george wilson
02-22-2010, 4:48 PM
I received my new Lee Valley NX60 block plane a few days ago. Today I took it out to the shop and compared it to my Lie Nielsen 60 1/2 adjustable mouth block plane. I also tested a Stanley #15 adjustable mouth low angle block plane that I bought new about 30 years ago. ALL 3 PLANES have the same low angle iron degree.
The Lee Valley plane plane has extremely accurate machining on it(so does the LN,but not quite as smooth) The machining is also the smoothest I have seen on a commercial plane. It could be that the nickel iron machines more smoothly than regular cast iron. I haven't machined nickel iron myself,so I can't say. The machining was very nice,though.
There is only 1/4 turn of free play in the Norris style adjustment in the Lee Valley. The adjustment screws are very smooth and accurately made. The adjustment stud fits very closely into the corresponding hole(s) in the iron. I measured only .002" play in the hole. Any less than that would probably make the iron hard to get off of the adjustment stud.
Lee Valley advertises .0015" maximum inaccuracy in the flatness of their sole,and squareness to the sides. Having seen that all 3 planes were a bit hollow on their bottoms with a precision Brown and Sharpe straight edge,I decided to test them on my good granite flat. The Lie Nielsen would burnish a .001" piece of brass shim stock placed under the center of its sole. This showed me that the Lie's sole was less than .001" hollow.
The LV plane would not burnish the brass shim,so I laid another shim on top of the first. The plane would then perceptively rock. This showed me that the LV was about .0015" hollow. This was within the advertised accuracy,but more hollow than the Lie.
The Stanley's sole was noticeably more hollow than the more expensive planes. I did not test it,but judging from how all 3 looked against the straight edge,it must be about .002" hollow.
Lee Valley advertised that their blade was lapped flat within,IIRC .0002". It was indeed a TINY bit hollow on the granite flat,and seemed to be within specs. It actually sucked down to the granite surface plate.I would rather have the iron a tiny bit hollow,because it will bear down tighter on the blade ramp,so I was fine with that.
The LV blade was gray color on the bottom from lapping. I gave it a TINY bit of very low angle honing at the cutting edge to get rid of the grayness,and make the edge shine on both sides. LV says that this is not needed,but I prefer 2 shiny edges coming together. Mind you,it took only the LEAST bit of honing on a white ceramic stone to eliminate the gray color. Just about a back and forth of a few inches.
There was no problem with cutting edge performance in either of the expensive planes. I didn't plane enough wood with them to really test that thoroughly. The Stanley's edge held up fine,too. It was made in USA,though,and is about 30 years old.
The thing that bothers me most about the LV plane,is that it is HEAVY,and slippery. I am not opposed to heaviness IF the plane had handles to grasp. I make my planes heavy. I would hate to drop the plane,and I advise anyone buying it to be careful to keep a good grip on it. The finger grips are highly polished,but deeper at their tops. Squeeze them well!
It took a very tiny amount of honing to bring the very finely ground edge to a razor edge. I don't think my micro bevel was even 1/64" wide!
I also sharpened the Lie plane,and the Stanley. Both the LV and the Lie plane have A2 irons. The Stanley has its original blade.
I selected some obnoxious Southern yellow pine to test. I had no soft Borg pine on hand to plane end grain on. All 3 planes worked fine on the end grain. I also planed some very curly red maple. All 3 planes would plane the curls without breaking them.
I have to admit that I found the Lie Nielsen plane easier to handle and adjust. Of course,I've had the Lie for several years. The main problem with the LV plane is the lever cap. You have to really loosen the knurled wheel under it to get the cap a lot to make it want to slide off. When you put the cap back on,and begin to adjust the cutting depth of the blade,the lever cap suddenly loosens some,and needs more tightening. I was following the LV manual's suggestion to only tighten the lever cap 1/4 turn more when it has seated on the blade.
With the LN plane's exposed lever cap screw,you can at least see what you are doing,in terms of loosening the cap till it cleared the screw.
I did not have this problem with the LN,or the Stanley,which has a swinging lever to tighten the lever cap, the easiest system to operate,though not made as elegantly as the other planes,it worked quicker.
I also fount the LN's iron easier to adjust for tilt,which I did by simply grasping the blade's edges,and moving it sideways. The same for the Stanley.
Conclusion: The Lee Valley has some nice refinements,such as the set screws on either side of the blade. This keeps the blade centered in the opening. I also liked the setscrew that you can set to prevent the adjustable sole from coming back against the blade and damaging the sharp edge. I liked the nicer knurling on all the adjustment screws,which were VERY crisp,and sharp feeling(but not sharp enough to hurt your fingers!) I wish LN used nicer knurls on their blade adjustment screws. They look like electrical terminals to me. The fit and finish of all parts was exceedingly accurate. The hollow finger grips on each side follow the contours of the top edge exactly,MUCH to my satisfaction as a person who has studied sculpture. Also,the EDGES of those grip hollows were dead crisp. No rounding off AT ALL.
I can lap the sole of the LV(and,indeed of the LN also),though I wish I didn't have to on such an expensive plane (remember,it was within the specs.) I just would like it flatter. I noticed that when I rubbed the LV plane against the granite surface plate,the center of the adjustable sole,and the butt end edge were the surfaces that touched. The LN just touched at each end.
The fussy LV's lever cap was a bit annoying with the removal,and sudden slipping when advancing the blade. Get it tight enough to not slip,and the blade is hard to adjust for squareness,it seemed to me. However,the plane was new to me.
I realize that function is more important than form,but the designer in me loves the LV. It's coolness factor is way beyond the other 2 planes! I could only wish that there was a bit more bulge in the hand rest area. I think LV got a little carried away with the sleekness of the plane's design,and "stretched" its contour to rather an extreme. It is,though, BY FAR,the nicest plane they have designed as of yet. My hand rests as much on the blade adjustment screw as on the lever cap. And,I hope I never drop it!!
