stanley 45 vs veritas plow plane

[mark weathersbee]

I've got several projects coming up that a plow plane would be very handy. A few years back I came across a 21 piece blade set for a stanley 45, I called veritas and they said the blades will work but the originals are shorter than theirs but will work.

My question is would it be worth getting the new veritas or a good stanley 45? Most all of my work will be with grain but the 45s have the knicker for cross grain cuts.

[Jim Koepke]

The Stanley 45 is a versatile plane. There are a few in my shop and they get used often.

The #45 can go cross grain, but it is better if the edges are cut with a knife instead of trying to rely on the knickers.

The Veritas is likely to come ready to go out of the box.

Here is a couple posts of mine from a few years ago on using the Stanley 45:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?116419-Planes-and-a-Few-Things-to-Look-For&p=1176704#post1176704

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?121761-Specialty-Planes-for-quot-Neanderthal-Wisdom-quot&p=1239963#post1239963

Some of my problems have been caused by the fence and the skates not being parallel. Another is the fence not being square to the skates. Both of these problems are easy to correct.

The one thing you do not want is the screw for locking the fence to be missing. It is a hard find for replacement purposes.

If you have any other questions I am happy to answer if I can.

jtk

[Neil Gaskin]

I believe there may be a 45 in the classified section here.

[Mark Stutz]

I've only used the Veritas plane as a demo at the WW show, but it has a very solid feel, much more so than the 45, probably because it is smaller and has a lower center of gravity. Having said that, I still use my 45 and have found it to do everything I ask. For cross grain work however, I much prefer the 46 with its skewed blade.

[Don Dorn]

To each their own - my choice for a plough is the Record 044. That said, I have not tried the modern versions so I can't say I wouldn't like them better, but the 044 works well enough, I don't have any desire to upgrade.

[Jim Koepke]

To each their own - my choice for a plough is the Record 044.

For some grooving work my #50 is preferred. My #45 used to see more use for rabbets than it does now. A Record #778 does a fine job with ease. Don't get me wrong, the #45 is great at rabbeting, it is just there is always a blade in the #778 so the set up is faster.

jtk

[Mark Stutz]

and the Record #778 is much preferred over the Stanley #78. The dual arms are much more stable, and for me, easier to keep tight to the edge.

[Jim Koepke]

and the Record #778 is much preferred over the Stanley #78. The dual arms are much more stable, and for me, easier to keep tight to the edge.

On my Record the fence bolts seem to work loose if they are not tightened enough. I use a small pair of slip jaw pliers to give them just a slight tweak tighter than finger tight and that seems to be good. Otherwise on the return stroke all the fasteners that can come loose are checked about every other stroke.

Mine has an added piece of rosewood as a fence runner. The rosewood came from a broken Stanley 45 fence.

jtk

[Mark Stutz]

Fortunately, mine doesn'seem to do that. That would be very annoying.

[mark weathersbee]

Thanks for the info everyone. Still not sure what I'm going to do. I had my eye on the veritas skew rabbet plane and wanted to get it for some projects but some others are taking priority As of late that a plow would help with.

[Jim Koepke]

Fortunately, mine doesn'seem to do that. That would be very annoying.

It might be due to my right thumb not being able to get as good a grip as would be liked when tightening things up. The Record isn't the only plane where this has occurred.

jtk

[Tom M King]

Plowing is about the easiest of jobs for a "molding" plane. I mostly use a 55 with cutters from a Record 044C, unless I happen to have the right dedicated size in a dedicated spacing molding plane with a skate.311066.