Veritas new Small Plow Plane

[Hilton Ralphs]

I see Lee Valley has just launched the re-design of their successful Plow Plane.

From their website;

Veritas® Small Plow Plane

This is our redesigned small plow plane. While it still excels at cutting grooves, rabbets and tongues, it now has the ability to cut decorative beading.

Looks interesting. Beading blades are also available.

[Tony Wilkins]

After watching Roy do his show about the Stanley 55 universal plane I thought it wouldn't be hard to do that with the Veritas. I'm going to check it out. Hopefully those blades are backwards compatible!

eta: they are compatible after a $60 upgrade to the skate. You mail your plane in(unless close to the store) for a skate modification.

[Jim Koepke]

After watching Roy do his show about the Stanley 55 universal plane I thought it wouldn't be hard to do that with the Veritas.

The beading blades will make it more like a Stanley 45. The #55 has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

jtk

[Tony Wilkins]

The beading blades will make it more like a Stanley 45. The #55 has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

jtk

its not to far of a jump to some of those tricks on the 55 though if not the full range of molding blades it had available. It'll be interesting to see just how versatile they can/will make it.

[Jim Belair]

Weren't there some issues with securement of the depth stop on these planes? I don't see any reference to a fix. Or maybe I'm mistaken and there was no problem.

[Patrick Chase]

Weren't there some issues with securement of the depth stop on these planes? I don't see any reference to a fix. Or maybe I'm mistaken and there was no problem.

I haven't had problems with mine, though I recall seeing some reviews where people complained that they had to crank it way down.

EDIT: They're offering a factory upgrade (by re-machining the skate and replacing the depth-stop clamp) for existing plow planes for $69, but only through August. The fact that the upgrade includes a new depth-stop clamp suggests they've at least tried to address the issue you reference

[John Schtrumpf]

Weren't there some issues with securement of the depth stop on these planes? I don't see any reference to a fix. Or maybe I'm mistaken and there was no problem.

Watch the video for the skate upgrade, you can see it in there.

[Rob Lee]

Hi -

This need s a bit more information for context...

Here's the letter that is in the mail to all plow plane customers right now:

Dear Customer,

As we continue to develop new product, we occasionally discover something that would make a significant improvement to a product we currently produce: such is the case with the Veritas Small Plow Plane you own. The work we are doing right now on the design of a large combination plane uncovered a straightforward modification that could be made to the skate of the plow plane that would enable it to cut beads (with the appropriate blades).

Having already sold you one, we worked hard to find a way to give you an upgrade path to add beading capability, should you want it, to your current plane. The information in this package will let you know exactly how we can do that, for what we feel is a very reasonable price.

This upgrade program is something new for us, and is a first in our industry for this type of product. I can’t promise that we’ll always be able to find a solution as good as this one, but it’s important for you to know that we are always mindful of the confidence you have placed in us by buying the product in the first place, and will do everything we can to continue to earn that trust.

Our manufacturing, service, and fulfillment teams have worked hard to make this program work, and look forward to the opportunity to make an excellent product even better for you.

As for future product, we’ll try harder to have all of our good ideas a bit closer together….so they can all be rolled into the design at the same time.

Cheers, and thanks for your past business!

Robin Lee

For those of you who were on back-order - your newly updated planes ship tomorrow - they are in stock.

Beading blades are about 2 week away right now - for those that want them - they can be ordered then - and we will waive the shipping on your entire order (teaches us to have them ready at the same time....)

The second letter in the package being mailed out is a bit more official:

RE: 05P51.01+ Veritas® Small Plow Plane

Dear Customer,

According to our records, you have purchased a Veritas(R) small plow plane from us. We would like to inform you of two recent modifications we’ve made to the plane’s design, and let you know how you can take advantage of these developments – without having to buy the latest model.

Development #1: Redesigned Depth Stop:

We’ve recently made a design change to the clamp mechanism to grip the depth stop shaft with more force, reducing the chance of inadvertently pushing the depth stop to a new position while the plane is in use. This change is completely compatible with your plane, and is available at no additional charge. Simply request one in person at one of our stores, or add item number 05P26.61 to your next order.

Development #2: Beading Capability:

As of February 22nd, we have modified the skate profile of our small plow planes, allowing them to use three sizes of beading blade. The range of PM-V11® beading blades (available in March, 2016) will not be compatible with the older-model planes you have. Recognizing that beading is a very desirable capability, we have developed an upgrade kit and a re-manufacturing process that you can take advantage of until August 31, 2016. If you purchase our upgrade kit (product 05P5265 $59), we will send you a pre-paid shipping box, along with instructions on how to partially disassemble your plane and mail the plane body back to us. We will then re-machine the skate of your plane and return it to you. For the price of the kit, you are getting pre-paid shipping both ways, and re-machining of your plane, as well as replacement of the depth stop clamp as noted above, if not already done.

