Shamless Gloat - A Visit from the Lee Valley Fairies

[Chris Griggs]

Days like today are great. You know, the days when a very special package is scheduled to arrive at your place of work. You repeatedly click on the UPS tracking number in the confirmation email that Lee Valley sent you a week earlier. And as soon as the page says "DELIVERED" you run, not walk to the receiving department and beg them to pull your precious package from their pile of boxes .

Today was one of those days for me. Just took delivery of a few tools I've been wanting for some time (see pic... yes they are currently out on my desk at work). The following will now join my motley crew of vintage bench planes and my one other LV plane... the Large Router.

1. LV Low Angle Block Plane. Man, what a beast of a block, which is one of the reasons I got it. Good thing I have long fingers. Its been said before and I can already tell its true that for some folks this may not be the best block for one handed work (I can comfortably hold it in one had, but I see an apron plane in my future none the less). It's sure to be an excellent end grain eater and at some point a nice little high angle smoother (got the knob, may also get the tote)

2. A Right-handed Skew Rabbet. This is what I've been longing for. It's a serious piece of pleasantly heavy iron. Debated a long time about this vs. record 778 vs. a woody. I'm pretty certain I'll be happy with my decision.

3. An MKII honing guide. Mainly got this for sharpening the skew as I use an eclipse for most other things. Didn't bother with the skew jig since I have only one skew blade. Will simply jig it up myself, las Derek Cohen did before the skew jig came out.

Can't wait to get home an try these out on my new workbench (just completed this weekend; will post thread soon).

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[Jim Koepke]

Drool, drool…


Can't wait to get home an try these out on my new workbench

Just a word of advice, save the bench and try them out on a piece of wood. :D

jtk

[Gary Hodgin]

Nice stuff!!

[Zach England]

Why wait until you get home? Take them for a ride on the melamine conference table.

[Chris Griggs]

Why wait until you get home? Take them for a ride on the melamine conference table.

HA! Thought crossed my mind. Maybe if I look around I can find something made of wood.

Actually, last week I took delivery of some new chisels at work. I couldn't wait to get home so I tried them out on the edge of my plastic trash can.... Seriously!

[jamie shard]

I found that the skew takes a little time to get adjusted. Don't get discouraged, it feels sloppy until everything is dialed in -- then it's great!

[gary Zimmel]

Got to love it when presents from LV arrive in the mail. Nice gloat Chris. Now a little fun in the shop...

[Zach England]

I once looked for something made of wood in my office. The closest thing I found was a nearly-dead ficus.

[Chris Griggs]

Well I got home last night an took the planes for a spin. Yes, they did take shavings right out of the box, but I very quickly honed a micro bevel to get max performance. MY GOD..... That block plane is SWEET!

Now while I am a relative newbie, I think I am a relatively competent hand plane user. I've tuned my vintage bench planes to perform well (with or without new blades). I like to think I know what sharp is, and all my planes can shave end grain perfectly well with a sharp blade.

but HOLY COW.. that LV low-angle takes slicing end grain to a whole other level. It's often said that just about any decently tuned plane with a sharp blade is 95%-99% as a good as a premium plane. I fully agree with that statement. But sometimes that 1% improvement is a pretty spectacular 1%.

Now I'm not not typically one to buy into pictures of shavings but these are pretty incredible end grain shavings (although soft maple admittedly has relatively tame end grain).
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And yes the part that's actually important, the surface left, was gorgeous too.

Regarding, Jamie's comment about the skew. There is a definite learning curve, and I am still figuring it out, but my understanding is that all fillister planes require some fussing. Getting the iron so that it overhangs the side just the right amount takes some fiddling. But because of the set screws once I get it just right the set up will be very repeatable.

By the way here's a peak, at my newly completed variation on the Schwarz's English workbench. 66" Long x 20" Deep and just under 34" high. Will take some more picks this weekend and start a thread with a more detailed description of the variations.
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[Mark Conde]

Envious of your new planes. They are indeed sweet. But I am even more intrigued with the bench. It looks great. If you dont mind me asking, what motivated you make the English bench instead of the Roubo French bench. I would love to know what you think of the English bench as you get some miles on it.

[Chris Griggs]

Envious of your new planes. They are indeed sweet. But I am even more intrigued with the bench. It looks great. If you dont mind me asking, what motivated you make the English bench instead of the Roubo French bench. I would love to know what you think of the English bench as you get some miles on it.

That's a good question. I fell in love with the "look" of the English Bench the first time I opened up the Schwarz's workbench book. It had a wonderfully utilitarian look to it... like the Leatherman of Workbenches.

But ultimately the deciding factor was cost and availability of materials. I didn't want to laminate a top especially since I don't have a power jointer or planer. That's a lot of face joining to do by hand. The cross bearers of the English bench let use standard 2by stock laid flat if you like. Funny thing is after I began the bench I was given a huge old laminate beam by a friend, so I ended up with a nice 2 1/8" thick top anyway.

I also love the slanted leg vise. Because of the slant it can fully clamp/cover at least 6-7" to the right of the screw. It's no 24" twin screw, but it's about as much as I ever need.

I can't wait to actually build a project on it. So far I've only messed around on scraps but I love the quick release end vise, love the planing stops, and again, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the slanted leg vise.

[Jim Koepke]

It's often said that just about any decently tuned plane with a sharp blade is 95%-99% as a good as a premium plane. I fully agree with that statement. But sometimes that 1% improvement is a pretty spectacular 1%.

Sometimes that 1% seems to gain weight up to a much bigger number. The WOW! factor alone has to be much bigger.


Because of the slant it has at least 6" of clamping capacity to the right of the screw.

I have seen this design recommended for at least two reasons. First it lessens the racking of the vise when items are clamped vertically in the vise. Second, the slant helps to lessen the tail end lift when planing long boards.

Looks like a great bench for working wood.

jtk

[Zach England]

Here's mine185956