Lie Nielsen low angle jointer

[ydb1md]

I just got my first look at the Lie Nielsen low angle jointer. I must say, I'm a little surprised at the fact that the mouth is non-adjustable.

If I were paying that kind of coin for a plane, I'd want it to be as versatile as possible. If the mouth is tight, it'd be great for jointing but if you wanted to flatten a large panel, taking whispy thin shavings could be tedious.

It is interesting to note that that the blade is 1/4" thick. The blade alone is $50?! Very nice for the bigger is better crowd. When is Rob gonna put that 1" blade on the LA jack?

 

[Anonymous]

I think that you may be looking to use the jointer for a job that it is not intended/designed for.

Surely you would not want to take whispy thin shavings off a panel surface with a jointer? The jointer is used to flatten the material ready for a smoother or jack which will then be used to take whispy thin shavings and take the surface down to a finish or ready for sanding/scraping.

Jointer is not a swiss army knife, it is meant to straighten or flatten material, not finish it :wink:

 

[Midnight]

When is Rob gonna put that 1" blade on the LA jack?

He did that already..... 1st April 04 wasn't it..????

 

[ydb1md]

I think that you may be looking to use the jointer for a job that it is not intended/designed for.

Jointer is not a swiss army knife, it is meant to straighten or flatten material, not finish it :wink:

Well, I was thinking that I could use a jointer for a few uses. If I wanted to flatten the edge of a board to joint it or flatten a table top, it should do it. If the boards in question were oak, I'd have to close up the mouth or I'd get some nice tear out for my trouble. If I were working a softer or straighter grained material, I could open the mouth and take a heavier cut.

Maybe I do need to take another look at what I'm going to use a jointer for. :-k

 

[Midnight]

it's my understanding that an adjustable mouth version is in development....

 

[Alf]

it's my understanding that an adjustable mouth version is in development....

It was certainly mentioned around the fora as a special order a few months ago (quite a few); dunno whether anything came of it though. :-k I've seen no gloats, so I assume not... On the other hand, it turns out that Razor Edge shave that I posted about the other day first appeared in 2003, and then there was the gestation period for the chisels, so perhaps we should expect some delay. :lol:

Jointer is not a swiss army knife, it is meant to straighten or flatten material, not finish it :wink:

Tony, Tony, Tony; you've got to broaden your horizons more, chum. [-X Try telling that to Ian Kirby, who I believe uses a #7 for everything. I seem to recall DC mentioning a similar preference from Alan Peters (?) in one of the DVDs. And again I can't help but feel you've simply not grasped the beauty of the bevel up plane - not making it Swiss Army Knife Capable is a total waste of its potential. I know you say you have, but I don't think you really believe it, deep down. Believe, Grasshopper! Like ydb, I think L-N missed a trick there; certainly as soon as I discovered it had no adjustable mouth, I stopped drooling. Just as well as I'd be saving up for about 20 years... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Philly]

Aren't Veritas releasing a low angle adjustable mouth jointer soon?
Cheers
Philly

 

[bugbear]

I'd have to close up the mouth or I'd get some nice tear out for my trouble.

But with a bevel up plane you have an alternative; drop in your HA blade (another 50 quid) and go.

BugBear

 

[Anonymous]

Jointer is not a swiss army knife, it is meant to straighten or flatten material, not finish it :wink:

Tony, Tony, Tony; you've got to broaden your horizons more, chum.

Cheers, Alf

But Alf, would you rather pick up a different plane and continue working or start fiddling with the mouth of the #7 or worse still, take the blade out of your LA #7 and fit a differently ground blade, or even worse regrind the blade at a new angle and re-fit?

I prefer using each plane for the job it is good at and my 4.5 and LA smoothers are, and will always be, better than my #7 jointer at finishing boards :roll:

Surely someone who owns <cough> a few planes, doesn't only use one for all jobs?

 

[Alf]

Surely someone who owns <cough> a few planes, doesn't only use one for all jobs?

