Bride gave me a Lie Nielsen skew blockplane: But which one?

[Roger Feeley]

Left handed or right handed? The video says that you can get by with either one but might want both someday. That doesn't really tell me the difference.

Also, I can't visualize which way the blade skews.

I would think that if the skew is pointing to the right (left side of blade is farther forward) , the plane will kind of want to go to the right. I would think that if the plane naturally wants to move right then it should be the right side of the plane that comes off for rabbiting?

Note: I am right handed.

Thanks to all.

[paul cottingham]

Get the right hand one if you are right handed. I doubt you will ever need the other handed one.

[Roger Feeley]

which angle does the blade point? If the front of the plane is 12 o'clock does the blade point towards 10 or 2?

Just wondering.

[paul cottingham]

Pretty sure it points to 2 (or so.)

[Mike Brady]

Everything above seems to agree with my experience with this plane. The only time I would like the left handed version would be if i was trimming the face of a tenon and I wanted to see how the rabbeting side of the cutter was situated at the junction of the tenon face and shoulder. On the right-hand version that is harder to see since that would be the "back" side of the plane. Sorry if this is not clearly described.

[Patrick Chase]

Left handed or right handed? The video says that you can get by with either one but might want both someday. That doesn't really tell me the difference.

Also, I can't visualize which way the blade skews.

I would think that if the skew is pointing to the right (left side of blade is farther forward) , the plane will kind of want to go to the right. I would think that if the plane naturally wants to move right then it should be the right side of the plane that comes off for rabbiting?

Note: I am right handed.

Thanks to all.

The RH version cuts flush to the right side of the plane (and has the leading edge of the skewed blade on the right). The LH version is opposite in both respects.

I have the LV/Veritas equivalents (LH+RH), and in my experience the choice/preference between the two has more to do with grain direction than with the user's handed-ness. Consider the case of trimming a rabbet in the grain direction: If the piece is oriented such that the edge to be worked is facing you and the rabbet is to be along the top, then you'd use an RH skew block (which will cut R->L in this case) if the grain runs from right-to-left. Similarly you'd use the LH skew block if the grain runs from left-to-right.

If you're only going to get one then it's going to be a relatively inconsequential and highly subjective preference. I'm right-handed, but in cases where direction doesn't matter (for example, when trimming a tenon across the grain) I prefer to have the flush-cutting side on the left, so I would reach for the LH plane. I say "inconsequential" because it's a weak preference that doesn't have much bearing on overall usability IMO.

[Patrick Chase]

Everything above seems to agree with my experience with this plane. The only time I would like the left handed version would be if i was trimming the face of a tenon and I wanted to see how the rabbeting side of the cutter was situated at the junction of the tenon face and shoulder. On the right-hand version that is harder to see since that would be the "back" side of the plane. Sorry if this is not clearly described.

This may be true if all you ever do is work cross-grain on tenons. If you ever try to, say, adjust a rabbet along the grain direction in a box lid (a job for which the #140 and its derivatives are ideally sized) then you will quickly discover that handedness matters quite a lot.

[Patrick Chase]

which angle does the blade point? If the front of the plane is 12 o'clock does the blade point towards 10 or 2?

Just wondering.


Pretty sure it points to 2 (or so.)

In the RH plane the leading edge points to 2, in the LH plane it points to 10. The open/flush side is along the right in the RH (same as the original Stanley 140) and along the left in the LH.

[Patrick Chase]

Get the right hand one if you are right handed. I doubt you will ever need the other handed one.

IMO user handedness doesn't matter very much. I'm right-handed, and I prefer to have the flush cut on the left side of the skew block plane when all else is equal (i.e. when grain direction doesn't force me to do the opposite). I know others who have the same preference, and still more who don't. It's purely subjective with no "right" answer.

BTW my preference is the opposite in larger rabbetting planes - I use those to work longer edges on larger workpieces, and in that case accessibility/fixturing makes it more convenient to have the flush cut on the right.

[Zuye Zheng]

I agree with Patrick, I think I would actually prefer the "left handed" skew block even though I am right handed. I currently have the "right handed" Veritas skew block.

I think a better predictor of which one you will find more comfortable will be which way you like to plane when facing the bench (or even where your vise is). If you prefer to plane to your left, get the "left handed" and right for right. My vise is on my left, so planing left is usually more comfortable.

[Hilton Ralphs]

So some random chick in a white dress walks up to you and offers to give you a skew block plane and all you have to do is choose which hand? Was she holding it behind her back? :-)

Get both, then you won't have buyer's remorse.

[Roger Feeley]

All great advice as always. I ordered the LH one.

Thanks again,

Roger