Veritas planes - which one to get (shoulder this time

[nonidentity]

Hi all,

based on the fantastic advice recieved before - wow!!!!! the low-angle Jack is great; even a newbie like me cannot get over how good it is so...the experts must be impressed by the performance!

Moving on, yet another quandary, now that I have tool lust going mad in my veins :lol: I am considering the question of which? Veritas shoulder plane to get. I have read Alf's reviews and other reviews - both are good - so here we are!

Do I get the medium or large shoulder plane? I intend to work up quickly to making larger furniture pieces (tables, cupboards and cabinets) - nothing like ambition for you - and I cannot buy both as I need to buy many tools en route to my objective. (maybe later - we'll see)

What quote the experts?

Appreciated, I assure you.

 

[ydb1md]

Well, I have the LV large shoulder plane. I love it but when I'm working for long sessions it gets seriously heavy. Hate to say it, because bigger is better, but I wish I'd gotten the medium.

I build mainly cabinetry and furniture and even at that scale the width of the medium would be sufficient for 90% of the work that I do. Right now I can't justify the medium because I don't need to shoulder planes so close to the same size but eventually I'll get it.

So, my vote is for the medium.

 

[Adam]

Yep, I've got a large shoulder plane, and it does get heavy if you spend any duration working with it. Ideally, I'd like a medium, but of all my planes, it one of the ones that gets used the least. So I'm quite happy to "make-do".

Adam

 

[bugbear]

I would master the tools you have. Shoulder planes, whilst venerated for their accuracy, are used on a rather narrow range of work.

The even cooler sounding bullnose shoulder planes are used on an even narrower range of work.

They are not high on the list of "Planes you must have".

BugBear

 

[Alf]

Ah, now there I differ, BB. It's not a "must have", but the newbie tends to need maximum help in cleaning up their joints while being hampered by minimal chisel skill. So I'd argue the newbie will get more use from a shoulder plane than anyone and it'll cut down some of the learning curve.

Personally I went with a large when I started, on the basis that a wide plane on narrow stock was going to be more accurate than a narrow plane on wider stock. I don't find it gets used enough for the weight to be a serious issue personally, and that's the much less user-friendly Record #073. The medium's nice, and I succumbed and bought one, but I'd still go large if I was starting again.

Cheers, Alf

 

[nonidentity]

Interesting result, I have to support Alf - I need all the help I can get as yes just like everyone else I am wobbly asnd all over the place :shock:

It will be interesting to see the additional opinions are expressed.

Appreciated so far,

Thanks

 

[MikeW]

Interesting result, I have to support Alf - I need all the help I can get as yes just like everyone else I am wobbly asnd all over the place :shock:

It will be interesting to see the additional opinions are expressed.

Appreciated so far,

Thanks

And an additional opinion you can have--for free...

I have used my shoulder planes quite often in the past, and not just for the shoulders of tenons. My largest one is an old infill. Quite nice in use. To me, I find infill shoulder planes much more comfortable to use, even heavy ones.

My other is the little 1/2" LN infill. Quite small, really. Even with its dimunitive size, I use it often as well.

Aside from shoulders, I have tended to use my shoulder planes for taking a tad more from rebates to fit a back panel or the glass for a door. I'll use them for small lap joints as well.

Due to the size of the work I tend to do, I have avoided the largest of shoulder planes. Though I think my large infill's weight is comperable to the LV large shoulder plane, it is smaller dimensionally. It is the physical size being matched to the work one does that matters to me.

Take care, Mike

 

[gidon]

NI
I thought about this one for some time and went for the large. For occasional use and if you you're only going to get one, I think it's just more versatile. It can do everything the smaller one can do (except clean up a smaller dado ) plus it's great for cleaning up or tweaking tenon cheeks which for me is a real bonus. I don't find the weight an problem - I would have to be using it an awful lot for that to be an issue or maybe using it overhead to clean up the edge of artex ceilings or suchlike .
Cheers
Gidon

 

[engineer one]

have to say i bought the big one, on the basis that i have a number of older wooden ones, so when buying the modern version, it seemed bigger was better. :lol: :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[JesseM]

I bought the large one as well. I have no complaints, but haven't really used it long enough to notice the weight. I have used mine for tenons and sliding dovetails. My thinking on the large was that I would have enough width to cover larger tenons.

 

[bugbear]

have to say i bought the big one, on the basis that i have a number of older wooden ones, so when buying the modern version, it seemed bigger was better. :lol: :lol:

paul :wink:

I imagine the older wooden ones are actually rebate plane, not shoulder planes.

A shoulder plane is defined by a fine mouth, and low angle blade, often with fine depth adjust, and very rarely skewed.

BugBear

 

[engineer one]

actually i have both types, including a newish dutch one with an adjustable mouth, and also a clifton 420 so i seem now to have it all covered, now i have to work out furniture that will allow me to use them all. :lol: :lol: :lol:
paul

 

[nonidentity]

So following the above advice, especially Alf's point, I went ahead and bought the large shoulder plane. I am in the process of building a bench (I have not graduated to be an amateur yet bit...) and used it to clean up some large dovetails (yes I know...but what the hell...one must experiment as you go along...it won't be the last bench I'll make).

So I unpacked it, after chiselling the dovetails and cleaning up as best as I can with the chiseld and WOWEE! :shock: this was great!!!

So thanks to all for advice - of course my wife already says "another one, how many do you need" - so there we are I am officially a member of a nefarious club.

Cheers

 

[Alf]

of course my wife already says "another one, how many do you need"

Better get used to that litany... :wink: :lol: Enjoy.

Cheers, Alf