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Lie-Nielsen vs. Veritas vs. older Stanley Jack Plane

8K views 39 replies 19 participants last post by  derekcohen 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Greetings folks. If money was no object and you wanted to buy a Jack Plane which brand would you buy and why?
 
#3 ·
I really want to say the new Veritas custom 5 or 5-1/2 but it looks like the extra options are all additional costs so that rules them out entirely.

I guess I would go Bed Rock Type 6a with a Veritas PM-V11 iron. Or a Marsh M5 with the same Vertisas iron. Kind of a toss up there.
 
#8 ·
Money no object? Lee Neilson. Not really sure it's that much better than the Veritas, but my perception fo the two items I've never owned….

Reality? I'm actually looking for a good 5 1/5, or 605 1/2 Bedrock now. But, I don't have the money for an LN. Heck, I don't really have the money for a Bedrock 605 1/5 either. LOL. Honestly, I'll just keep looking for a deal somewhere.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
I think the old Stanleys are a lot more fun, kind of a hobby, but also some work to keep them doing well.

For new, I'm a devote Lee Valley buyer, user, lover. Those you pay once, and then just use them effortlessly forever.

To me the Lie Nielsen's are just Stanleys made with 21st century metal technology. Well, a few of the low angle's are a bit more advanced..

I always suggest this, but not sure if anyone does it. Both LN, and LV travel the same show circuit. Find out when they will be closest, go and they will let you freely use their entire inventory. Pick the one you like the most. I've been to close to 40 of them, and always end up with Lee Valley.

For the Stanleys, if you live in a larger area. Put up a post with your general location, and ask if any Stanley 605 owners would let you grope their plane. Bring a small gift of gratitude, and I'll bet you get invited back. Well I say grope, lets not get crazy there….. :)
 
#10 ·
If money was no object, I'd have all three plus a couple Sargent's, a few Miller's falls, an Ohio tools, a ride City, a Marcou, and who know how many others

Since money is always an object, I'd stick with vintage, just because they're much more interesting
 
#11 ·
I think the old Stanleys are a lot more fun, kind of a hobby, but also some work to keep them doing well.

For new, I m a devote Lee Valley buyer, user, lover. Those you pay once, and then just use them effortlessly forever.

To me the Lie Nielsen s are just Stanleys made with 21st century metal technology. Well, a few of the low angle s are a bit more advanced..

I always suggest this, but not sure if anyone does it. Both LN, and LV travel the same show circuit. Find out when they will be closest, go and they will let you freely use their entire inventory. Pick the one you like the most. I ve been to close to 40 of them, and always end up with Lee Valley.

For the Stanleys, if you live in a larger area. Put up a post with your general location, and ask if any Stanley 605 owners would let you grope their plane. Bring a small gift of gratitude, and I ll bet you get invited back. Well I say grope, lets not get crazy there….. :)

- therealSteveN
I looked at the pics of the Veritas Jack on the LV website. The adjustments appear to be the same as the new Stanley SW, which I sold because I absolutely hated it. Every time I went to use it the depth setting was different from the previous use. It changed just sitting in the box. I have PTSD over this POS.

Is the LV adjustment the same?
 
#15 ·
I would go with the Lie-Nielsen no. 62 low angle jack plane, I like the look of the Lie-Nielsen planes better. I also find the Norris adjuster on my Stanley Sweetheart low angle jack is a bit fiddly and can get knocked out of alignment when I adjust the blade depth, not sure if this is the case on the Veritas planes but it would definitely effect my decision until I have evidence to the contrary.

However, in an ideal world all of my bench planes would be Lie-Nielsen and all of my joinery/block planes would be LV Veritas. I will say that the one place where the innovation in design is really attractive is on those joinery planes such as the router plane and plow plane and I think Veritas has done a better job innovating on that front (disclaimer, i have a Lie-Nielsen router plane that i love)
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
#17 ·
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
None of those…................................

this is the money no object plane of choice for the well healed:

https://bridgecitytools.com/collections/planes/products/hp-12-smoothing-plane

- xedos

I've never cared for the looks of their tools. Too overdone future-y stuff for my taste. But for those that do I am guessing some cheaper knockoffs will be out soon now that its a chinese company.

- SMP
More importantly….....I wonder how they preform. I can stand an ugly duckling if it does a great job.
 
#19 ·
I would go with the Lie-Nielsen no. 62 low angle jack plane, I like the look of the Lie-Nielsen planes better. I also find the Norris adjuster on my Stanley Sweetheart low angle jack is a bit fiddly and can get knocked out of alignment when I adjust the blade depth, not sure if this is the case on the Veritas planes but it would definitely effect my decision until I have evidence to the contrary.

However, in an ideal world all of my bench planes would be Lie-Nielsen and all of my joinery/block planes would be LV Veritas. I will say that the one place where the innovation in design is really attractive is on those joinery planes such as the router plane and plow plane and I think Veritas has done a better job innovating on that front (disclaimer, i have a Lie-Nielsen router plane that i love)

- AGolden
What is/are the advantages of a low angle vs. a standard angle?
 
#20 ·
What is/are the advantages of a low angle vs. a standard angle?

- dbw
Almost any well tuned plane will do the job. The rest is all about personal preference.

I have an LN #62. What a great plane, but probably one of the least used planes in my shop. You will eventually find what you like, but if it's just about getting the job done, don't overthink it.
 
#21 ·
What is/are the advantages of a low angle vs. a standard angle?

- dbw

Almost any well tuned plane will do the job. The rest is all about personal preference.

I have an LN #62. What a great plane, but probably one of the least used planes in my shop. You will eventually find what you like, but if it s just about getting the job done, don t overthink it.

- Don W
I guess the real question is: why would one use a low angle plane in the first place. I have to admit I'm a power tools kind of guy and hand tools are a bit foreign to me. Hence the ignorance.
 
#22 ·
Low angle planes are best for end grain. There is also a difference in how they can be sharpened to gain a different angle of attack. Also switching between blades with different angle is easier, because there is no frog to contend with, and adjustment is said to be easier.
 
#23 ·
I guess the real question is: why would one use a low angle plane in the first place. I have to admit I m a power tools kind of guy and hand tools are a bit foreign to me. Hence the ignorance.

- dbw
Don is right, and maybe someone more experienced than myself can chime in but this is why i like them. The blade is (usually) bedded at 12 degrees, if you sharpen a 25 degree bevel on your iron you get a 37 degree cutting angle (hence the low angle) for end grain. if you sharpen a 30 degree bevel on the iron you get a 42 degree cutting angle which is closer to a standard cutting angle. so with one plane you can have multiple options which is nice. This is something you can't really do with a bevel down bench plane without putting a back bevel on the iron.

I am starting to think that the term "bevel up" is more accurate than "low angle". While a lot of bevel up planes come with a 25 degree iron, the angle can easily be changed to something else which really doesn't make them "low angle" anymore.

I see that Veritas makes both "low angle" and "bevel up" planes and aside from some other cosmetic things I don't think there was any difference besides the angle the blade was sharpened at but please someone correct me if I am wrong, I would really like to know if I am missing something there.
 
#24 ·
You can change the effective angle of bevel down but you mainly do so by changing the frog as mentioned. However in reality most people that actually end up using planes will have a different plane for various uses. So the "benefit" of LA jack planes pretty much disappears in actual usage for the majority.
 
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