. 6 is a fine plane I like the size, but...if you don't have an No. 8 and you got the cash I'd be all over an LN No.8

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Marc in Luxembourg

>John,

Your choice is quite wide. I have a #6, a #95, a #140, a scrub, the small chisel and some others ;-) I do not have a #5 1/2 and the #8 is shipping only next week.

I use my #6 with cambered iron mainly after the scrub. It makes me a lot more faster. It is a wonderful fore plane. If once you need a heavy smoother, grab the iron from the #4 1/2, #5 1/2 or #7. I use the cambered iron in the #6 to joint a board. An edge that's not perfectly square can be made easily so by setting the right or left side of the iron on it and taking one or two passes.

As I work with hand power only, my scrub plane is the first to come plane that touches new wood. For me it'd my first choice, than #6.

BUT on the other hand: #6 is the plane I reach for most of the times.

So maybe you have to buy both ;-)

Marc

Re: no. 8

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI

>John, I think you know which one you want; the #8, right? ;) I was just looking at a picture of that baby the other day. Just think how impressive that would be hanging on your shop wall. I think with the LN planes you already have, the #8 is the logical next plane. The in between planes are just fillers. The #5-1/2 & #6 would serve about the same purpose, flattening wide panels a little faster than the #5. I think you would use them a bit depending on what you are building, but that #8 would be used just about every day you are in the shop.

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Michael Stadulis, in Gloucester County, NJ

>Hi John,

I like the heft of my Stanley 6 much more so than my 5, so it gets used more, You are right that they are not as popular for whoknows what reason, and you can get a Stanley 6 in VG condition for 35 to 45 bucks.

Mike

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Gary Miller

>I've got an old (Type 9) #6 w/ a fairly tight mouth that I use alot as both a jointer and occasionally as a smoother.

I very much like the size and feel of a #6 over a #5. You would be happy w/ the LN #6 is my guess.

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Gary Miller

>I've got an old (Type 9) #6 w/ a fairly tight mouth that I use alot as both a jointer and occasionally as a smoother.

I very much like the size and feel of a #6 over a #5--using my #8 only in jointing or flattenig large or long surpaces. You would be happy w/ the LN #6 is my guess.

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Steve Kubien

>Hi John,

I remember one of our southern members (no, not Florida. I mean southern hemisphere) used a #6 for almost everything because that is what was taught in his trade school. Smoothing, jointing, roughing, on a shooting board etc etc. Perhaps that is something to ponder.

Perhaps not.

Steve Kubien

Re: Lie-Nielsen No. 6

Dean J in MN

>John --

The #6 is a nice try plane, and in no way overlaps with a #5. A #5 (jack/fore) would have a big camber and an open mouth to hog off wood, a try plane has a gentle camber and a tighter mouth to level off the surface after your fore plane has it mostly flat. If you don't have a try plane, I think the #6 fits well, it's too bad they call it a fore, seems to me it is both a tad long and a tad wide to serve as a fore.

The #7/#8 can be set up as nice try planes as well, but if you don't have a jointer they can fill that roll as well.

-Dean

Thanks a bunch... and a little more info...

John Weber - GO BUCKS!

>At this point I'm more of a collector as I love tinkering with the planes, but real wood projects coming out of the shop are at an all time low. I've set several goals for my business, and met my first one - as a reward I've allowed myself a new plane for each reward, it may be some time before the second goal is met. I focused in on the No. 6 because I use to have a Clifton No. 6 I really liked, and it would fill that slot. I do have a 5-1/2 and 7. I've scraped up enough cash (as I normally have a little "wood show" fund this time of year, since the Columbus show is this weekend). While I would love a No. 8, it's a little out of budget, since I'm pushing for the No. 6. As for the smaller planes, there are many I would like, but they typically make more affordable gifts from the family, whereas a $300+ plane is way out of gift budget.

I'll be at the show Sunday and visit both LN and LV, maybe something will catch my eye that I haven't seen. I would like LV large shoulder and love to check our the LV heavy smoother. I might hold off all together and buy some odds & ends at the show, but if I focue my $$$ a No. 6 could come home with me.

Thanks again for all the insight, I guess I was wondering if people liked a 6 or not.

