Anyone have any news on the LN plow plane?
Anyone have any news on the LN plow plane?
At the LN Tool Show in Seattle back in October, they would not even discuss it.
TB
It must be about 10 years since this photo was taken ...
If LN go with this design, which is similar to this 1882 Miller Plough by Paul Hamler (this is my plane), the blade holding is not versatile ...
I would look seriously at the Veritas Combination Plane or Small Plow ...
Regards from Perth
Derek
It might be in market testing the Veritas won the day.
It is nice to have an old collectible. Maybe people are shying away from buying a new collectible. Especially since it will likely be their grandchildren who may be able to sell it for a profit.
For users the choice will likely be function first, looks come second. Besides the Veritas planes do look nice for modern design. The LN shares the shape of the Stanley planes, but it would likely need the look to get the buyers for the price.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 11-15-2019 at 1:31 AM.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
I have the Veritas plow plane and it is very nice.
That's funny!!!! You know, it's been years now, but at one point on the Fine Woodworking podcast they asked Thomas Lie-Nielsen about it and it was "soon to come" and I seem to remember him even suggesting a release could happen in a few months. As I said, that was years ago. I was ready and waiting. I even held off on buying the Veritas small plow at the time, but finally gave in to need and bought one, and then was a first to pre-order the large Veritas plow, which, as has been said already, is so versatile I don't know why you'd want a different one.
Maybe there were foundry issues with the LN model? Maybe it was that Veritas beat them to the punch and it wasn't worth spending more money on with reduced projected sales? Who knows. It was a gorgeous plane, but I think we can safely bet that it's not going to come to fruition.
This is a very difficult market- lots of work goes into producing something like this. Just the foundry side of things would be difficult as far as how many good castings you could get out of a batch. I am sure there are a number of castings that go back to be remelted due to small imperfections. Then you have a finicky audience and you're producing a very specialized tool that only a small portion of the woodworking community will be interested in. It's a big gamble, and the safe bet is to not take the risk.
I think that you are on the right track, Malcolm. Any tool that LN makes is certain to be excellent, both in design and construction. And the teaser model looked substantial and comfortable to wield. Their designs tend to follow classic Stanley lines, and may appeal to a niche market. Plus it looked like a dedicated plough plane, where the Veritas models offer a wider range. I could be wrong about that. I bet, thought, there would still be many buyers if it was produced, just because it is LN.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Maybe if they try a copy of the Stanley 45? Seeings how they copy about everything else Stanley did....maybe even do the No. 55? Might be a bit hard to do..in Bronze? or, for a change, copy the one from Sargent....
Both of those would be an expensive venture. The finished cost would likely be more than most people would want to pay. Clifton had an offering of a modern #45. There was one in a Woodcraft store back in the '90s if my memory is working. It was priced in the $600 range. Most likely it is rare to find many of them second hand.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
The last time I saw the LN plow plane was at the first Handworks In Amana, IA, which I believe was 2015. It was openly displayed there and some photos taken by an attendee were shown on this forum at that time.
Personally, I much prefer the dedicated design of the LN plane to the "jack of all trades, master of none" Stanley 45 scheme. I have tried vintage and modern versions of the No. 45 and none remain in my possession.
I just asked about this tool today and got a quick answer.
Thank you for your email! Unfortunately at this time we do not offer a plow plane, but we do have plans to release one in the future.
Over the past few years we have seen a huge increase in our order volume, certainly a good problem to have, and we have been working to reorganize and expand our shop to accommodate this. For now, this does mean we are focused on producing enough of our current line of tools and do not have the ability to switch gears to new items as freely. So, at this time we don't have planned release dates for any new tools, but they are on the docket and we are looking forward to being able to expand our selection in the future.
In the meantime, we have a database of interested customers who have asked to be notified about certain tools once we have more information about their release. I would be glad to add you to the list if you're interested!
If you have any questions just let me know; we're always happy to talk tools!
I’ve always found LN to be candid in these types of questions. Back in about ‘97/8 I ordered a #9. They notified me they had pulled the product and said they would notify me when it was re-introduced, which they did. So many times manuf will drive you nuts with failures to communicate or a lack of candor in what they do share. I do take comfort in knowing that LN will square up with you.
I have the Veritas and used it as recently as yesterday. It works very well.
Sharp solves all manner of problems.
I'm not aware of a time in my life that ECE didn't offer a plow plane to the market. I've had one for decades and haven't had a moment's trouble - same with their dovetail plane. It looks substantially like this one, and is a rather traditional form:
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/...oughplane.aspx
ECE have been in the woodworking tool business longer than Stanley.
Last edited by Charles Guest; 02-27-2020 at 7:50 AM.