Pretty impressed..

[Rick Fisher]

I ended up picking up a Veritas Low angle smoothing plane ..

Prior to this, I have only used a Low angle Block plane and scraper plane..

I picked up a worksharp to ease my sharpening and became encouraged enough to buy a plane for end grain.. It was this or a low angle Jack, but the low angle jack was not in stock.. and I was in the mood .. lol.

Anyway.. Why I am impressed is I am a complete greenhorn with hand planes.. I expected a long learning curve, saved for days I was feeling patient.. I took it out of the box, set the Iron the way I set the Low angle block plane, and hit some VG Fir for a test..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170315.jpg

While my shavings may not be perfect shavings.. lol. I was expecting dust, digging and frustration.. I got this .. right out of the box..

[george wilson]

Is that quartered Sitka spruce???? Are you an instrument maker??

[Rick Fisher]

Its old growth edge grain fir.. Most of that batch was 25 grains per inch.. That is a cut off ..

I am no instrument maker..

[Andrae Covington]

I have both vintage Stanley and new Veritas bench planes (including that smooth plane), and I like them all for different reasons. But I started out with the Veritas planes and I do think for someone who is new to handplanes, buying a good quality new handplane from Lee Valley or Lie-Nielsen really makes the initial steps less frustrating, because generally speaking they do work out of the box. You can focus on the techniques of using the plane, rather than also learning how to fettle, diagnose problems with the plane, fix them, etc. I have even found the Veritas blades to be sharp enough to use right out of the package, though not as sharp as they "should" be as you learn how to sharpen.

[Andrew Gibson]

Looks good.
Now go get that iron really sharp and start making shavings that are full width and look like tissue paper.