I agree that the small veritas is a great choice. I reach for mine far more often than my 45. Which does make a great plough plane, the veritas is just somewhat easier to use. For tongue and groove, a matched set is really ideal in my opinion.
I agree that the small veritas is a great choice. I reach for mine far more often than my 45. Which does make a great plough plane, the veritas is just somewhat easier to use. For tongue and groove, a matched set is really ideal in my opinion.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
One fly in the ointment...availability.....whereas one can buy a #45 almost every day of the week and have it shipped.....and NOT have to worry about any "Back-ordered" for months at a time.
I have 2 45s. I can set one up to plane the groove, and the other to form the matching tongue. Had been know to use a T&G joint to form a box's corner joint. Aligns the joint like a spline, and gives a lot more glue surface, too.
Match Plane? Maybe go out and look into a Stanley No. 48 or 49. With just a swing of the fence, one can do BOTH the tongue AND the groove...
Fun fact: the #45 has about 1/2 the knobs of the Veritas. Because it does not NEED that many.....my Type 4 does have BRASS knobs ( with a slot for a screwdriver)...or.. I could replace the steel knobs on the Type 20 with brass IF I was in love with such things...I am not. IF someone else feels they NEED 100 brass knobs on a plane...
The Woodwright's Shop did an Episode about the combination planes....only once did Roy do anything with the 55...as, the 45 did almost all the other tasks.
There is one accessory to the #45...that comes in handy.....if you happen to be far "inland" from a board's edge....and need either a groove or bead...Stanley made a Cam Rest. It provides support between the plane and the fence....so the plane can not tilt over in the cut. Like for a stack of wide panels, that might need a bead, or flute right down the center line...Set the 45 up once, and do all the panels in that stack.
I have around $100 in each of my Stanley 45 planes.
No..I do NOT add any back bevel to my cutters. They are quite sharp, as is.... Cutters operate as Bevel Down.
Oh, and Stanley did supply both an instruction manual with each, they also supplied the screwdriver. And no extra cost.
A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use
Lie Neilsen's matched set of tounge and groove planes are not available anymore, with no date for delivery, and now sell for $1,500 on eBay.
A serviceable but not mint Record 043 runs about $100 for cutting grooves only, which is all I need right now.
A Veritas Plow Plane runs about $260, plus the blades, plus an attachment to run a tongue cutter if I later want to move to T&G.
The manual blade adjustment of the Record 043, the Record's lack of blade alignment with the skate, which apparently has to be set up with a straight edge, and the silly loose lever cap on the Record 043 makes the Veritas Plow Plane the probable winner for ease of use.
I want to especially thank Derek for his 2007 review of the Record 043, 044, and the Veritas Plow Plane which I ran across last night. It is a good read for anyone interested in the subject: http://inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews...w%20Plane.html
Regards,
Tom
I paid $25 for a 1/2" matched set of wooden planes. You don't need a 78 or 79.
~mike
happy in my mud hut
Another great plane for cutting grooves is a Stanley #50.
Here is a post of mine comparing the Veritas Small Plow with a Stanley #45 & #50 > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?251419
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Something to consider about the Veritas small plow plane is that there is a huge back order at the moment. Last I heard, there is around a 4 month wait for the plane after ordering. I ordered mine in the beginning of March and the backorder date keeps getting pushed out.
On Lee Valley's site, the naked plane shows available and ready to ship. The backorder is for the whole set, plane, large iron conversion kit, blade bag, and all the irons, about 20 of them.
If one is only interested in the plane and a couple of select cutters, it is available according to the web site. I got the plane and a couple of cutters, which is all I need presently.
Regards,
Tom
You are sure to find the small plough plane a joy to use.If one is only interested in the plane and a couple of select cutters, it is available according to the web site. I got the plane and a couple of cutters, which is all I need presently.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Thank you Derek. I have a pair of these that I use. The are indeed invaluable with lots of metal knobs and such around the shop. I use it now on the Veritas Small Plow, I was just surprised to need it.
The fact that the Veritas blades fit the 043 was one of my reasons in acquiring it.
I can get by using just the one....second one is because it's spurs/knickers are in place...first one doesn't have a way to use them anymore....hole for the bolt was stripped out.
Haven't found these planes to be all that "complex"....and are actually easy to set up....Must be something good about the #45...since Veritas saw fit to make a "knock-off copy" of them....I'll stick with the Original..
A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use
Yeah, right and today's F-150 is a "knock-off copy" of Henry Ford's Flat Bed Model-T.Must be something good about the #45...since Veritas saw fit to make a "knock-off copy" of them....I'll stick with the Original..
The Veritas planes are a vast improvement to a concept from well over a century ago.
The last true "knock-off copy" of the Stanley #45 to cross my path was about 30 years ago in a Woodcraft store. It was made by Clifton and had a price tag of around $600.
For many projects my #50 is preferred over the #45. It is especially preferred when cutting slots for the bottoms of drawers and boxes.
I like my Stanley #45s, and yes on occasion two or three of them are set up for different tasks on a single project.
Here is a post on making a double decker box using both a #50 and a #45 > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?286634 < The #45 was used to cut stopped slots.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
I don't own a 45, but do own a couple of 55's. They're no harder to use for grooving than a 45.
My favorite plane for grooving is a grooving molding plane with the metal skate. I just bought one with a movable fence out of the Classified's here a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had a chance to use it yet. My others are all dedicated to one size groove. The only trouble with them is that the spacing from the edge is fixed. Any combination plane does not quite work as good since the cutter is mostly just hanging out in the air.
One of my grooving planes has a slightly narrowed iron to work with 1/4" plywood drawer bottoms. It's often quicker to grab that one to run drawer bottom grooves with than changing a router bit, and setting a router, or router table. A lot more fun, and quieter too.
If we wish to debate which the best plough, I could through into the ring one I built myself, from scratch ...
... but I still prefer using the Veritas Small Plow for most grooves.
Regards from Perth
Derek
So...how well does it do tongues for T&G joints like the OP was asking about?
A Planer? I'm the Planer, and this is what I use