Shoulder plane size?

[Jason Buresh]

I was going ask my wife for a woodriver shoulder plane for Christmas, but having not used one, I am curious to which size people find most useful.

I cut a lot of 3/4" joints such a rabbets, grooves, and dados. Thinking this may be useful to help square up joints?

Also, I am kind of dead set on the woodriver. I know you aren't supposed to buy a tool on looks but i really like the victorian styling of it. Plus the woodriver is in our price range.

Thanks!

[Robert Engel]

I have a large and medium. I would use the large on that size tenon.

Probably best as your first shoulder plane, as the extra weight makes it a little easier to use.

That said, I use a router plane very often especially on short tenons.

[glenn bradley]

You'll get plenty of comment on this. Here's mine:
- If you can only have one, the medium is most versatile, the large is my preferred.
- For only $40 more you can have the Veritas which is the hands down winner in form and function IMHO. The Woodriver has the form factor that many find uncomfortable. The uncomfortable and ill-controlled grip result in a fast track ticket to the back of a drawer as opposed to becoming a favorite.
- I have a 60% rule for tools; if the 'also ran' is 60% of the cost of the 'good one', I just save up a little longer and get the 'good one'. The 'good one' is, of course, subjective ;-)
- A rabbet block plane is not a shoulder plane but, there are those who prefer them . . . I am not one of them.
- Once you become a shoulder plane user it will factor in to your thinking and be used on so much more than shoulders.

[Jim Matthews]

I like the HNT Gordon single blade 3/4" shoulder plane.

It's *much* more comfortable than the Veritas plane was.
Not cheap, but good value for money.

https://hntgordon.com.au/products/3-4-shoulder-plane?view=quick

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Yep, as Glenn stated, you’ll get a lot of comments. No opinion on Woodriver, never used any of their products and likely never will. I’ve got LN large and small shoulder planes and their use depends on the task. For small joints or delicate work, the small shoulder plane shines - very easy to control, very precise. For anything medium to large in size (such as the joints you describe), the large is the way to go - lots of heft and it’s size makes it easy to grip. For me the medium is a compromise between the two; able to do either large or small work but excelling at neither. But I don’t have one so others may disagree.

[Phil Gaudio]

Depends on how you will be using the plane. For shoulders (there is a reason its called a shoulder plane) I find the small size most useful. The LN small sized shoulder plane is not much more expensive than the WR medium, and you end up with a Lie Nielsen vs. a chinese made plane. If on the other hand you will be using the tool for tenon cheeks and other tasks, the larger size may be more useful: I don't use the tool for these tasks so I will let others comment on these applications.

[Jason Buresh]

Well, this is going to make me sound stupid, but i had no clue woodriver was made in China. If i am going to spend the money, i would rather buy a Lie-nielsen or Veritas then. My wife would prefer one made in north america too

[John Keeton]

From a Popular Woodworking article in 2011 - “Woodcraft offers four sizes of bench planes: #3, 4, 5, and 6. All under the brand name "Wood River". On top of the cast iron body these planes include parts made from steel, wood, stainless steel and brass.

CIXI city Qiangsheng tool co. in Zhejiang Province makes them for Woodcraft.”

[Christopher Charles]

I have the LV medium and it is a lovely plane. I also have the large router plane and would recommend that first if you don’t already have a router plane.

[Larry Frank]

I have the LV medium and really like how it works in my hand.

[Jerry Olexa]

Just my opinion but I prefer my LN router plane for shoulders...Have 2 shoulder planes but seldom use.

[David Powell]

Another vote for the medium LV shoulder plane.

[steven c newman]

Afraid mine was made way before LV or LN were even in business....
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Stanley/Wards No. 78...in use...
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Stanley No. 71-1/2....1905 version....comes in handy..
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Middle of this photo...is the Auburn 1.25 skewed rebate plane, No.181....once set, also does a fine job as a shoulder plane....
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But..I have been known to just use a nice, sharp chisel.....when one is handy...

[Erich Weidner]

I started out with the Med Veritas, used that exclusively for several years (note, lots of time between projects, so this statement isn't terribly profound). Last year I got the Large as the medium was feeling a bit smallish for some jobs. Honestly, now that I have the large, I'm not sure my assessment was correct, but I do like the heft. I don't have much time on task with it (large) yet. I also recently got the small, which I've not yet used. (I guess I just had to have the whole set. :) )

All are the Veritas. I definitely prefer USA/Canada built products when I can.

I'd definitely go with the Med or Large unless you are maybe doing lots of projects with thin stock (small boxes?). Then you can buy the other one when you feel it is too big/too small for a given task.

[Derek Cohen]

I started out with the Med Veritas, used that exclusively for several years (note, lots of time between projects, so this statement isn't terribly profound). Last year I got the Large as the medium was feeling a bit smallish for some jobs. Honestly, now that I have the large, I'm not sure my assessment was correct, but I do like the heft. I don't have much time on task with it (large) yet. I also recently got the small, which I've not yet used. (I guess I just had to have the whole set. :) )

All are the Veritas. I definitely prefer USA/Canada built products when I can.

I'd definitely go with the Med or Large unless you are maybe doing lots of projects with thin stock (small boxes?). Then you can buy the other one when you feel it is too big/too small for a given task.

Hi Erich

I have all three sizes of the Veritas shoulder plane. I have a couple of others as well :) One worth mentioning is the Stanley #93, which is 1” wide and quite a low body compared with shoulder planes in general.

My go-to shoulder plane is the Small Veritas. At 1/2”, it is perfect for most rebates and trimming shoulders (although I mostly use a chisel in this task). The Large is often like swatting a fly with a tank. I purchased this in Ottawa at the Veritas factory in 2013, and have only used it about a dozen times since. The Large can be used if you choose to trim tenon cheeks with a shoulder plane ... but this is where the lower centre of effort of the Stanley #93 is preferred.

If you only ever own one shoulder plane, get the Medium. It is a very fine all rounder.

Regards from Perth

Derek