New LN Trepidation!

[Derek Arita]

I'm new to planes, but have always admired the beauty of a well maintained, antique plane. I got some WoodRivers and have been enjoying learning how to set those up, along with some antique planes that i've acquired along the way.
Well, just recently I received my first Lie Nielsen. Don't know why, but I could't even open the box right away. That was 2 days ago. This morning, I finally opened it up and unpacked my bronze #4. I could' believe my reaction when I held it in my hands...my heart started racing and all I could do was stare at it. It looks more like an award, than a tool to be used.
I almost feel like just honing up the blade, then putting it away in a trophy cabinet. Maybe I should Keep it there for a few years, while I learn on the WRs and the antiques...Would that be weird or weirder than anything else I've just written?

[Brian Holcombe]

Put it to use, it works even better as a plane !

[Joe Bailey]

I almost feel like just honing up the blade, then putting it away in a trophy cabinet ...Would that be weird or weirder than anything else I've just written?

To me the only weird part is honing it, but not using it. If you're going to put it up in a cabinet, then why hone?

[Jim Koepke]

Joe's right, honing the blade will only destroy its collector value, which incidentally is currently about the same as its value as its used tool value.

jtk

[Christopher Charles]

Mine came used with a repaired tote so was easier to just start using. Got ahead a put a few scratches on it and you'll feel better :)

c

[Sean Hughto]

As general rules of thumb, I try not to:
- buy cars that are too precious to drive
- buy clothes that are too precious to wear
- date a woman that's .....

;)

[David Ragan]

What is effect of T LN signing planes w engraver-w photo of him doing it?

[Jim Matthews]

I remember dating.

Can I recommend you get a friendly dog, instead?
That way, he'll do all the heavy lifting.

You just have to walk along, and nod.

Get the right dog, and SWMBO will find you.

[Frederick Skelly]

I remember dating.

Can I recommend you get a friendly dog, instead?
That way, he'll do all the heavy lifting.

You just have to walk along, and nod.

Sputter, spit, choke, gasp! There goes the coffee all over the monitor again. Dang Jim, that was a good one.

Derek - USE THAT TOOL! Put the pic in a frame above where you store the plane. But PLEASE use that tool Sir!

[Joe Tilson]

Derek,
If you would like I will break it in for you.:eek:

Good one Jim.

[Derek Arita]

:DOF COURSE I'LL USE IT! I paid enough for it! But I'm only half way joking. It's just so dang pretty right out of the box. Wish I could afford one to use and one to keep fresh. Oh well, guess I'll have to be that much more careful when I do use it.

[Tony Zaffuto]

It's a tool. USE IT! If it helps, drill a hang hole in it and then drop kick across the room. Now it is ready to use.

Seriously, they're nice tools, but remember its value is about what you paid, by the time it is worth more than that, you'll have been worm food for a decade or three!

[Derek Arita]

It's a tool. USE IT! If it helps, drill a hang hole in it and then drop kick across the room. Now it is ready to use.

Seriously, they're nice tools, but remember its value is about what you paid, by the time it is worth more than that, you'll have been worm food for a decade or three!
True dat...

[Joe Williams]

I completely know how you feel. For the last 2 years I have bought mostly vintage Stanley and I was recently gifted a new LN 4 1/2. Without ever having a premium plane like this, I often wondered what the big deal was. I can hone any of my planes perfectly but there is simply a huge difference between their 4 1/2 and my vintage 4 1/2. Makes me want to go murder all of my planes now.

[Derek Arita]

I completely know how you feel. For the last 2 years I have bought mostly vintage Stanley and I was recently gifted a new LN 4 1/2. Without ever having a premium plane like this, I often wondered what the big deal was. I can hone any of my planes perfectly but there is simply a huge difference between their 4 1/2 and my vintage 4 1/2. Makes me want to go murder all of my planes now.


Thanks for that. See...I was wondering...that's why I got the LN...just to see. Now, I know I'll have to get more.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Man up. Make some shavings.

[Jim Koepke]

Can I recommend you get a friendly dog, instead?

Good advice.

If you want proof, lock your dog and wife/girlfriend in the trunk of a car.

An hour later open it up and notice which one is happy to see you.

jtk

[Frederick Skelly]

Good advice.

If you want proof, lock your dog and wife/girlfriend in the trunk of a car.

An hour later open it up and notice which one is happy to see you.

jtk

Ha! LOVE it!
But I just have to ask - did you ever TRY this out Jim?

