BU Plane Blade Angles

[Adam Cormier]

Hey guys,

I just purchased the Veritas LABU jointer plane. What a beauty, but I have a question. It comes with the 25* blade. I can't help but think that the 38* would be better for planing the narrow side of boards for laminating and even planing larger surfaces.

Am I wrong?

[Sam Takeuchi]

Cutting angle solely depends on the material you are working on. If 25 degree bevel angle (37 degree cutting angle) gets the job done to create smooth and tear out free surface, there is no reason you have to do it with higher bevel angle. 38 degree angle is more of all rounder, but not a rule. Decision is up to you. If you want higher cutting angle, just add higher micro bevel on that 25 degree blade. Don't need to grind primary bevel higher.

[Bill Rittner]

I have the LVBU jack that I use as a general use tool. The 38* iron is the one I keep in it for flattening, jointing and the like. I use the 25* iron for shooting endgrain. I love this plane and will replace my old #7 with the new bu jointer soon.

[Adam Cormier]

Cutting angle solely depends on the material you are working on. If 25 degree bevel angle (37 degree cutting angle) gets the job done to create smooth and tear out free surface, there is no reason you have to do it with higher bevel angle. 38 degree angle is more of all rounder, but not a rule. Decision is up to you. If you want higher cutting angle, just add higher micro bevel on that 25 degree blade. Don't need to grind primary bevel higher.

I put a small micro bevel on it (about 28 degrees now). You bring up a good point, I have all the different blades that LV makes so I will play it by ear and work it with trial and error.

Thanks for the input.

[Jon Toebbe]

I use a bevel-up jack for all of my bench plane chores, and have really found Derek Cohen's advice to be sound: get irons with a 25 deg primary bevel and hone whatever secondary bevel angle you want for the job. I can touch up the edge of my smoothing iron (38 deg secondary bevel) in less than a minute. There's just not much material to remove to get a sharp edge this way. The only downside is that a jig is required to ensure you keep a consistent angle.