Replacement Jointer

[Richard Line]

Got a delayed box yesterday. Delay was due to the railroad, not the sender. Inside was my new jointer plane. It's the Lee Valley bevel up jointer, with the A2 blade (25 deg). 238629

Tried it right out of the box, without honing or polishing the blade. It worked very nicely, could take 0.002 shaving, didn't try for any thinner shavings. No need to polish the sole or anything else. After the out of the box try, I did take the blade over to the honing and polishing stuff. A few passes (well maybe 24) on a 1200 grit diamond stone put a slight camber on the iron, then polished the edge and back on the LV diamond grit film. After that little bit of finishing, it was even better.

This jointer will pair up with my LV low angle smoother. Since they both use the same size blades, the higher angle blades I have for the smoother (38 deg & 50 deg) will also work in the jointer. One of the features I like on the LV bevel up planes is their adjustable mouth. For taking cross grain cuts the mouth can be wide, then for the with grain cuts the mouth is easily closed up to fight chip out.

This jointer is replacing a Craftsman No. 7, that has about 1/32 upward taper from the mouth to the front of the plane. Too much to flatten out and it really kept it from doing good flattening. Now I can get on to jointing the boards for my new bench.

Accompanying the jointer was a 10 oz warrington hammer and a bevel blade for my old mill knife handle. No pictures of those, so I guess they didn't really happen. It was a nice day.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Nice! looks like you have a new toy to play around with for a while, I have to say, the more I see the more I like Veritas tools. congrats!

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Have never tried a bevel up plane larger than a tiny one.... I take it you prefer this for jointing than a standard jointer like say a Lie Nielsen #8? I do own an old Stanley #8 (by the way)....

[Richard Line]

Andrew, I've only had a small amount of experience with a bailey style jointer, and that wasn't so good because of the not flat base. The major issue against the Lie Nielsen jointer vs. the Lee Valley was price - more than 50% higher for a no. 7. I have used the bevel up jointer at a class at the Port Townsend School, and I didn't find any issues with it. I also have the LV low angle (bevel up) smoother and have liked it. Beyond the high quality of LV planes they also offer an easily adjusted mouth opening, similar to a block planes mouth adjustment, taking blades in/out for sharpening or changing the blade to get a different cutting angle is really easy compared to a bailey style plane. The down side to the bevel up planes, as I see it, is the difficulty or extra work to get a camber on the blade and the blade's camber needs to be slightly greater to present the same camber to the wood compared to the bevel down plane. For me, with the difference in price for the LN, it was an easy decision. Now, if I could have found a bailey no. 7 with a flat bottom I would have gone that route, but there are very limited places to buy used planes around here, and I wasn't going to trust getting a flat bottom plane off an auction site. Oh, and I wouldn't mind a slightly thicker rear tote on the LV planes.

That is how I saw the issue when I decided I needed to get a new (to me) jointer. I do have 2 bailey no. 5's that I use as fore planes, short jointers, and long smoothers, and I have no interest in replacing them with a bevel up jack.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Thanks for the detailed reply..... I keep toying with buying a larger LN but considered the LV for the same reasons that you mention. Never having tried a larger bevel up plane I have been hesitant to make the decision. My primary concerns are related to:



Someone that I know casually who is very experienced mentioned that he had a very bad experience with a large LV bevel up plane (that was likely related to his unfamiliarity --- in my opinion). Seems that he went to take a swipe and it bit deep and ruined a very expensive door.
I was under the impression that the lower angle was better for different types of grain than what I would usually use a jointer for.
I have zero experience with them. So fear of the unknown.


While at WIA last year, I should have tried one. Oops! Sadly, I won't make it this year. Hopefully I will make it next year.

[Don Dorn]

I had a LV BU Jointer and liked it a great deal. It was very flat and even though not desigened for it, the plane would take .001 shavings with a sharp blade with nothing else done. I still have my LV BU Jack and will not sell it - for me, it's the perfect shooting plane.

In the end, I did sell the jointer - not because it didn't do it's job well, but because I simply prefer a bevel down plane and I'm fortunte enough to have found a fantastic Stanley #8C from a fellow Creeker and it does as well and I simply didn't need two so I turned one into cash. I'm positive you'll be happy with that plane for years as there is no doubt, it's a premium tool.

[Bill White]

And I thought that I was the only guy using a Warrington and a mill knife.
Bill

[steven c newman]

I'll stick with my "bob-tailed" KK7, thank you. $55, and a little tuning up. 238716Previous owner had shortened the rear deck by just over 2". This #7 is about 19-3/8" long. Might be a keeper....

[Kenneth Speed]

Richard,


A jointer planer needn't be flat to the degree that LV and LN make their planes although it's nice when they are. The very length that enable them to span the low spots in a board allows them to be less than perfectly flat. A perfectly flat old Stanley or Sargent jointer plane is an accident unless someone flattened it. Camber in a jointer plane blade is more of a personal preference than a necessity. Think about it, an 8" electric jointer isn't cambered and you'd hear cursing that would singe your ears if it was. One of the real beauties of the bevel up planes is how easily they accept different blades, you can camber one blade if you wish and leave another flat.

I own both a Stanley no. 7 ( fairly new) and a no. 8 ( very old) and neither have cambered blades although I think I rounded the corners very slightly on the Hock blade I installed in the no. 7. Considering that I have the two jointer planes I doubt that I'll buy another. My problem with the LV bevel up jointer is the way they shaped the sides of the plane body preclude using it on its side or adding a home made fence.

[Matthew N. Masail]

But they make a fence for it.... for 38$ (at the moment), making it still cheaper to buy the plane+fence than a new LN. an optional fence is a + in my book.

I agree about the side thing.

[Frank Carnevale]

That fence is magnetic right?


But they make a fence for it.... for 38$ (at the moment), making it still cheaper to buy the plane+fence than a new LN. an optional fence is a + in my book.

I agree about the side thing.

[Richard Line]

Kenneth,
I agree that a jointer doesn't need to be perfectly flat. Unfortunately the Craftsman no. 7 I have is sort of V shaped with the point of the V at the mouth. This made controlling the cut quite a problem as one rides on the front of the plane to start a cut then shifts to the back of the plane further along, and the depth of cut changes as it shifts. A plane (jointer) that is in plane at 3 points (toe, mouth, heel) should work well, but that @#%&* plan wasn't that way.

Your correct that the LV jointer wouldn't work for shooting, but then I have the low angle smoother that works very nicely for shooting. I haven't been using a fence with a jointer, but I think it would be possible to make a fence for the plane and as noted above, LV does make one for the plane.

[Kenneth Speed]

Richard,

That Craftsman jointer sounds like fodder for iron oxide soup.

I'm risking boring other people on the board to death by saying this but I am a completely unabashed fan of the LV bevel up jack, it's a superb tool. I noticed you said you have enough jack planes but if you don't have a LV bevel up jack, you don't.


So c'mon man, cut to the chase and tell us how you like your new jointer.

Ken

[Richard Line]

How do I like my new jointer, well to be brief - GREAT!

I have used the LV bevel up jack and I like it, but the 2 no. 5's I have do what I need them for, and a bit more and the LV low angle smoother fills in the job of shooting, so I'm pretty happy with my bench plane family now. What I need to do is become better acquainted with my no. 78 rebate plane, the wooden plow, and the pair of round and hollows I have.

[Matthew N. Masail]

That fence is magnetic right?

actually no, it has thumb screws. And Veritas makes a universal magnetic fence to fit any plane with a plain straight side.