The Lee Valley plane plane has extremely accurate machining on it(so does the LN,but not quite as smooth) The machining is also the smoothest I have seen on a commercial plane. It could be that the nickel iron machines more smoothly than regular cast iron. I haven't machined nickel iron myself,so I can't say. The machining was very nice,though.
There is only 1/4 turn of free play in the Norris style adjustment in the Lee Valley. The adjustment screws are very smooth and accurately made. The adjustment stud fits very closely into the corresponding hole(s) in the iron. I measured only .002" play in the hole. Any less than that would probably make the iron hard to get off of the adjustment stud.
Lee Valley advertises .0015" maximum inaccuracy in the flatness of their sole,and squareness to the sides. Having seen that all 3 planes were a bit hollow on their bottoms with a precision Brown and Sharpe straight edge,I decided to test them on my good granite flat. The Lie Nielsen would burnish a .001" piece of brass shim stock placed under the center of its sole. This showed me that the Lie's sole was less than .001" hollow.
The LV plane would not burnish the brass shim,so I laid another shim on top of the first. The plane would then perceptively rock. This showed me that the LV was about .0015" hollow. This was within the advertised accuracy,but more hollow than the Lie.
The Stanley's sole was noticeably more hollow than the more expensive planes. I did not test it,but judging from how all 3 looked against the straight edge,it must be about .002" hollow.
Lee Valley advertised that their blade was lapped flat within,IIRC .0002". It was indeed a TINY bit hollow on the granite flat,and seemed to be within specs. It actually sucked down to the granite surface plate.I would rather have the iron a tiny bit hollow,because it will bear down tighter on the blade ramp,so I was fine with that.
The LV blade was gray color on the bottom from lapping. I gave it a TINY bit of very low angle honing at the cutting edge to get rid of the grayness,and make the edge shine on both sides. LV says that this is not needed,but I prefer 2 shiny edges coming together. Mind you,it took only the LEAST bit of honing on a white ceramic stone to eliminate the gray color. Just about a back and forth of a few inches.
There was no problem with cutting edge performance in either of the expensive planes. I didn't plane enough wood with them to really test that thoroughly. The Stanley's edge held up fine,too. It was made in USA,though,and is about 30 years old.
The thing that bothers me most about the LV plane,is that it is HEAVY,and slippery. I am not opposed to heaviness IF the plane had handles to grasp. I make my planes heavy. I would hate to drop the plane,and I advise anyone buying it to be careful to keep a good grip on it. The finger grips are highly polished,but deeper at their tops. Squeeze them well!
It took a very tiny amount of honing to bring the very finely ground edge to a razor edge. I don't think my micro bevel was even 1/64" wide!
I also sharpened the Lie plane,and the Stanley. Both the LV and the Lie plane have A2 irons. The Stanley has its original blade.
I selected some obnoxious Southern yellow pine to test. I had no soft Borg pine on hand to plane end grain on. All 3 planes worked fine on the end grain. I also planed some very curly red maple. All 3 planes would plane the curls without breaking them.
I have to admit that I found the Lie Nielsen plane easier to handle and adjust. Of course,I've had the Lie for several years. The main problem with the LV plane is the lever cap. You have to really loosen the knurled wheel under it to get the cap a lot to make it want to slide off. When you put the cap back on,and begin to adjust the cutting depth of the blade,the lever cap suddenly loosens some,and needs more tightening. I was following the LV manual's suggestion to only tighten the lever cap 1/4 turn more when it has seated on the blade.
With the LN plane's exposed lever cap screw,you can at least see what you are doing,in terms of loosening the cap till it cleared the screw.
I did not have this problem with the LN,or the Stanley,which has a swinging lever to tighten the lever cap, the easiest system to operate,though not made as elegantly as the other planes,it worked quicker.
I also fount the LN's iron easier to adjust for tilt,which I did by simply grasping the blade's edges,and moving it sideways. The same for the Stanley.
Conclusion: The Lee Valley has some nice refinements,such as the set screws on either side of the blade. This keeps the blade centered in the opening. I also liked the setscrew that you can set to prevent the adjustable sole from coming back against the blade and damaging the sharp edge. I liked the nicer knurling on all the adjustment screws,which were VERY crisp,and sharp feeling(but not sharp enough to hurt your fingers!) I wish LN used nicer knurls on their blade adjustment screws. They look like electrical terminals to me. The fit and finish of all parts was exceedingly accurate. The hollow finger grips on each side follow the contours of the top edge exactly,MUCH to my satisfaction as a person who has studied sculpture. Also,the EDGES of those grip hollows were dead crisp. No rounding off AT ALL.
I can lap the sole of the LV(and,indeed of the LN also),though I wish I didn't have to on such an expensive plane (remember,it was within the specs.) I just would like it flatter. I noticed that when I rubbed the LV plane against the granite surface plate,the center of the adjustable sole,and the butt end edge were the surfaces that touched. The LN just touched at each end.
The fussy LV's lever cap was a bit annoying with the removal,and sudden slipping when advancing the blade. Get it tight enough to not slip,and the blade is hard to adjust for squareness,it seemed to me. However,the plane was new to me.
I realize that function is more important than form,but the designer in me loves the LV. It's coolness factor is way beyond the other 2 planes! I could only wish that there was a bit more bulge in the hand rest area. I think LV got a little carried away with the sleekness of the plane's design,and "stretched" its contour to rather an extreme. It is,though, BY FAR,the nicest plane they have designed as of yet. My hand rests as much on the blade adjustment screw as on the lever cap. And,I hope I never drop it!!