Way To Go, LN!
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>I arrived home today in time to greet the postman with a package from Lie-Nielsen. I have been waiting excitedly for this one for some time �
I must take you back several weeks before I can tell you what was inside. I had won a LN #140 on eBay quite cheaply � really. It was well below half price, which is unusual for LN products, which tend to resell for near new prices. The reason was that the plane was very tarnished and missing parts. Obviously no one likes cleaning LNs! It looked like this �
I polished it up, derusted the blade, cleaned up the knob and ordered the missing fence and side plate from LN. I thought that I might as well upgrade it completely, so also ordered the nicker, which I planned to install myself.
Well, it did not turn out quite the way I planned. The fence rod was frozen solid and nothing I tried remotely appeared to be shifting it. The side plate did not fit (it was short by about ��), And I realized that the blade was quite a thin affair, about the same as a standard Stanley, quite unlike the thick LNs I have handled. To top it all, the colour was a lighter hew, like champagne, and I even wondered if the plane was indeed an original LN.
Here it was, surrounded by some more LN bronze ..
So I contacted Thomas Lie-Nielsen and we found differences in the sizes of parts for this plane and the current LN #140. Thomas said that he would be happy to sort it out, so I sent the plane to him (this must be the most travelled #140 in the world � USA to Australia to USA and back to Australia�. It turns out that the plane was indeed interesting. According to Thomas, it was an early model made around 1985. The bronze used was a different composition. The blade was W1. And slightly wider than current models (so the current model comes from a different casting). Thomas managed to find a thick piece of W1 and had a new (thick) blade made to fit the body.
Here are the blades side-by-side, new and old �
Looking good � new blade and new nicker �
With the new side piece �
And I thought the new fence was worthy of a slice of Tasmanian Blackwood �
The final result � a really lovely plane �
BUT WAIT �. THERE�S MORE!
In the package was a Auriou 15 grain rasp I ordered �..
�.AND � Mike Leonard decided he�d send me a gift. Having seen the dovetail marker I made (and posted here last week), he sent me the LN one to play with. A big thank you Mike!
Hey, it�s almost as nice as mine!
Thank you Thomas.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#21985
Warren in Lancaster, PA
>I just happened to have a 1985 Garrett Wade catalog on my desk so I looked up your plane. It is shown on page 43 as a Garrett Wade exclusive. It says that the fence was a new feature not found on the old #140 and it was sold with or without fence. Price: $137.50 ($125.50 without fence).
I have to admit that I never had an interest in this plane, but there was a plane on the same page that I marked- an Ulmia beech double-iron Jack plane (English pattern, 17 inches) for $35.50. I don't often see that plane listed anymore.
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#3Good for you Derek
Dean Lapinel
>With all your thoughtful contributions here and othere forums I am glad you own what I would consider a very special LN.
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#4Type Study
David Miller from Iowa
>This is good information to accumulate for a Type Study. I have a LN 140 from about 1990 - no nicker. My brother keeps telling me to send it in for a retrofit, but I refuse claiming it is a "Type 1". I guess it must be a "Type 2" because yours seems to be a "Type 1"
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#5Wouldn't it behoove tool makers
Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret
>to change designs on occassion just for collectors. While changes and improvements will enhance their product, they should consider just making minor alterations during production changes to make their product more collectable.
Just a thought.
Stephen
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#6that's all we need
Tom Sontag - St. Louis
>From a marketing standpoint, sure tool makers should telegraph their model changes, but one of the things I like about hand tools is their timeless design. Changing a llittle here or there for marketing only reminds me too much of other industries that compete that way, like stereo equipment or cars. Aside from the exhaust issue, do any of us really need anything more than a Trabant?
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#7the pic *LINK*
Tom Sontag - St. Louis
>
Trabant
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#8Re: the pic
kees
>ja, fahren am Sontag. DDR people having a picknick along the road between BRD (west) and Berlin and watching the people from the west in their nice cars :-) of course the hood (?) wide open for cooling down.
For me that was summer 1987.
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#9Oh, please, no
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>Tools are tools. Tools. They make things. Anything else is secondary. While I appreciate the gracefulness of a good plane tote, it must first fit my hand. And so on. Changes for collectability lead to the 1959 Chevrolet.
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#10Image for my car reference *LINK*
Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
>for those not old enough to know what I meant, or lived somewhere that the 1959 Chevrolet never polluted.
Not quite a Trabant
Re: Way To Go, LN!
#11Re: Image for my car reference
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>The fins were all about sales, pure and simple, there was a whole book written about it.
Pam