Veritas Plow Plane...Opinions?

[Frank Carnevale]

So, going to a mostly hand tool shop since I have a kid and dogs (makes it easier to have them in the room while I work). Plus I build for my own pleasure and enjoyment. So, I was looking at the Veritas Plow Plane thinking I could use it for routing the grooves in drawers for the bottoms and other little projects. Has anyone used this and if so, what are your thoughts? I dont want to mess around with an old one and would rather just drop the coin and get a new one. Was going to hold out and see if LN ever came out with one but I could be waiting the rest of my life on that :)

So thoughts anyone?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Frank

Veritas who? Never heard of them. :)

Try this comparison with the #044 and #043 ...

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

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chris Griggs]

Never used it, but have heard nothing but great things about it. The only reason I've held off on buying one is that rumor has it that Lee Valley will release their Large Plow Plane withing the next year, and I want to see what they come up with before buying the small.

[Frank Carnevale]

Thats a good comparison article. I read the Christopher Schwartz one and he was a fan also. Thanks!

Chris. Did you hear any specifics on sizes or is that large one still speculation? I hate waiting but if there is news out there and its a great improvement due to the size, I may just have to do so


Hi Frank

Veritas who? Never heard of them. :)

Try this comparison with the #044 and #043 ...

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

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Weaver]

I have it, and had a stanley 50. It is a fabulous little plane. I don't like the holding mechanism that some of the 50s have (side pressure on the iron), they slip and pull themselves deeper in the cut, especially narrow ones, but they can be had cheaply so you can live if you have to.

I would probably be satisfied with the record plow planes if I could've found one timely when I got mine (I couldn't at the time, but I've seen them lots of times since). They retain the iron with a sort of lever cap function instead of a side grip.

I have no complaints at all about the LV plow, though. It is a safe bet for a tool that works exactly the way you expect it to.

[Chris Griggs]

A while back I asked Rob Lee about it in this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?145950-3-planes-that-I-wish-were-being-made&p=1487333&highlight=#post1487333

He said " It's in active development now...which puts it at least 10 months out. It will be more than a plow though...we intend for it to do molding as well..."

That was back in August 2010, almost a year ago..., so I imagine it's coming out this year, but don't know anything else about it.

[Chris Griggs]

Actually, even if it comes out soon, my guess is that I'd prefer the small plow for most grooving tasks. Sounds like the Large will be a multi-tool, and I prefer simplicity. Still kind of want to wait and see what they came up with though.

[Rob Lee]

A while back I asked Rob Lee about it in this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?145950-3-planes-that-I-wish-were-being-made&p=1487333&highlight=#post1487333

He said " It's in active development now...which puts it at least 10 months out. It will be more than a plow though...we intend for it to do molding as well..."

That was back in August 2010, almost a year ago..., so I imagine it's coming out this year, but don't know anything else about it.

Hi -

Yup that info's still correct.... it's at least 10 months out....! Had a few other projects push ahead, while the large plow slid a bit. This isn't uncommon, as something with the complexity of the large plow takes a long time to completely develop.

There is an as of yet unannounced (and even "unteased") conversion kit coming for the small plow.... this will enable it to use blades up to 3/4" wide (6 new sizes, from 7/16 to 3/4" by 16ths...

Cheers -

Rob

[Frank Carnevale]

Is that your unofficial announcement Rob? :) Kidding. Ok, again, that quick I am sold on the small plane then look forward to hearing of that conversion kit!


Hi -

Yup that info's still correct.... it's at least 10 months out....! Had a few other projects push ahead, while the large plow slid a bit. This isn't uncommon, as something with the complexity of the large plow takes a long time to completely develop.

There is an as of yet unannounced (and even "unteased") conversion kit coming for the small plow.... this will enable it to use blades up to 3/4" wide (6 new sizes, from 7/16 to 3/4" by 16ths...

Cheers -

Rob

[Chris Griggs]

Hi -

Yup that info's still correct.... it's at least 10 months out....! Had a few other projects push ahead, while the large plow slid a bit. This isn't uncommon, as something with the complexity of the large plow takes a long time to completely develop.

There is an as of yet unannounced (and even "unteased") conversion kit coming for the small plow.... this will enable it to use blades up to 3/4" wide (6 new sizes, from 7/16 to 3/4" by 16ths...