John

Re: Thanks a bunch... and a little more info...

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>The fact that you had a Clifton #6 that you liked is the clue to the answer. If you like the Clifton #6 you will like the L-N #6. Nuff said. Go for it!JR

BTW....

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>I really like the "reward" angle...I will try to incorporate this into my argument repotoir.JR

Trade use No 6 about 98% of all work

Andrew F in Australia

>Hi John,

You asked how many of us actually use a No6.

Just a quick comment -

I haven't touched a No 5 plane in ages, and the narrow blade would drive me crazy. It's also too short in my opinion to use as the standard bench plane. For proof, look at the standard length of the old wooden bench planes - they were about 16" to 18" as a standard, not the 14" jack plane.

Trade Cabinetmakers use a No6 plane or a 5 1/2, but more commonly the No6. (I 'are' one - by Trade I mean the four year standard training resulting in qualifications and competence in most areas of cabinetry - not carving. Not the US 'professional' woodworker that can hang out a shingle and declare themselves a cabinetmaker - but most of these produce nice quality work as well.)

The No 6 has enough length to joint with, enough mass to go through a rough patch and small enough to smooth with (your faces should be flat and level anyway, so you shouldn't need to chase the hollows with a No4)

The wider blade is an advantage on the No6.

Carpenters use the No5 as a standard plane - their work is more towards fitting doors, etc.. and the smaller and shorter plane is suitable for this, as well as being lighter to carry around. I think that there's a lot more carpenters (& homeowners) than cabinemakers, hence the reason that there's a **lot** more No5 planes around than No6 in pre-1950 planes

If you've got the Clifton No6, that should be fine, but the Lee Nielsen is also a good plane. You might want to consider using your 'reward' money to buy some good veneer or other periperals for the workshop instead of duplicating what you have - but it's your money and if you want the Lee-Nielsen No6, then that's what you get.

So much for the short reply.

Good luck with your choice

Andrew

Re: Comment on the #95, #6, #8, #2

Dave Thompson - Champaign IL

>Regarding the #95, I used these all of the time when I use to edge joint my boards by hand. I ended up getting left and right side LN#95 because grain direction convenience/width restrictions. LV didn't have #95's when I bought mine, and so have never compared them.

Regarding the bench planes, I use my #6's regularly (#606, Sargent and Union). The #606 is set up as a short jointer, and the Sargent and Union are set up more as a long fore/jack plane. That said, I use this size plane more as a short jointer than as a fore/jack plane.

If you go with a LN#6, I'd recommend the York pitch frog as it will stand out from other planes in functionality.

Given your arsenal, my next plane would be a specialty plane, or if you want to stick with the bench planes, probably a LN#2. While I have all of the LN smoothers, I use the #4 1/2 and #2 the most.

I'm going to go against the this thread on the #8. It's my first choice for flattening a work bench top, but I don't make many of those ;-) I find a #7 narrower width better suited for also edge jointing. Again, I like the fact I can get a York pitch frog with an LN#7 versus the LN#8.

Re: Comment on the #95, #6, #8, #2

John Weber - GO BUCKS!

>Dave,

Thanks, I've sold my Clifton #6, so adding a #6 would basically replace that. I do have a 5-1/2 and a york pitch frog I can exchange between planes. I'm excited to get to the show in the morning so I can touch and feel everything. I'll look at the 8, but it might really be tough. Also I'm anxious to check our the Heavy smoother at LV. I will report back Sunday night.

You guys got me all worked up now, first I thought I would look and maybe buy, now I've really got the itch for a new plane - Thanks...

John

Aha!

Steve Kubien

>Sorry Andrew but I couldn't remember who it was from your hemisphere that loved the #6. Now I know...but will likely forget soon. Sorry.

Steve Kubien

Re: Comment on the #5-1/2

Dan Clermont in Burnaby

>I concur with the LN 5.5

I am really happy with the performance I get from it. Find I spend more time building rather then fettling planes now that I own that 5.5. I really like the heft.

Cheers

Dan C

Re: Aha!

Bruce Branson

>I use a Stanley type 15 #6 with a Hock blade and chip breaker for flattening after the scrub or jack and a Knight 24" jointer for edges.

The jointer is the length of a #8 but a lot lighter.