Plane Choices?

[Lloyd Parker]

My wife gave me a some money to spend on V-day. She wants me to get a plane with it. I need a jointer.

I have been looking at the LN LA jointer, the LV bevel up jointer, and a knight toolworks jointer with razee (maybe have him make me a 30" one). All of these are in the price range for what she gave me.

My next big project is a workbench and I need something to flatten the top.

I just thought I would poll the audience and see what y'all suggested?

Love the forum y'all guys are great.

[Joe Meazle]

I love mu BU jointer from LV. I acn't compare it to the others though. I can say it is the most money I have spent on a plane and worth every dime. I have the smoother and jack too with all 3 blades. BTW The university where I am taking a furniture design class has the Laguna benchs with wavey tops and has been using their LV BU jointer for flatening. Mine is still wavey:mad: .

[Bob Jones]

I just searched past posts about bevel up jointers and found mixed reviews. it seems like people either love them or hate them. Search the posts and you will see what i mean.

[Dan Forman]

I too have the LV family of bevel up planes and would highly recommend them. As Joe pointed out, they all share the same blades, so you can swap between them as needed without carrying a wide inventory of blades. I'm sure the others are fine too, but don't offer the same versatility in that regard. You can always get into woodies and such once you have the bases covered, you can never have too many planes you know.


Dan

[Garth Thompson]

being a lover of wood planes if it were me I would get the Knight.

[Michael Hammers]

I have the Knight joiner in purpleheart. It is a beautiful plane. I do not think you can do much better than one of these.

[Zahid Naqvi]

I love mu BU jointer from LV. I acn't compare it to the others though. I can say it is the most money I have spent on a plane and worth every dime. I have the smoother and jack too with all 3 blades. BTW The university where I am taking a furniture design class has the Laguna benchs with wavey tops and has been using their LV BU jointer for flatening. Mine is still wavey:mad: .

Eureka! when can I come to try these out.:eek:

[Zahid Naqvi]

Between the woodies and metal planes I like the woodies (having made a few myself:cool: ). Something about the tactile feel of wood vs metal.
I can't help you between the LV or LN planes as I haven't used either. Another factor to consider is weight, a jointer plane in metal will be quite heavy compared to its wooden equivalent (something to think about when flattening a table top). I personally use a Stanley #5 jack plane as a jointer and I think it does good enough for my purposes. I haven't flattened a table top yet but have used the jack for edge jointing 4-5 foot long boards.

[JayStPeter]

Given the same choices, I chose the LV. Seemed the best bang for the buck given the amount of use it is likely to get. Its first job will be to flatten my bench (once I'm done finishing my basement).

[Sean Hamblett]

I recently bought some mujinfang planes from lee valley, and as a novice I love them. I like the Asian philosophy of pulling towards you rather than pushing away, for me it seems more natural.

[Clint Jones]

If were to choose a metal jointer I would have to say a Bedrock 607. I havent personally got to try the LV BU plane but I have only heard praise about them also . I use a Bedrock 607 with a Hock blade and stock chipbreaker and find that it works great. If I were to by a woodie I would try the improved ECE Primus Jointer Plane. I have an ECE Smoother (new style) that I find myself picking up as much as my 604 1/2 (its much lighter too). You would be suprised once you try one of the ECE Primus planes you will want to buy them all. Keep in mind this is from someone who prefers metal over woodies.

[Doug Shepard]

I've got the LV BU Jointer and it's real nice. My only beef with it is a tendency for the screw for the adjustable mouth to work loose, which then causes shavings to jam in the mouth so I've got to stop and clean it out every so often and re-tighten the screw. I think the LN mechanism for locking and adjusting the mouth is much better IMHO. I've got LN's LA Jack plane (with adjustable mouth) and it's one of my favorite planes. I dont think the LN BU Jointer was out at the time I bought the LV BU jointer and I've never operated one but based on the mouth adjustment was ready to cast my vote for the LN. Good thing I looked at LN's site first as apparently their jointer doesn't have an adjustable mouth like their LA Jack. So despite the LV's quirks, I think that between the LV and LN, I'd still end up with the LV.
But that big Knight Jointer sure does look good too.

