Router plane question

[Andy Margeson]

I'm about to purchase a router plane from LV or LN. Both make standard and small sizes and I'm unsure which one to buy. Right now, I think that the primary use will be hinge mortises on cabinets but you know how it is. Once you become familiar with a tool, you find all sorts of new uses for it. It appears that the smaller versions are best for routing out hinge mortises but the standard sizes are more versatile. I'd like to buy the larger one, but will it work OK for hinge mortises?

Thanks,

Andy

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Andy

Without any doubt, the LV large router is the one to go for, especially now that there is a new depth stop and an even wider selection of blades.

I've been using the depth stop for several months (testing it pre-production), and it is a huge ... huge ... improvement over the original version. As part of my evaluation for LV I used the router plane to mortice a really tiny hinge ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/Depth%20stops/1.jpg

Here is the hinge alongside the (pre-production) depth stop ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/Depth%20stops/2.jpg

Here is the LV router routing the mortice ... nice and easy ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/Depth%20stops/5.jpg

And the finished product ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/Depth%20stops/6.jpg


If it can do something as tiny as this, then it can do any hinge mortice.

Here is a link to a review of the LV Router plane. I did add a comparison with the LN version, which is also an excellent plane. However the LV is definitely better. Comments about the depth stop were made prior to LV changing it over.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/The%20Veritas%20Router%20Plane.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mike Henderson]

I can tell you which one NOT to buy. I bought the LN small router plane to do small hinge mortises. On a hinge mortise, you want to take a little bit off, then lower the blade a small amount and take a little bit more off. The problem with the LN small router plane is that it does not have what I'll call a micro adjustment mechanism. The only way to adjust it is to release the blade and try, with your hand, to move the blade down a small amount. What happens is you move the blade too much, then you've lost your reference and you have to then try to set the blade from the existing mortise depth. Additionally, the screw that holds the blade in place is in a bad position and pretty much requires that you use a screwdriver to adjust it.

The LN small router plane is a high quality (in materials and machining), poorly designed tool.

Compare this to the large router planes which have a microadjust. You place the plane on the wood, adjust the blade until it's just touching the surface, then give it another partial turn to extend it a bit. After you make that cut, you just turn the adjustment wheel a partial turn and make another cut. Easy as pie.

I don't have either an LV or LN large router plane - I have an older Stanley - so I'd take Derek's recommendation.

Mike

[Bill Haumann]

I'm very happy with the LV large router, and I haven't even gotten the new smaller blades yet.

[Tony Joyce]

I have the LV also. I use it for hinge mortises mostly. It works great for the ones I've done.

Tony

[Andrew Gibson]

I have an old Stanley router plane and use the LV irons in it. the fact that you can use the lv irons in the old planes is very nice, i will at some point be picking up the lv router to replace my $15 Stanly with no depth adjustment.

[Erik France]

If you've got a lot of mortises to do you'd probably like having the wider cutter. A large router with a micro adjust would be best.

I picked up the LV small router plane a while back. I observed many of the same things as Mike did with his LN. It's not easy to make small adjustments. On the second or third project I was using it for I failed to tighten the small adjustment screw enough and the cutter moved on me slightly laking some thicker shavings on some dadoes I was cleaning up. I was thinking that the wood was warped or my router table was. A small router plane is still nice to have, but I'm saving my pennies for a large one.

[Chris Griggs]

The LV large router plane is one of my favorite tools in my shop. I use it on EVERY project. One of the main things I use it for is small hinge mortises on very small boxes made from 1/2 thick or less material. Initially, I thought I would want the small router plane also for these little hinge mortises but the large one works so well I probably wouldn't bother with the small. I also like that it comes with 3 blades and has a closed throat. I haven't used the LN and while I'm sure its a great tool, for a large router plane, I've never doubted my decision to go with the Veritas. Just my two cents.

[Zach England]

I have Veritas large and small and have never found a use for the small. It's too little to hold comfortably.

[jamie shard]

a micro adjustment mechanism

I had a thought... if you used a thin shaving as a shim, you could place it under the router body, drop the blade to the reference surface of the last cut, then remove the shim and you would have a new cut of the thickness of the shaving. Extra work though.

[Mike Henderson]

Hi Andy

Without any doubt, the LV large router is the one to go for, especially now that there is a new depth stop and an even wider selection of blades.

Derek
What is the "wider selection of blades"? I went to the Lee Valley site and looked at the large router plane but didn't see any blades other than the standard three. Your recommendation has me thinking of getting the LV large.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

I had a thought... if you used a thin shaving as a shim, you could place it under the router body, drop the blade to the reference surface of the last cut, then remove the shim and you would have a new cut of the thickness of the shaving. Extra work though.

