Quick Veritas medium shoulder plane question.

[Kevin Blunt]

Hello again,

I apologize for the bombardment of questions these last couple of days but I am right on the verge of making a shoulder plane purchaseand I just have one more question. I had been planning on purchasing a LV Bullnose plane but after researching them and reading reviews it seems that th ecommon thought of many owners is that although it is a nice quality plane, they just don't have a whole lot of use for it. The one thing that appeals to me about the Veritas Bullmose plane is that it can be converted to a chisel plane. Which leads me to my question.

Can the front adjustable toe of the Medium Shoulder plane be removed to to allow the plane to somewhat act as a chisel plane as well?

I realize that there would only a limited amounyt of clearance obove th ecutter due to th erest of th eplane body but for what I need to do with it I think there would be plenty of clearance room.

Thanks for your help.

Kevin

[Steve Beadle]

You cannot remove the nose of a Veritas Medium Shoulder Plane and have it function as a bullnose or chisel plane. But perhaps you're only thinking about the sliding throat piece?

[Kevin Blunt]

You cannot remove the nose of a Veritas Medium Shoulder Plane and have it function as a bullnose or chisel plane. But perhaps you're only thinking about the sliding throat piece?

Yes that is exactly what i mean. How much clearance would there be above the cutter if th esliding toe piece were off.

Thanks for your help.

Kevin

[Brian Hale]

If you remove the "shoe" you'll have 3/4" clearance from the sole of the plane to the bottom of it's mounting slot.

Brian :)

BTW Very Nice Plane

[Hank Knight]

Kevin,

Don't make your selection based on whether or not the shoulder plane can convert to a chisel plane. I have a LV bull nose plane and a LN small chisel plane. Both are excellent tools and very well made, but they sit on my shelf. I don't think I've used the bull nose once in the year or two I've owned it, and the LN chisel plane gets about the same amount of attention. On the other hand, I use my shoulder planes all the time. There's hardly a project that doesn't involve a shoulder plane. My advice is to go with the best shoulder plane you can afford and use a plain old chisel for the occasional times when a chisel plane might be useful.

My $.02

Hank

[Joel Ficke]

What Hank said.

[John Thompson]

Double dose of what Hank said... you can achieve the same results that a bull-nose or chisel plane can produce with a simple chisel or several other simple tools. But... I paid around $129 (might have been $119) for my LV medium shoulder plane and it's current value to me.... Priceless!

Good luck...

Sarge..

[glenn bradley]

Kevin, I was also fascinated by the versatility the bullnose seemed to offer. After much research and discussion with folks who had much more plane experience than I did; I was advised to use a chisel for the chisel plane function and get the shoulder plane. I'm glad I went for the shoulder plane. I can see why there are so many articles about them. Wouldn't want to do without it. YMMV.

[Greg Cole]

Kinda what Glenn, Hank Sarge et al said. If ya want a shoulder plane, get one & use it as one. A chisel plane umm, same deal.
I love my LV medium shoulder plane BTW. Something about hand chopping & paring M & T joinery I seem to like & this plane is meant for said work.
Worth every penny even with the USD soft against the Canadian dollar...:rolleyes:

Cheers.
Greg

[Jim Koepke]

Traditional Woodworker has them for about $120. It is 3/4 inch wide and the nose comes off so it can also be a chisel plane.

I just recently bought a 93 for less than $90, including shipping, on eBay. I like it better than the bull nose 90. The 90 has its uses though.

I know they are not as fancy as the newer ones, but they do the job and that is what counts for me.

just my 2¢,

jim

[Clint Jones]

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/junkerjones/cian1.jpg
:p:D:cool:

[Barry Vabeach]

I agree with all the posters that said get the shoulder plane as opposed to the bull nose or chisel plane. I haven't tried the LN shoulder plane, though I assume it is fine, but I do have the Stanley 93 and the LV. There is no comparison, get the LV, unless you can get the 93 for 1/5 of the price of the LV, and even then, you should still get the LV. Barry

[Ken Werner]

Another happy LV med shoulder user.

[Quesne Ouaques]

Can the front adjustable toe of the Medium Shoulder plane be removed to to allow the plane to somewhat act as a chisel plane as well?


I have both the LV medium shoulder plane and the LV bullnose plane, though I only bought the bullnose about two weeks ago. When I first bought the shoulder plane a year and a half ago, I had a similar thought about using it as an occasional chisel plane. In practice, however, it does not make a very good chisel plane.

As to your question on whether the nose can be removed, the answer is: "Yes, but not very easily". It takes quite a bit of jimmying with the adjustment and attachment screws, and you risk dropping something in the process. I did remove it a few times and I am now done.

Also, the remaining dead weight hanging over and ahead of the blade makes it hard to register the sole on your workpiece and see what you are doing without the blade diving into your work from time to time. Also, it's hard to see what you are doing past the big hunk of metal hanging over that narrow blade.

The bullnose plane is a very nice little tool, and I bought it mostly to have a good quick way for removing hardened glue lines from my panels. Too many times I have left panels overnight or even for a couple of days, and the glue line is a real pain to remove. In the past, I've tried using a chisel to do this, but I always end up gouging the wood in one place or another.

That said, I think the LN small (or large) chisel plane is probably a better choice for this purpose. It has a much larger registration surface than the bullnose, and a much wider blade. Making a skew cut on a glue line, for example, would be easier with the LN. I may end up trying the LN and returning the LV, but I can speak from firsthand experience that both of the LV planes are beautiful and practical tools.

[Clint Jones]

I think the LV medium is the way to go. To elaborate on my first post, here is another option. 3 in one plane.

Shoulder plane
92257

Chisel plane
92258

Bullnose plane
92259

[John Schreiber]

Clint's Record in the post above is now being offered by Clifton as the "Clifton - 3-in-1 Shoulder Plane 3110". It seems to be well regarded, but the problem is that it costs about $260.

A LV Medium Shoulder plane is next on my list. In addition to being a fine working tool, it sings to me of clever design.

[Rob Luter]

As was mentioned elsewhere in this post.........the nose can be removed, but it's not worth the trouble. I love mine and use it quite a bit. There are any number of solutions for peeling off glue lines and other things chisel planes are used for. There aren't as many good substitutes for the things a shoulder plane is used for.

[Derek Cohen]

If you need to remove glue lines, use a cabinet (card) scraper.

If you need to trim dowels, a wide chisel or plane blade will work better than a chisel plane.

A bullnose plane is for stopped rebates and such. And there are better alternatives (such as a router plane or a chisel). It is rarely used.

A shoulder plane is a specialist tool. Keep it that way.

Regards from Perth

Derek