low angle smoother

[clive griffiths]

I am thinking of buying a low angle smoothing plane,does anyone on here use one ?

Clive..

 

[RobNichols]

I have the Melbourne low angle smoothing plane which I bought from Wood Workers Workshop. I'm very pleased with it. It is definitely a good end grain solution.

Having said that, for plain old smoothing I prefer my standard pattern bailey 3 and 4 both of which can be picked up cheaply second hand.

 

[johnnyb]

If your used to normal planes they are unwieldy. As a special addition plane maybe as a first no way. They work as low angle end grain dressers. But have limits when used long grain.

 

[clive griffiths]

Thank you both for the advice ,I had thought about selling my lie-nielsen jack plane to purchase one , have to think again.

 

[RobNichols]

Thank you both for the advice ,I had thought about selling my lie-nielsen jack plane to purchase one , have to think again.

That makes sense. A jack plane is hugely versatile. If you only have one plane that's the one to have.

 

[Peter Sefton]

In my experience the majority of new woodworkers go with standard bench planes, usually because they have some experience of them but a Low Angle plane is far less complicated with fewer parts to set up and very versatile once the effective pitch is understood. About 30% of my students went with Low Angle and never looked back.

This video is on the Low Angle Jack with an overview of the most common plane angles. My explanation of the pitch for each timber is a generic overview.



Cheers

Peter

 

[Jacob]

If your used to normal planes they are unwieldy. As a special addition plane maybe as a first no way. They work as low angle end grain dressers. But have limits when used long grain.

Not too keen.
Retro revivals - back catalogue designs because they were not popular in the first place and everybody preferred normal Stanley/Bailey, for good reasons.
Thick blades harder/slower to take out, replace, sharpen.
Really bad for fine adjustment and tilt.
Bevel up cutting angle not much different to Stanley/Bailey.
Expensive

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

BU or LA planes got a bad reputation as a result of their fragile construction until they began being made with ductile iron in the 1990s. Then they were used with inadequate cutting angles - blades with 25 degree bevels - until it became understood that a high cutting angle changed everything ... such as a 50 degree bevel to create a 60 degree cutting angle. Now these planes came into their own as smoothers, and out-performed everything .... until the chipbreaker revival around 2013, when they took second place to a closed up chipbreaker.

Not-with-standing this, they remain wonderful smoothers and capable of outstanding performance. Their great advantage remains the minimal set up demands. The main criticism now is that they excel at fine shavings, but that is the purpose if a smoother, yes?

The problem remains that some continue to bad mouth these planes because they use them with an inappropriate set up. Paul Sellers comes to mind here, but he wanted to make his point that his planes work best. Listen to those who actually use them.

Regards frkm Perth

Derek