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View Full Version : My new plane and bargain alert for Indy...



Richard Magbanua
01-27-2009, 8:59 AM
I've been saving up for some nice hand tools for the past six months or so. I was intending to wait until the annual Woodworking Show at our fairgrounds where I could order from Lee Valley for free shipping as I had done last year when I got the large router plane and edge trimming plane. My target item this year was the low angle jack. For me it had been a toss up between the Veritas and the Lie-Nielsen. The tie breaker had been mostly cost and maybe the whole blade interchangeability thing with the Veritas bevel up plane line. Well, I called Woodcraft to ask if they were having any specials on LN planes due to the Woodworking show. I expected them to say "no" but to my delight, they wee offering 15% off orders! I did the math and figured I could get their LA jack for less than the LV. It came to $208 (+tx). Not too bad. It came with free grease for the slope! I am now considering picking up the LA smoother while it's 15% off.
So I wanted to share this news and some pics with people who really appreciate my new purchase. I don't really know anyone here who would "get" what this means to me or how excited I am.
Here are pics of its first use right out of the box...

Richard Magbanua
01-27-2009, 9:06 AM
Another thing I wanted to share and ask you guys. When I bought this at Woodcraft the sales guy said I should expect to spend an hour or two to tune up my new plane. He said Tom Nielsen even said so when he was there last year. I told him that if I needed to tune it up that much I was gonna bring it back! Luckily for me he didn't know what he was talking about. But I was wondering, is this accurate information regarding LN planes?
He also was bad-mouthing Veritas a bit to play up their LN planes but, Mr. Rob Lee, I had yer back.

Michael L. Martin
01-27-2009, 9:24 AM
An hour or two?? What was he referring to when he said "tuning it up?" I think if you put a few minutes into the final honing of the iron......... then you are ready! No other alterations at all! Except maybe a nice coat of Liberon on the knob and tote.......but that's just me.:D

Congrats on that beauty!

Michael Sobik
01-27-2009, 9:55 AM
I own this plane and love it. I use it mostly on the shooting board and for end grain, but with a blade ground at 38 degrees or so, it makes an awesome large smoother as well.

Rob Lee
01-27-2009, 9:58 AM
Hi Richard -

You shouldn't have to tune either of our planes (Veritas or LN). If they're not right when you buy them - return them.

Congrats on the new plane - it's a good one...!

Cheers -

Rob

Berl Mendenhall
01-27-2009, 10:32 AM
I doubt very seriously if Lie-Neilson would appreciate a sales rep. from Woodcraft telling potential customers they need to spend two hours tuning their planes. These are high dollar, high end planes have extra effort is put into them (at the factory) so you won't have to work on them to make them perform. This sales rep. may have been a part timer Woodcraft hired to work the show. Just my thoughts.

Berl

Danny Thompson
01-27-2009, 11:01 AM
. . . an hour or two to tune up my new plane. He said Tom Nielsen even said so . . .

Maybe building a shrine, burning incense, and hanging a prayer flag . . .

Otherwise, take it back.

Mike Cutler
01-27-2009, 11:22 AM
Another thing I wanted to share and ask you guys. When I bought this at Woodcraft the sales guy said I should expect to spend an hour or two to tune up my new plane. He said Tom Nielsen even said so when he was there last year. I told him that if I needed to tune it up that much I was gonna bring it back! Luckily for me he didn't know what he was talking about. But I was wondering, is this accurate information regarding LN planes?
He also was bad-mouthing Veritas a bit to play up their LN planes but, Mr. Rob Lee, I had yer back.

Richard
I have 16 different LN planes, and their full chisel set, so I think I can safely say that the answer is NO! I'm also a bit of a sharpening junkie, so I did work on the blades establishing a secondary bevel, but it didn't take an hour or two for each plane.

I have also handled many of the Veritas planes, and they are beautiful planes. Very well built and finished, and every bit the equal of an LN.
I wouldn't hesitate one moment to buy a Veritas plane, and the only reason I have so many LN's, and no Veritas planes, is that I "found" LN's first, and my wife gives them to me as gifts for my birthday, christmas and anniversery.( A bit of a stealth gloat there) I think I have actually only purchased 2 of my planes myself.
The WoodCraft guy is wrong. Maybe he just doesn't do a lot of hand tool work, or owns a bunch of Holtey's, but he should not have made negative comments concerning the Veritas line of tools, especially since WoodCraft carries Veritas products. Very unprofessional.

Don C Peterson
01-27-2009, 11:41 AM
An hour or two? No way! A couple of minutes to hone the iron, certainly. As good as LN and LV tools are "out of the box" I have yet to get one with what I considered a truly sharp iron. They are close, but still not quite there.

Douglas Brummett
01-27-2009, 11:52 AM
On my LN block plane it took about half an hour to hone the blade, maybe more. The factory lapping of the blade left a fair amount of tool marks. Granted it did cut out of the box with a light honing using a back bevel. I just prefer to actually flatten the back of my irons versus using a back bevel or the ruler trick.

So basically depending on how you prepare the blade it could take a while to get that new plane up and running. In LN's defense I haven't received any tools with a better blade prep. I hear that LV uses a lapidary tool, so they may have the upper hand on blade prep.

Richard Magbanua
01-27-2009, 12:14 PM
Thanks for the comments. Sounds like my sentiments were correct. As far as tuning up the new plane, I'd bet that its sole is the straightest surface in my shop by far! However, as soon as I hit "submit reply" I'll be putting the final hone on my blade.

Tom Henderson2
01-27-2009, 1:56 PM
I would be interested to hear about the condition of the back of the blade, as it arrived out of the box.

I've owned 3 LN planes, and on all of them the back of the blade had been sanded, but poorly leaving a low corner, or a back bevel that was very time consuming to remove.

I work slow, so no doubt most of you could fix these issues quicker than I can. But I'd rather have the backs left as-ground than poorly sanded.

Just wondering what others think. I'm a newb and don't know much...

-TH

Jim Koepke
01-27-2009, 2:11 PM
I have only one LN and no LV planes.
When it arrived, it was taken out of the box. The instructions said the screw holding the blade, cap and lever was tightened more than needed for shipping.
It also mentioned that some users might like to hone the blade.

Without honing and just loosening the screw, I made shavings.

The next hour or two was spent taking the plane apart and putting it back together. That had nothing to do with "tuning it up." That was mostly a boy with a new toy to play with.

jim

Rick Erickson
01-27-2009, 10:33 PM
Are you sure he said hours and not minutes? One to two minutes is all it takes. I hope TL-N reads these forums and can take appropriate action with that store. I'm glad my Atlanta Woodcraft is very knowledgeable of their LN planes (top notch store).

Mark Wyatt
01-29-2009, 10:07 PM
The Lee-Valley bevel up Jack is on my shopping list for the tool show in Indianapolis tomorrow. Now I've got a conundrum as I planned to visit Woodcraft later in the day...

I'm also eager to finally get my paws on the new Lee-Valley dovetail saw and give it a try.

Richard Magbanua
01-30-2009, 7:57 AM
I'll be there Sunday! I do have a few things to order from Lee Valley. I did hear something about LV and maybe someone could validate it for me. Is it true that at the woodworking show that their items are 10% off with no tax added? Maybe just a rumor.
I hope they have their DT saw out for testing. I'm not needing one at the moment but I'm looking forward to future saws such as a tenon and carcass saws. (Mr. Lee, any hints?)
FWIW the LN LA jack is superb. It's not amazingly better than my #5 Fulton but it had about 5 hours refurb and its sole still isn't flat.
Have a good time at the show!