[Jeffrey Martel]

Like what you do with a new car, carefully put the first scratch in it on purpose somewhere not very noticeable so you get over the "newness" of it and use it like it's intended to be used. Then go make a few thousand shavings out of random scrap you have laying around while you enjoy your new tool.

[Winton Applegate]

The guys are right.
The LN is nice but just wait until you discover girls !

Be careful though and what ever you do don't kiss 'em.
They're carriers you know.

[Jim Koepke]

But I just have to ask - did you ever TRY this out Jim?

Nope. Knowing my wife, I might not live to tell about it or at least wish I hadn't lived.

jtk

[Winton Applegate]

- date a woman that's .....
ha,ha
when I was a teen I used to ride road bicycles very long distances at distressingly fast paces . . .
(after eighty miles into the ride the other serious bike racers would hollar at this guy "damit Harry. . . slow down !" Which only made him laugh and pour it on all the more . . .)
any way I used to ride with this old honky tonk guy, had polio when he was a kid, pedaled mostly with one leg . . .
We took to calling him "THE IRON MAN" before there was ever any triathalon by that name.

He had a saying he used occasionally in his gravelly voice when he fixed something or made something (he was first rate as a mechanic) :
"That's good enough for the girls we go with."

only person I ever saw who had a motorcycle hill climb back sprocket specially machined by his pal to fit onto THE FRONT of his bicycle so he could go faster down hill. Man did he put it to use !

PS: I will give you an idea of what we are talking about : back then if one was pedaling in the hardest/fastest gear down hill at 100 RPM one would be going thirty miles an hour. I can hit 200 RPM when I want to. I had to to keep up with him. This is drafting in a pack like a sting of stock cars so the slip stream helps every one in it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

A most excellent plane. You will love it. I found a spare lever cap on eBay and bought it with intent to play around engraving it, but so far I just polished it. Looks great polished, and I may polish the whole thing (not the sole) just for fun. Still it is a user. In fact, it often is left out so I can reach for it rather than being kept in a drawer with the others.

As for girls- I was dating a girl and a friend didn't like her so he asked me what I saw in her. I said she likes what I like. She likes to hike... He cut me off, "Hike? She likes to hike? Look in her closet- does she even own a pair of hiking boots?" My friend had a point. Her closet was filled with shoes in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but no hiking boots.

Fast forward to the day I met my wife. She showed me the Merrells that she wore on her first Camino de Santiago across Spain. Boom! She's for me!!! Her second Camino de Santiago was with me, and where I asked her to marry me, hence the avatar.

1/4 way into the journey, south of Pamplona if I remember correctly. Notice her shoes- same pair of Merrells on their second 800-mile trek, not to mention many other places in-between.

[Jim Matthews]

I gather you can still drive at night.

Your time will come. Have you noticed her working out,
or excavating a large 'garden plot'?

[Bryan Cramer]

The premium infill planes are the ones I would have a hard time using like a Holtey. Lie Neilson planes are good "daily drivers". I just love using mine.

[Winton Applegate]

Malcom,

Camino de Santiago across Spain
Cool !
I've only read about that.
Did the wild dogs come after you at that one spot ?


"Hike? She likes to hike? Look in her closet- does she even own a pair of hiking boots?"
Yah I had one of those G Friends who supposedly liked to go on a day hike.
When I stopped to pick her up for the first one. She says to me . . . get this . . . she says : "There are bugs up there aren't there ?" (we are talking high country Colorado; hardly a problem that I have ever seen. Maybe a poor little lost deer fly now and then) So I say "yes I suppose there is a bug or two up there some where". She says "I don't want to go lets do something else".

[Winton Applegate]

Bryan,

I would have a hard time using like a Holtey.
When you get yours will you send it to me for its vacations?
I will give it lots of exercise.
No need to thank me.
Glad to help out.

[Robert LaPlaca]

The premium infill planes are the ones I would have a hard time using like a Holtey. Lie Neilson planes are good "daily drivers". I just love using mine.

This is a good analogy, couldn't agree more.. Just grab that LN plane and enjoy it. Even after you have flogged it about, you more than likely could still sell it for 85-90% of what you paid for it, if for some reason you don't like the plane.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcom,

Cool !
I've only read about that.
Did the wild dogs come after you at that one spot ?


no wild dogs. I had a pack of coyote attack my tent in Arkansas once that I will never forget.

[Kala Raymond]

It's a tool. USE IT! If it helps, drill a hang hole in it

That gave me a good chuckle :D, thanks!