Well, I was using it at 7:30 this morning, which is exactly how long it took me to get dressed and drink a cup of coffee after it arrived!
It has been a standing joke with Andy England for a couple of years that I have been looking for a Stanley #66 on ebay, but they are always either tatty, or have no fences/blades or all 3. He used his (pristine) Stanley to put a bead on the lid of the toolchest, just to rub it in. And they sell for silly prices - the latest has a starting price of £95, whereas the LN is £108. So, when asked what I wanted...
I just made a double bead on a piece of softwood. The tool handles extremely well, though the grip isn't like a scraper, it puts quite a strain on the thumbs if you put them forward, better to hold the handles like handles, if you see what I mean. It is still very controllable used like that.
Then it's just a case of stroking the wood - literally. Long, even strokes keeping the fence tight and pressure even. The tool is stable and easy to control, I think that a stopped bead would be no problem. It takes a while, the cut is quite fine. You have to take care when bringing the tool back, as the cutter can gouge the work, but apart from that it's just shoulder exercise.
I can see this being used a lot, as I am getting more into the idea of country-style stuff. There is also a router cutter and some blanks, so an ogee could be in the future. The only possible problem is that the bronze fence has marked the timber - a problem I have also had with a LN #95.
The 62 is also a very nice plane to use. Very easy to adjust with the block plane mechanism, although fiddly to reach the knob. Usual massive LN cutter works well, but can cause tearout. I've only used it on some softwood so far.
...few years left yet for me - Rob
