silver lining *LINK*
Paul M.
>... as in every cloud has one...
I was working at my bench the other night on a frame for a stained glass project. I was working with a plow plane and my Veritas low-angle smoother. A few swipes with the smoother to clean up the surface, followed by a workout with the plow plane to make a groove to capture the glass panel.
I made the mistake of placing the smooth plane not very far back on the bench, and when using the plow I hit it with the arms of the plow plane. Have you ever noticed how long it takes a plane to make that 3ft drop to concrete when your mind is shouting "Nooooooooooooo"?
The ductile iron on the Veritas smoother survived without any issues, mainly because the point of impact was the front knob. The threaded insert inside the knob broke off, requiring a replacement. Luckily, I have other planes that I could use to complete the task.
Surfing onto the Lee Valley website, I see that there are Rosewood replacement knobs and totes for a pretty cheap price, and they are much prettier than the stained maple that my older smoother arrived with. I probably would never have upgraded knobs and totes just for appearance sake. But since the knob is broken, I guess an upgrade is a must.
Prettier than original