Please note that the new beading blades are sold separately from the upgrade kit – if you order them at the same time, you will receive you blades separately from your updated plane.

For more information about these modifications, just call or e-mail one of our Customer Service representatives at customerservice@leevalley.com or 1800-267-8761.

Sincerely,

Lee Valley Tools

New products covered by this announcement:
05P2661 Depth Stop Clamp Retrofit No Charge

05P5265 Plow Plane Upgrade Kit - Mail order - US customer $ 59.00

So there you have. I think it's a really cool program, and one that I think provides real value for the price, and a desirable new capability.

Cheers -

Rob

[Jim Koepke]

its not to far of a jump to some of those tricks on the 55 though if not the full range of molding blades it had available. It'll be interesting to see just how versatile they can/will make it.

The Stanley 55 has two fences, both of them can be adjusted for angular alignment. Among other things this allows for working on the corner of a piece.

In a recent project I used the #55 at an angle for making a coat rack:

Stanley #55 at Angle.jpg

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-Not-So-Simple

When working on angles like this it might be necessary to get to depth by adjusting the blade between passes, the #55 has a provision for this. On the 45, the blade can slip to the side when this kind of "on the fly" depth adjustment is done. I know this from using both planes for this kind of endeavor. Both can do stopped cuts, it is easier on the #55 for most applications.

The movable skate on the #55 can be adjusted up and down. This is important when working with blades that are not symmetrical. The #45 has both skates fixed to the same height. All the blades made to work with the #45 have the same depth of cut on the left and right side.

The #55 is supplied with a "third, adjustable skate." This helps with stability on some of the wider odd shaped blades.

It will be interesting to see what blades will be made for the new Veritas Small Plow Plane. It would be neat to see multiple bead cutters and fluting cutters.

Here is a link to an instruction manual for the Stanley #55:

http://tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanle...anes/55man.pdf

It is a good read and may inspire some experimentation with other planes.

jtk

[Brian Loran]

Rob,

Will the new combination plane have the same beading capability? Debating if I should get my small plough plane updated or if the new combination plane will do the same thing, I may just get that. Thanks.

[Rob Lee]

Rob,

Will the new combination plane have the same beading capability? Debating if I should get my small plough plane updated or if the new combination plane will do the same thing, I may just get that. Thanks.

Hi Brian -

Yes - the new combination plane will do beading....but it's at least a year or more from now.

The question you're not asking (and which I can't answer yet) is "what else will the large combination plane do?".

Cheers -

Rob

[Frederick Skelly]

"Development #1: Redesigned Depth Stop: We’ve recently made a design change to the clamp mechanism to grip the depth stop shaft with more force, reducing the chance of inadvertently pushing the depth stop to a new position while the plane is in use. This change is completely compatible with your plane, and is available at no additional charge. Simply request one in person at one of our stores, or add item number 05P26.61 to your next order."

This is an example of why I love doing business with Lee Valley. You didn't HAVE TO do this (or the free depth stop for my small router plane), but you went ahead and did it. The message I get from things like this is "hey, we found we could make a small change that makes it perform better - enough better that we've changed the product. You spent good money with us to buy the original, so we want to give you the upgrade to make what you bought as good as what we currently sell."

Yah, I realize the company is upgrading the tool in response to grumbles about that stop. But regardless, it's darn good customer relations to offer "fixes" like this.

I also appreciate having an opportunity to upgrade to beading capability. I don't know if I'll take advantage of the offer, but I think the price is VERY fair.

Thank you Mr. Lee!
Fred

[Brian Loran]

Thanks Rob. I will get the update then.

Hmmm... hollow/round, moulding profiles, looking forward to seeing LV's version of a combination plane.

[Randy Karst]

Thanks Rob, amazing customer consideration and service; it is very appreciated! My Plow Plan will be coming your way for the upgrade and retrofit (along with an order for the beading blades). Free shipping for the whole order-you are amazing!

Randy

[Charles Bjorgen]

This is a very good upgrade. I tried some Stanley 45 beading cutters in my newly purchased LV plow a while back and couldn't get them to work. I wonder now if they might work after the upgrade, which I'll do.

Thanks, Lee Valley!