The #51 Shooting Plane: Lie-Nielsen and Stanley

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

A review of the Lie-Nielsen #51 shooting board for your pleasure.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReview ... Plane.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Vann]

Thanks Derek,

As you say, it's a tool that is expensive and, like many of us that watch Top Gear, only a few are seriously interested in acquiring one. Of course we watch – or read – because we are fascinated by tools and tools-as-art.

I know I'll never ever ever be able to justify the cost of one.

Be that as it may - I enjoyed your review.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[adidat]

a brilliant review on a wonderful tool, well done lie-nielsen!!

adidat

 

[Richard T]

Thanks Derek. Very interesting.

 

[Scouse]

Great review Derek.

I have looked at one of these, but decided to wait until the shooting board becomes available before giving serious consideration to buying one.

It is an expensive tool at £430ish over here, with Chris Schwarz from Popular Woodworking Magazine quoting $500 - 700 for the matching board alone when it is introduced, on top of the price of the plane.

I feel, however, that the expense is justified. It is an aesthetically beautiful tool, as are most L/N offerings, but when I look around at those who spend thousands on woodworking machines which will last a few years before needing to be replaced, the effective price of the plane comes down. This together with the ongoing costs, handing beer tokens over to the electricity supplier, makes me glad to be handtool-only in my work, and appreciative of this sort of quality.

I'll make do with my No.9 and a couple of blocks of MDF for now though!

 

[Karl]

Very good Derek.

Any idea when the accompanying board will be available?

Cheers

Karl

 

[jimi43]

Excellent review once again Derek!

To use your analogy....I can't see myself feeling the need to own an Aston Martin but I can still oggle one like the best of us!

It is also wonderful to see the engineering that LN put into their masterpieces...something I have always admired. I remember reading your original post on the restoration of your old 51 and it's nice to see the old lady performing so well....I can't see you parting with her (?)

For once in my life I am grateful for being left-handed. It takes away the sudden urges I sometimes get to grab a sportscar in my old age! :mrgreen:

Thanks again my dear friend for an excellent review and another glimpse of my favourite tropical wood!

Jim

 

[GazPal]

The #51 & chute board/deck are great pieces of specialist toolkit that are more than capable of serving their purpose very admirably, but investing in either of both isn't necessarily justifiable unless you specialise - as a professional or keen amateur - in the type of work they cover. I can't find anything negative to say about such tools because they're lovely pieces of kit to use and have around, but a well maintained badger plane and shooting board set-up can be made to produce much the same end results at a fraction of the price.

 

[bugbear]

The #51 & chute board/deck are great pieces of specialist toolkit that are more than capable of serving their purpose very admirably, but investing in either of both isn't necessarily justifiable unless you specialise - as a professional or keen amateur - in the type of work they cover. I can't find anything negative to say about such tools because they're lovely pieces of kit to use and have around, but a well maintained badger plane and shooting board set-up can be made to produce much the same end results at a fraction of the price.

A normal r.h. cutting badger plane would cut the running surface away - the blade goes all the way to the right hand edge, so if you're shooting right handed, you'd soon have an ex-shoooting-board.

Now a Philly skew mitre...

BugBear

 

[Kalimna]

Jim - is it not the case that LN are going to be producing right *and* left handed versions???? Perhaps that Aston will arrive sooner than you hoped

Adam

 

[bugbear]

That Hutchens mitre is looking like a better idea the more this thread goes on.



BugBear

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

For once in my life I am grateful for being left-handed. It takes away the sudden urges I sometimes get to grab a sportscar in my old age!

Jim my friend, you cannot get away that easily. You may recall that the LN is marked "51R", which indicates that there will be a "51L"! And it is entirely possible that there will be a #52R and a #52L!!!! :shock:

And any woodie knows that two are better than one.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Alf]

That Hutchens mitre is looking like a better idea the more this thread goes on.

Not skewed. The Rogers would be better still, and is looking increasingly like a bargain! :lol:

 

[bugbear]

I'm sure there's a nice discussion to be had on the pros/cons of a plane type mitre cutter, with the advantage of a mouth, versus a knife type mitre cutter, with a 0 degree bedding angle, allowing the lowest possible effective pitch.

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

Jim - is it not the case that LN are going to be producing right *and* left handed versions???? Perhaps that Aston will arrive sooner than you hoped

Adam

Darn it! Bang goes my defence in one sentence! (Admits that he had seen that in the review about the 51R assumption, but chose to ignore it for safety's sake!!)

Actually...much though I like that little 51....I think a basic block plane from LN might be a good start.

Thankfully my little infill deviation has stopped that yearning for a while...I have enough black runs to choose from at the moment to deviate down the American slopes!

To be honest...the perfect design means that being left-handed is not much of a handicap with the 51. After all....there is no steering involved! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[GazPal]

The #51 & chute board/deck are great pieces of specialist toolkit that are more than capable of serving their purpose very admirably, but investing in either of both isn't necessarily justifiable unless you specialise - as a professional or keen amateur - in the type of work they cover. I can't find anything negative to say about such tools because they're lovely pieces of kit to use and have around, but a well maintained badger plane and shooting board set-up can be made to produce much the same end results at a fraction of the price.

A normal r.h. cutting badger plane would cut the running surface away - the blade goes all the way to the right hand edge, so if you're shooting right handed, you'd soon have an ex-shoooting-board.

Now a Philly skew mitre...

BugBear

I knew I should have mentioned adding a side piece to the badger plane. My bad.

 

[custard]

Anyone heard any news on an availability date for the LN Chute?

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Anyone heard any news on an availability date for the LN Chute?

No, but here is the next best thing .....

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/ ... Board.html

Regards from Perth

Derek