Veritas - New Custom #5 Bench Plane (Rating: 4)
I purchased Lee Valley's new Veritas custom plane when it first became available. After messing around with it for a few days, here are my thoughts.
1) The plane is built well and looks a lot better than their old line of bench planes. It feels nice and heavy and is about the same weight as a Lie-Nielsen (LN) #5. I bought mine with the "medium" traditional tote in the back and the middle-sized knob in the front. This gives it the same feeling in the hand as old Stanley or a LN plane.
2) The frog is fixed and does not move like a traditional plane. Instead, you loosen the front knob and move the mouth of the plane. I found this to be much easier to adjust than a traditional plane. I could set the mouth open for an aggressive cut and then quickly bring it in to make a very fine cut. The mouth opens to almost 1/4 of an inch, which I think will make it a great plane for using with a cambered blade. (The reason I bought the plane.) It also has a set screw you can adjust to bring the mouth to the same spacing every time.
3) It also has screw holes on the side to take a fence. I don't plan to use it that way, but it is a nice feature. If you already own the Veritas fenced rabbet plane, you already own the fence. You might want to purchase the longer rods though.
4) It works very well and will take very thin shavings. I started to forget about the plane and focus on the wood, which to me is a sign of a good plane.
5) The Norris style adjuster is easy to use, but is a bit more sensitive (both for depth of cut and lateral adjustment) than a traditional plane. This will take a little getting used to, but was not a negative for me.
6) The only thing I don't like is the piece that attaches the chip breaker to the blade. It is attached with two tiny hex screws. It takes longer to get the blade and chip breaker apart for sharpening because of this. The screws are tiny, making them easy to lose in a workshop filled with dust and shavings. It's also easy to lose the hex key tool as well. This piece is the only negative I see with this plane. It's not horrible, but triples the amount of time it takes to take the blade apart (and put it back together) when you need to sharpen it.
Overall, it is an excellent plane. My hope is that LV will redesign the chip breaker attachment on the next version of the plane.
EDIT 10/23/2014: CL810 found this great video by Chris Schwarz that explains how to use the chip breaker adjuster: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/best-adjust-cap-iron-veritas-plane
I purchased Lee Valley's new Veritas custom plane when it first became available. After messing around with it for a few days, here are my thoughts.
1) The plane is built well and looks a lot better than their old line of bench planes. It feels nice and heavy and is about the same weight as a Lie-Nielsen (LN) #5. I bought mine with the "medium" traditional tote in the back and the middle-sized knob in the front. This gives it the same feeling in the hand as old Stanley or a LN plane.
2) The frog is fixed and does not move like a traditional plane. Instead, you loosen the front knob and move the mouth of the plane. I found this to be much easier to adjust than a traditional plane. I could set the mouth open for an aggressive cut and then quickly bring it in to make a very fine cut. The mouth opens to almost 1/4 of an inch, which I think will make it a great plane for using with a cambered blade. (The reason I bought the plane.) It also has a set screw you can adjust to bring the mouth to the same spacing every time.
3) It also has screw holes on the side to take a fence. I don't plan to use it that way, but it is a nice feature. If you already own the Veritas fenced rabbet plane, you already own the fence. You might want to purchase the longer rods though.
4) It works very well and will take very thin shavings. I started to forget about the plane and focus on the wood, which to me is a sign of a good plane.
5) The Norris style adjuster is easy to use, but is a bit more sensitive (both for depth of cut and lateral adjustment) than a traditional plane. This will take a little getting used to, but was not a negative for me.
6) The only thing I don't like is the piece that attaches the chip breaker to the blade. It is attached with two tiny hex screws. It takes longer to get the blade and chip breaker apart for sharpening because of this. The screws are tiny, making them easy to lose in a workshop filled with dust and shavings. It's also easy to lose the hex key tool as well. This piece is the only negative I see with this plane. It's not horrible, but triples the amount of time it takes to take the blade apart (and put it back together) when you need to sharpen it.
Overall, it is an excellent plane. My hope is that LV will redesign the chip breaker attachment on the next version of the plane.
EDIT 10/23/2014: CL810 found this great video by Chris Schwarz that explains how to use the chip breaker adjuster: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/best-adjust-cap-iron-veritas-plane
