Official Luthiers Forum!

specificly number 5s

Well, after looking at an "antique stanley" and deciding not to go that way, i started looking at lie neilson.

a lie neilson number 5 quite expensive (as a student, im interested in cheap), but they are quality so i can make an exception.

however, i found clifton planes, which seem of a similar quality to the lie neilson, but £100 cheaper.

after searching the archives and browsing the results, it seems the clifton are good.


so im wondering that in a direct comparison, how these two tools compare?

on a side note, i was thinking of also getting the lie neilson 60 1/2 block plane, is it any good?

Thanks

Jonny

_________________
"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

Jonny, I have both LN's and love them. I don't know how the #5 compares to the other you mentioned, but the LN's are my favorite tools to use.

The LN 60 1/2 is a great investment-you won't find a better block plane. As far as the Clifton bench planes go, I haven't used them personally but it is my understanding that they are high quality tools. In fact, here in the states there really isn't much of a difference in price between the LN and the Clifton (about $25 for a #5). You'll probably need to lap the sole which wouldn't be necessary for the LN but that's no big deal and it comes with a high-carbon blade (which some actually prefer) instead of the A2 that the LN comes with so you'll probably be sharpening a little more often but it will be easier to sharpen.
Hope this helps.

-William

thanks for that link Todd.

i did look at the veritas low angle, but i was unsure of its applications, being very very new to wood working, would the low angle be fine for jointing and thinning of normal wood, but more prone to chipping out when working with curly figured wood?

I would most probably use the #5 for thinning the plates (cant stand dust...), so would a scraper plane be a better alternative when the time comes?

thanks

Jonny

_________________
"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

Last year I aquired 3 planes. A #4 Stanley/Bailey off ebay, #5 S.B. from my dad, & a Veritas block plane from my wife as a gift. The Veritas block plane is great, right out of the box. I've tried their #4, & #5 and they are terrific. Some day I hope to have a couple. I was struggling w/ the Stanleys till I bought Hock blades and chip breakers. Man, what a difference!! Mind you, I had already tuned them up as per instructions from other sites before buying the Hock irons. The new Hock hardware "woke up" both those Stanley Bailey tools. A person can really get involved with hand planes....there's a million different opinions. What I did is took what I had, and just paid attention to sharpening the blade & setting the whole plane itself up...filed here and there, made sure what was supposed to be flat, flat and practiced with em'. They do the job, and was actually proud of my work on them. My plans at first were to buy a couple of LN's and go for it. I'm glad I didn't. I'd never really used a plane before, and there was a learning curve. The education from my used stuff was really useful.
Dave

I recently went to a tool event sponsored by LN here in Oakland. I too am looking for a replacement for an ancient Stanley I bought that just needs too much work to get right. They had many demonstrations on proper technique for different applications. The plane they used the most (by far) for the demonstrations? A 62 (same as the Veritas Low Angle Jack Plane). Mind you these guys had access to EVERY PLANE LN makes.

I asked one of the presenters why he picked the 62. His answer was it was the most versatile plane in the kit. He personally had a couple of blades with different secondary bevels and a toothed blade for his 62. He would swap the blades out for the different demonstrations in about 5 seconds, and claimed to use this plane 95% of the time.

The Veritas Low Angle Jack Plane is high on my purchase list.

Thanks for the input, i am convinced by the low angle, however....

A LN #62 is marginally cheaper (£3) than the Veritas low angle, so i suppose this boils down to which tool is prefereable, the LN or veritas?

_________________
"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

My favorite is a LN low angle block plane with a LN low angle jack plane coming in second. I have a collection of planes and have owned a couple of Cliftons. I wasn't that impressed. Your best buy is a used Stanley from ebay if you know enough to interpret the pictures.

okay, thanks todd

_________________
"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

What can you get locally or mailorder without too much hassle?
I really like to hold something in my hand before spending big $$$ on it... but that isn't really possible with these as much.

Veritas, LN, Clifton are all excellent.

A recent entry is the Woodriver line of planes at the Woodcraft stores.
Prices run >50% of LN.

Their Bench planes are basically knockoffs of the Stanley Bed Rocks

So far, I have their LABP and am very happy with it. Excellent blade support which is similar to "Good" planes in the higher price ranges.

From what I have seen so far, they are excellent for the price -- body is true, frog is true, blade is thick and hardened properly.

Now, their adjusters aren't as smooth as a LN or veritas... but they are good.

Personally, I have given up on buying any more Old Stanleys. I have a couple WWII era Baileys and a whole bunch of other old Stanleys.... and they are no better than the ones in Home Depot today.... They were never a "Premium" product..... and they take countless hours to get them into good cutting shape.

Thanks

John

I got a L-N 4 1/2 a few days ago. Yesterday I used it to plane an EIR back I glued up the night before. I was planning to start with my Stanley #5 yard sale special but I decided to just see what the 4 1/2 would do straight out of the box. About 20 minutes later I had planed the back from .175 to .115 and there was hardly a plane mark left to scrape away. I'm pretty new at this stuff, but that seems pretty good to me.

I also got a Hock blade for that yard sale # 5. I had already tuned it up pretty good, but wow! What a difference. I wonder how much better it might be with a Hock cap iron now?

I have a question for Todd Stock. Are you saying that you replaced the frog in your L-N plane with something better - the York frog you mentioned?
Thanks,
Walter

_________________
Walter Lay
"It's taken me so long, but now that I know
I can see. All that I do or say, is all I ever will be"
- Billy Joe Shaver

Thanks for the explanation Todd.

_________________
Walter Lay
"It's taken me so long, but now that I know
I can see. All that I do or say, is all I ever will be"
- Billy Joe Shaver

Walter,
Were you using a toothed blade to thickness? Just curious as I'm learning to do the process. I just bought the LN Low-Angle Jack. (Woodcraft had a sale last week.)

Todd, can you point me in the direction of resources for learning how to use my LN properly? I'm a newb at planing. My plane seems willing to take thick shavings, but seems to work best & keep an even surface if I take super fine shavings...it could just be me.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Flori

I wasn't using a toothed blade. But now that I have a new blade for the #5, I'm probably going to cut some teeth into the old blade. Anybody have suggestions on the best way to do that? I figure on trying the little cut-off blade with my Dremel.
Walter

_________________
Walter Lay
"It's taken me so long, but now that I know
I can see. All that I do or say, is all I ever will be"
- Billy Joe Shaver

Todd, thanks for the recommendations.