Router Plane. Lee Valley or Lie-Nielsen

[Dave Lehnert]

The arched front of the Lie Nielsen looks like could be a problem with narrow stock so the Lee valley looks more useful. Opinions?

[Don Dorn]

I'm new to this too so don't take this as a difinitive word, but I prefer the LV small router plane to the LN. The reason is two-fold in that the LV has a wave type washer system that holds the adjustment of the blade when you back off the tension. Minor adjustments can be made easier. The other reason is that if you reverse the blade, it protrudes from the base allowing you to get into corners without any potential interference from the body.

I have a friend with the LN and I've used it. It's a very nice tool but for the reasons I stated, I went with the LV and my friend has said that given the opportunity to remake his choice, he would have gone with the LV too - it's also about half the price.

[Gary Herrmann]

I went with the LV. Personal preference.

[Marcus Ward]

If you have a router plane with an arched mouth like that and you need to do very narrow stock you can put a sole on it made from wood that will fix that problem. I personally prefer a stanley 71. You can reverse the blade, it's got screw-set depth for the blade so it doesn't go anywhere when you adjust the tension, and it cost me $20. :)

[Hank Knight]

Dave,

I'm a Lie-Nielsen fan so I bought one of their large router planes last Fall. It came with only one blade, a 1/2" straight one. I had understood that LN was going to produce additional blades for the plane. They have since come out with a small router plane with a 3/32" straight blade and 1/4" and a 3/32" pointed ones. They now offer an adapter so the blades for the small router plane can be used in the large one. The LN web site says

"A full range of additional blades for our Small Router Plane are now available and can be used in the Large Router Plane with the Router Plane Blade Adapter..."

The Adapter is $25.00 and the blades are $25 each. I admit that I have not used the adapter, but I would have preferred blades that were made for the large plane, and I think the prices for the adapter and the blades are very high.

The Lee Valley plane comes with 3 blades: a 1/4" and a 1/2" straight blade and a 1/2" pointed one. Replacement LV blades are $11.20 each and a whole set of LV replacement blades is $29.90, just a little more than a single replacement LN blade.

Having said all of this, I like the LN router plane. It is well built and the mechanics are well designed. The open throat is not an issue for me because I have an old Stanley 71 1/2 that works well when I need a closed throat router.

My $.02.

Hank

[John Todd]

I have the LV large and small routers and love them both. The closed mouth design seems better to me since it allows for easier edge work... not that a sub base couldn't be made as mentioned above. I think the fence on the large is a little more flexible also. Other than that, it's the usual.. the LN is more traditional, the LV has a couple new features and style changes that in this case are very well thought out. Personally don't see that the canted handles on the LV would be an issue for anybody, but LV handles usually bother somebody. I like the locking system on the LV large. Very solid. Both are undoubtedly very good. I love my large LV router, use it very often. The small ones are both about the same... pretty simple, except for the change in the mouth design and here I would definitely like the the closed LV.

[Don Pierson]

I am pleased with the LV. I have used it a few times and it is a pleasure.

[Kevin Williams ZAF]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

[David Gendron]

I guess you have the answer... LV For me to!

[Thomas Kila]

I love my LN planes, but went with the LV in this instance and have no regrets.

[Tri Hoang]

Another one for LV.

[David Keller NC]

The arched front of the Lie Nielsen looks like could be a problem with narrow stock so the Lee valley looks more useful. Opinions?

It's not clear from your question whether you're considering the small models both companies make, or the larger model. The differences between the smaller models were described in one of Chris Schwarz' blog entries:

http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/After+Hard+Use+LieNielsen+Vs+Veritas+Router+Planes .aspx

The advantages/disadvantages of the larger models was reviewed in an issue of Woodworking Magazine, if I recall correctly.