Didn't use to, no. Times change; the accumulation bit is largely over as far as I'm concerned. Really the only thing stopping me doing a mass clear-out is being able to use the tools I have as reference, for comparison etc. For use, in the last few months, I've rarely used more than 3 or 4 different planes all together. Sort of like having a shelf of reference books but re-reading a handful of classic novels I suppose. Been reading one of those novels way more than any of the others though.

Wanna guess which one? We'll make it easier and give you a 50/50 chance. Bevel up? Or bevel down...? :-k :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[ydb1md]

I could never, personally, stop accumulating planes -- I can always rationalize one more. I think that when it comes to wood shop tools, they are about the sexiest things going -- god i hope my wife doesn't read this. Even though I love the bevel ups, I'll still buy bevel downs -- when I can afford to collect planes that I'm not going to use. 8)

 

[ike]

I think that when it comes to wood shop tools, they are about the sexiest things going -- god i hope my wife doesn't read this

Crikey! - you definitely need to get out more! I hope you lock the workshop door when your in there. :shock:

 

[Wendell]

Jointer is not a swiss army knife, it is meant to straighten or flatten material, not finish it :wink:

Tony, Tony, Tony; you've got to broaden your horizons more, chum.

Cheers, Alf

But Alf, would you rather pick up a different plane and continue working or start fiddling with the mouth of the #7 or worse still, take the blade out of your LA #7 and fit a differently ground blade, or even worse regrind the blade at a new angle and re-fit?

I prefer using each plane for the job it is good at and my 4.5 and LA smoothers are, and will always be, better than my #7 jointer at finishing boards :roll:

Surely someone who owns <cough> a few planes, doesn't only use one for all jobs?

What's to stop you from buying a plane for each blade? From what I've seen, people who really use hand planes generally have multiples of the same plane setup for different tasks. Nobody wants to fiddle with re-adjusting bevel down planes any more than they have to. Why should we treat bevel up planes any different? I see the ability to use multiple blades as a way to get started experimenting with what these planes can do, not the end all be all of hand planing.

Wendell

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds good to me.

The purpose of a jointer is to prepare board edges without inducing any more spring to the joint that you intend to close during joining, while maintaining a good shaving thickness. Otherwise not too much point to a long plane.

Another thing I feel about people who use planes a lot is they prefer not to shift 7 pounds when 2 will do the job better. Which may explain why metal planes became ubiquitous about the same time the manual craft, for all intents and purposes, collapsed.

Is it true the Baikey/Stanley/etc... numbering system is the approximate weight in pounds? No it's not, but how far wrong would one be?

 

[Alf]

Welcome to the forum, Peter. Let me guess; you're a fan of wooden planes?

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the welcome!


Seen recently in the OED:

wood-work-er (wuud-wur-ker) n 1. someone who believes that for most practical applications ductile iron, or bronze, is a superior material to wood. 2. someone who is largely ignorant of the structural excellence of wood.

professional woodworker A craftsman who sells pre-industrial design wooden products, in order to fund the purchase of early industrial age machinery and tooling.


One of my most prized planes is a Record 7 my dad gave me about 20 years ago, and I do use it for edge jointing, which by and large isn't particularly strenuous. Once the going gets tough however, I either use power tools, or wooden planes. Just not strong enough to use those metal ones. They do look nice in the cabinet though.

Here in Canada those metal tools get awfully cold during winters in my outdoor shop.[/b]

 

[Frank D.]

Hi Peter Pan,
I know how you feel, my shop is in my unheated veranda (2nd floor, nice view!), but last winter I bought a construction-site heater so I can warm it up when I'm there (wonder why I didn't do it sooner!).
My favorite plane for jointing is my #8. I don't always prefer heavier planes but when I'm edge jointing or doing a flat board I usually go for the heaviest I have. Infills were made to be heavy, maybe not pre-industrial but hand work was still widespread. I have nothing against wooden planes though! I also find longer planes to be more precise (just by the shavings I know how flat the edge is) and I can always grab a 4 to spring a joint.
Frank