I'm sure there are workarounds. Our ancestors didn't have all this adjustment stuff and they made it work. But now that we've seen the microadjustment, and how easy it makes using the plane, it's aggravating to have to do it the old way. At first, I though it'd be nice to have microadjustment on my small router plane, but now I think the large router plane will do the job and you don't need the small one.

I probably should post my small router plane for sale.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

I had a thought... if you used a thin shaving as a shim, you could place it under the router body, drop the blade to the reference surface of the last cut, then remove the shim and you would have a new cut of the thickness of the shaving. Extra work though.

If you know the thread count on the adjuster, easy to figure, then by turning the adjusting nut by degrees it is easy to control and know how much the cutter is being advanced.

I marked the nut on my router with 8 divisions. Since the shaft has 18 threads to the inch, a full turn is about .055". An eighth turn is about .007". A half of an eighth turn is about .003" and so on.

Since this was done with a marker, it will eventually wear off. At that time I may devise a way to mark it with an awl and make sixteen divisions.

Or maybe I will sell off the old Sargent and treat myself to the LV.

jtk

[Bob Jones]

I really like my LV large router. I don't have the small one, but the only time I "needed" a small one was when making a dado near a corner of a box. The large router would not fit, so I just used a chisel. I will be glad to get the new depth stop since that was the only area that I thought needed improvement.

[Mike Henderson]

If you know the thread count on the adjuster, easy to figure, then by turning the adjusting nut by degrees it is easy to control and know how much the cutter is being advanced.

I marked the nut on my router with 8 divisions. Since the shaft has 18 threads to the inch, a full turn is about .055". An eighth turn is about .007". A half of an eighth turn is about .003" and so on.

Since this was done with a marker, it will eventually wear off. At that time I may devise a way to mark it with an awl and make sixteen divisions.

Or maybe I will sell off the old Sargent and treat myself to the LV.

jtk

Jim - Jamie's suggestion was for a way to do it when you don't have an adjusting nut, such as on the small LN router plane. If you have the wheel adjuster you can just do what you suggested.

Mike

[Tony Joyce]

Lee Valley just added six new sizes 3 inch & 3 metric. They are on sale for a few more days.
If you need the link, I can post it later this evening.

Tony

[Bill Miltner]

I can't find these new blades either so posting a link would be most appreciated.

[Tony Joyce]

Narrow Blades for Lee Valley Router Plane

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,41182,43698&p=67484

[Derek Cohen]

I had a thought... if you used a thin shaving as a shim, you could place it under the router body, drop the blade to the reference surface of the last cut, then remove the shim and you would have a new cut of the thickness of the shaving. Extra work though.

Hi Jamie

You are on the right track. Better, however, to use the depth stop to set the depth of cut, then you can work your way to it incrementally (so as to avoid tearing away the layers).

The following was a picture used in the feedback to LV, with the depth stop removed, so imagine it still in the router plane. All one needs do is "squeeze" the hinge between the stop and the lower edge of the adjuster mechanism (much the same way you would do so on a power router) ..

(Tip: hold the router plane upside-down to do this ... that is how it is in the picture).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Planes/LV%20planes/Depth%20stops/4.jpg

Hi Mike

I see the link to the blades is up. I am going to send off for some myself.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Richard Verwoest]

I am a little curious as to why LV does not make these blade sizes to match other tools. Like their plow plane. The router plane compliments the plow very well.

[John Gornall]

For hinge mortises I suggest the Lie Nielsen butt mortise plane. I tried it at a recent Lie Nielsen event and am sold on it. When you study the butt mortise plane it's basically a long thin router plane with the blade sideways which is great for hinge mortises.

[David Keller NC]

Jim - Jamie's suggestion was for a way to do it when you don't have an adjusting nut, such as on the small LN router plane. If you have the wheel adjuster you can just do what you suggested.

Mike

Mike - I have the LV large router plane, and the small L-N model. While you're 100% correct that a micro-adjust (which both companies large planes have, I think) is the easiest to use, I've been successful with the L-N small router plane by simply adjusting the depth with a small brass hammer. It takes a little getting used to, but after that, going a bit deeper without going overboard is pretty easy.

[David Keller NC]

For those that are metric-challenged (like me), here are the 6 sizes in the Queen's measurements:

1.5/16" (the 3/32")
1.88/16" (the 3mm)
2/16" (the 1/8")
2.52/16" (the 4mm)
3/16"
3.78/16" (the 6mm)

[Tony Joyce]

I am a little curious as to why LV does not make these blade sizes to match other tools. Like their plow plane. The router plane compliments the plow very well.

RE: plow plane/router plane sizes.
1/8", 3/16", 1/4" Three out of five is pretty good.