[Bob Smalser]

I still find the old beech 26" jointers by makers like Sandusky and Ohio Tool easier and more enjoyable to use than modern planes for big jobs. They have the eight amount of heft and power. You can find a nice one for well under 50 bucks.

Planing the edgegrain of a benchtop flat isn't easy, fast or fun. For what you'll pay for some of the modern planes, a little more will get you a 12" Grizzly thickness planer that'll do the job even better.

Then if you get to like the thick irons that come on the old woodies, you can even make yourself a hybrid smoother for finish work:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3302194/230775847.jpg

[Dan Forman]

Hey Bob---I've seen some of your other plane mods, but not this one. Do you have a thread about it? That's one massive iron.

Dan

[Caleb Dietrich]

Hello,
I have a LN #7, and it is great. It is similar to the Bedrock 607 and the Bailey #7. I have a number of old Stanley planes that work great. But after lapping the sole a Bedrock #605, I wanted no part of flattening a #7.
Price of Bedrock+replacement iron+time spent tuning up=buy a LN
It comes tuned, and it will stay flat...
You'll need to decide for yourself whether you prefer the 7 or the 8. 7 is perfect for me. Especially because I have a High Angle 4 1/2 that can borrow the 45 degree frog.
Hope this helps.

[Bob Smalser]

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3302194/230775847.jpg

Johnnie Kelso down at Rex Mill made a trial run of thick woodie irons and sent me one. This one is the exact width of a #4 or #5 iron.

Rather than make another woodie with a built-in maintenance problem, I took a junker #5 (didn't have a #4), cut it down to the length of a 4 1/2, and flattened it. Drilled and brazed a piece of 1/4" drill rod across the cheeks as a fulcrum, stripped the frog of doodads, and rasped out a wedge to fit.

Works like a charm on this figured maple.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3302194/230775874.jpg

[Lloyd Parker]

Thanks, I did review the forums before I posted this question. That is why I posted it because of the mixed reviews I saw.

I am leaning towards the knight jointer at the moment. Now I have to decide what wood to get it in. I will give Steve a call tomorrow and see what he suggests and get the order.

Later I might come back and get one of those BU beauties.

[Eddie Darby]

Hello,

You'll need to decide for yourself whether you prefer the 7 or the 8. 7 is perfect for me. Especially because I have a High Angle 4 1/2 that can borrow the 45 degree frog.
Hope this helps.

I wonder if LN will be coming out with a high angle frog for the #8 Jointer?

[Mark Bergman]

I would vote for one of Steve's planes. He is a great guy, makes great planes, and will do whatever he can to keep you happy with them. You will probably need to occasionally run the sole over some sandpaper affixed to a flat reference surface to keep the sole flat. Make sure you have something long enough for the plane you purchase.

[Bob Smalser]

Someday I'll figure out what the functional difference is between one of these for 200 bucks....

http://www.knight-toolworks.com/graphics/razeejointer.gif

....and one of these for 50 bucks:

http://i12.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/8c/09/7175_12_sb.JPG

Besides cost.

[Zahid Naqvi]

Ok, Bob you got my atention, do you have pictures of the plane unassembled, i.e. without the blade and wedge in place. I can see myself doing this, I have a useless Buck Bros #3 that I got from a borg which is begging for this transformation.
Sorry Lloyd it seems we have hijacked your thread :o .

[Steven Wilson]

I would probably go with the Steve Knight jointer (not Razee) plane with japanese iron and then find a decent Stanley jointer on Ebay and a 386 jointer fence. It's always good to have a normal jointer plane (bevel down bench plane) around and the Clifton and LN #7's are pushing $400. I bet the Steve Knight jointer would be great for smoothing the top. I have the bevel up LN and it was great for smoothing a large end grain butcher block top but you would still need a regular jointer plane for those situations where the bevel up jointer doesn't cut it.

[Dan Forman]

Bob---Thanks for the info on your new plane. How would you compare it to your "Stanley infill"? I really enjoy these modification and refurbishing projects of yours.

Dan