Bevel-Up Plane Questions

[Rich Riddle]

Lee Valley is offering free shipping until the end of the month. I purchased both the bevel-up jack plane and bevel-up jointer from them. I am considering the bevel-up smoother but am wondering if it's redundant with the bevel-up jack plane or the #4 smoother that I currently own. Your wisdom explaining differences as well as your advice will be appreciated.

[Jim Koepke]

Surely others will chime in with their thoughts (opinions).

The thing that turned me onto having a LABU Jack was its ability to cut end grain with less effort compared to any of the higher angled bevel down planes. This is mainly for use on my shooting board. My shoulder suffered an injury about 40 years ago and the lower stress on the shoulder when shooting is a big help.

Beyond that it doesn't get a lot of use unless it is on the bench when a bit of edge or face planing needs to be done.

There is quite a following that likes the idea of interchangeable blades so a different angled blade can be bought with each plane and then the user can swap them around. I am not much for swapping out blades.

jtk

[Chris Griggs]

The small BU smoother would make a nice compliment to the No 4. A small smoother can be a really nice thing to have. The No. 4 sized LA smoother would likely be redundant unless you have some need to a no 4 sized plane at either a low or really high angle. The large BU smoother is 4 1/2 sized. Personally I don't like 4 1/2s and in your shoes I would just use the LA jack you already have if I felt a need for a big heavy smoother.

Big fan of the SBUS. Its a great smoother but also small enough I can actually grip it around the body in front of the handle and use it like a block plane, which is nice if its the plane that happens to be out on the bench.

[Don Dorn]

Personally, I think the decision to purchase a quality BU plane lies with obtaining a quality tool. Obviously, it is easy to adjust the mouth and not having to deal with a cap iron is something that appeals to many.

That said, unless you sharpen at the same angle as the bevel which is 25 degrees, there really is little advantage over a BD. Most people add a 5 degree secondary bevel which brings the blade to 30 degrees and then with the 12 degree bed, you reach 42 degrees which of course is only 3 short of a BD. Until I got a T5 Record, I used a LVLAJ for shooting, but frankly, I can't tell any difference in quality using the BD for that operation.

Don't get me wrong - both companies that produce them are quality tool makers and there certainly is no disadvantage, so from that standpoint, fine. I'm simply saying that if you use a jig for secondary bevels, there really isn't any angle advantage over a standard BD so buying for that purpose seems moot.

[Derek Cohen]

Rich, first of all the LA Jack and the BU Jointer are superior planes in their own right and would fit into most shops.

The advantage of a BU plane lies in the ease of set up and planing. These are reliable workhorses within their envelopes. For example, I would not use a LA Jack as a scrub plane - there are other planes better suited to that job. I would also not use the LA Jack as a smoother, unless you are working off flat boards or panels. It is too long to just remove localised surface area, which is what a smoother needs to do.

When it comes to choosing a smoother, size and the ability to handle interlocked grain matter to me. The first issue is size, and small is better in my book. This means both short (capable of planing smaller areas) and narrow (less affected by the hard woods and high cutting angle). Others may have different priorities.

As Chris notes, among the BU planes the Small BU Smoother is excellent. This is a #3 size. It is one of my favourite smoothers. The #4 sized LA Smoother is also excellent, and the choice is yours. While I am not a fan of larger smoothers it must be noted that the larger BU Smoother is truly superb, and should not be ignored if you are working with interlocked and/or hard wood. What makes the BU plane a viable smoother is that the cutting angle can be increased by honing a higher secondary angle onto the 25 degree primary bevel. Mine all are set up with a 50 degree secondary bevel for a 62 degree cutting angle. Since I am working with very hard wood and really only able to take finer shavings, these planes work really well.

Just to emphasise this point: the common primary bevel angle is 25 degrees. Unless shooting end grain, this would not be used (as it would create a cutting angle of only 37 degrees). Face grain requires a higher cutting angle, typically 45 degrees and up. For interlocked grain (that threatens to tear out), you would be looking at 55- or 60 degrees.

Do not exclude a BD plane as a smoother. Just because you have two BU larger planes does not mean that all should be BU. There are equal advantages to a small BD, such as a Stanley, LN or LV bevel down plane. I'll leave this to others here to comment.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Winton Applegate]

No I don't think you need the BU smoother. You have great planes just as you are.
Maybe buy a nice old Diston saw or something with the money.

Or better yet . . .
. . . buy ME a nice old Diston Saw. :)

If in the future you find yourself working the silly woods, like I do, and you can't get your surfaces to to be tear out free, even with micro setting of the chip breaker (which I am assured by the people here who know you will be able to make the bevel down smoother work fine) then try, if the impossible does happen, a back bevel.

If you find the only way you can get the surface smooth is a back bevel on you bevel down . . .
then and ONLY THEN get the BU smoother.

There. How did I do ?