Cheers -

Rob

LOL. Gotta love it when Rob chimes in. As if I we really needed further convincing :) . Looks like the table saw could end up on craigslist someday soon to make funds for the small plow and the eventual conversion kit.

[Chuck Nickerson]

I have the Veritas small plow and a vintage wooden plow. There is a lot to be said for the Veritas plow.

1. The Veritas irons are ready (with minor honing). The vintage plow irons were far from ready.

2. The collet/fence arrangement on the Veritas is simple to set correctly. My vintage plow is fussy to set.
A wiggle here, a wiggle there, start again...

[Joe Cunningham]

Have one, use it on every project that uses grooves. Love it, I got the extra blades, but find I use the 1/4" about 95% of the time.

[paul cottingham]

I had one, and loved it, I have bad hands, so I had to return it, as it hurt me to use it. I still miss that plane, was a seriously handy tool.

[Bill Houghton]

Fantastic plane. I have and use a Stanley 45, but I'm glad I also have the Veritas - it's quick to set up and comfortable to use. Some folks don't like the tote, but I've never found it a problem.

[Andrew Swartz]

I have, and love, the small plow. I've been using it, along with the LV fillister to make moldings for a clock case I'm working on. My favorite qualities of these planes are the fences, which are easy to adjust and lock. I'm eagerly awaiting the large plow and am glad to hear it is still in the works.

[Russell Sansom]

I second the general sentiment here. I've been around the circle with the various options and the little Veritas plow was be best of the bunch. I still pull out the Stanley #45 rather often, but that's because I'm preserving the Veritas's sharpness and saving its settings. If I had to part with one, I'd probably give up the Stanley #45 and figure out other ways to cut tongues and grooves.

[John A. Callaway]

I have the left handed version...and all the non-metric blades... Love it. certainly a well made tool.

[Michael Titus]

I have it, it's probably my favorite hand tool. I don't use it as often as I would like -- guess I just need to build more projects that contain drawers.

[Andrew Gibson]

I have a Stanley #50... an older one with no depth adjustment. I use it quite often. I got the replacement blades available, and I find it nice to have the metric sized blades, because... most of the sheet goods available the the borg are metric.

only problem is I paid quite a bit more to get a full complement of blades for it then I paid for the plane itself.

[Frank Carnevale]

Thats a lot of love for this plane! Thanks all for your experiences and opinions...I am sold

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

The great thing about the Veritas plow is that the fence is fantastic. The sad thing is that the depth stop won't stay there; a common failing of all friction based depth stops, in my experience. I was quite happy with mine apart from the depth stop issue until I got a nice wedge arm woodie, which is what I use now.

[Tony Shea]

It seems like the depth stop issue would be an easy fix with some coarse sandpaper. I've had similar issues with the fence on the large rabbet plane by Veritas and had to rough up the fence rods to get the collets to really grab. I've never had the fence move since.

I also would really like to pick up that small plow. Trouble is that most the grooves I make need to be stopped and this tool just doesn't work well in that situation. There are times that I need full length grooves and have thought about just making my own grooving planes. We shall see though as the Veritas sure does get great reveiws.

[Chris Griggs]

It seems like the depth stop issue would be an easy fix with some coarse sandpaper. I've had similar issues with the fence on the large rabbet plane by Veritas and had to rough up the fence rods to get the collets to really grab. I've never had the fence move since.

I also would really like to pick up that small plow. Trouble is that most the grooves I make need to be stopped and this tool just doesn't work well in that situation. There are times that I need full length grooves and have thought about just making my own grooving planes. We shall see though as the Veritas sure does get great reveiws.

I've have, occasionally, had issues with the depth stop moving on my LV skew rabbet. Typically though it's because I pushing down harder than is necessary. If I find myself doing this I will wax the sole, fence and depth stop surface that contact the wood. Because this makes the plane easier to push and easier to control I find that I then use less downward force and don't move the fence or the depth stop. The bigger issue I've had with the depth stop is the bolt that locks it into place often sticks once its been tightened - I often need to get a pliers to loosen it even though I have only tightened it with finger pressure.

However, this is a minimal issue - I don't have the LV plow, but do have the skew rabbet and large router. Veritas did a fantastic job designing their joinery planes, and I'm sure the plow is excellent.