Buying a Shoulder Plane, what brand?


minorhero

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I am thinking very seriously about buying a new shoulder plane. I own quite a few planes but no shoulder planes. All the planes I own I have purchased from ebay and have come to me in VERY rough shape. I then recondition them for my own use. I have gotten pretty decent at this but for whatever reason shoulder planes (and rabbet planes) cost used almost the same as new ones. And even though they are consistently cheaper its not enough of a price break in my mind to justify buying used over new. 

 

So the question now is what shoulder plane to get.

 

What I want to use it for is cleaning up, well tenon shoulders and also half lap joints and rabbets as well. Right now I do these jobs with chisel and I am definitely looking for a faster and easier method.

 

The woodriver shoulder plane, veritas plane and lie nielson planes are all similarly priced (within 50 dollars of each other). 

 

I am thinking about something in the .5 to .75 width range because that is about the size of most dados I would be using these for. 

 

Any thoughts on which is better? Since the prices are similar that probably won't be the main factor. 

 

Thoughts?

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I tend to prefer the LN bench planes over the Veritas bench planes, but I prefer the Veritas joinery planes over the LN joinery planes...with one exception...that being the shoulder planes.  The way it's designed feels goofy and a bit awkward in my hand.  Granted, I've only played with them at shows, but that was enough.  Still, you'll get used to anything, and either way you'll own a nice tool.

 

If the Wood River is comparable in price to the other two, I'd scratch it off the list.  Haters can hate on me for that if they want...but it's inferior to the other two brands, plain and simple.  If it were half price, it might be worth considering.  Or not.

 

That said, a shoulder plane is one of the easier ones to make yourself.  From what I hear.  I, of course, am too lazy to make my own tools, and I'd rather spend my money than my time.  But really it's just a block of wood with a blade and wedge.  Thought food.

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I bought a couple of older Stanleys and tuned them. They were not too expensive and work great. You do have to watch for out of square castings and cracks though. If buying from internet ask for detailed photos as some are better tham others. Better still try and view before you buy and take a square with you.

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I skipped over the Stanley sweetheart planes though they are indeed half the price because of some bad reviews online talking about folks needing to regrind the soles or frogs. I have done some sole flattering with used planes but have no intention of doing this for a new plane as it seems like the kind of thing that should be done at the factory.

That being said I obviously have no first hand experience. How was your Stanley? Was it good to go out of the box beyond some sharpening or was more needed?

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The Veritas looks to have adjustments neither of the other 2 have. It is the most expensive. Are the adjustments helpful or unnecessary?

Not sure about the other shoulder planes, but I enjoy the adjustment on the veritas. Being able to close down the mouth can be helpful. I don't use the the little set screws that hold the blade in position, but I know others who do. What is especially nice is the fact you can move the lever cap knob to fit your hand. Again, not sure if the other planes have similar features.

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I've used the LN and the LV... I bought the LV.

I recommend the LV over the LN in this case, and I don't think it's even close.

 

I found the LV infinitely more comfortable to use, and slightly more intuitive to adjust.

 

One thing, every year on black Friday LV has a scratch and dent sale. The last few years they've had the medium sized shoulder plane in their scratch and dent offering. I actually bought mine that way years ago. To this day I still have no idea what was scratched or dented on my plane. You may want to wait to purchase until black Friday. Get on-line early though or they'll be gone.

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I had no problems with my Stanley SW 92, most of the problems I've heard about have been with their 62.

 

Edited to add:  I think I would find it uncomfortable if I had larger hands.  (I wear medium gloves for reference).  The little knobs on the Veritas look like they'd be more comfortable if I was doing a lot of shoulder planing, but then again, it is more of a touch up tool.

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AW - many reviews I've seen indicate a preference for going with the larger one (the smaller ones rapidly become the less-used option), but if you're looking at dadoes that sort of simplifies the size selection.  If you do any work with ply wood though, remember most ply uis actually less than .75" so a .75" shoulder plane migh actually be too large.  Also from what I've read, both LN and LV are excellent choices.

 

For some of that work though, have you considered a router plane?  The advantage over a shoulder plane is that it lets you dial in a consistent depth - maybe not uber critical for a dado, but for a  lap joint or tenon cheeks they work very very well.

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John brings up a good point since you stated what you wanted this for, for half laps you can make the whole joint with a router plane and a backsaw.  For rabbets a 78 can be had for cheap on eBay.  I use either for more/longer work than the shoulder plane, which I use mostly for tuning.  A 78 can be setup to take nice thick shavings and is pretty fast, whereas the 92 takes thin little ones to true things up.  Think jack vs smoother plane. 

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Right now I am using a dado setup for cross lap and half lap joints and I use a tenon jig (the fairly cheap modern cast iron version) on the table saw for the tenons. Both leave little bits of stuff that need to be cleaned up. The shoulder plane I think will make that job more reliable and easier then my current method of using a chisel. 

 

It sounds like either LN or LV options are good and I need to do more research on the SW 92.

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John hit it on the head. A router plane is the best hand tool for cleaning up dadoes. If you are looking to increase the width of a dado by a little bit or clean up what you have, get a set of side rabbet planes.

To Graham's point, I'd say that using a router plane on cheeks is a step up from a chisel. Especially for half laps where there is a critical dimension.

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tcarswell I'm with you there, I'm not in love but the Stanley No 92 does what it's supposed to. Apple Wood In this rather lame video I compare it to a UK version of the 92 woodcraft plane 

 

[my thoughts exactly it performs well as a scraper plane and exceptionally as a shoulder plane
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+1 for a router plane for cleaning up and leveling tenon cheeks and the bottoms of dados and rabbets.     It's cheap and easy to make additional MDF or plexiglass bases for the router plane, just as you would for a powered router, to reach larger areas and for specialized work.  

 

I use my shoulder planes for shoulders and long and/or narrow rabbets.  It's rare that my shoulders come off the table saw needing further work.   In those cases, my large Veritas gets more action than my medium version, as the mass can be helpful.

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I bought the LN large shoulder plane and while it gets a little bit of use in tenon work, I almost think that I should have grabbed a rabbeting block plane instead. The small and medium seemed to have too much overlap with my chisels and router plane, but now that I've used it a little I think I'd prefer the dimension and control of the rabbeting block plane. I guess what I'm saying is to really consider what this plane is going to do for you. I kept hearing people remark on how invaluable the shoulder plane is, but its design seems to make it a really limited use tool. 

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I think its a personal preference , if you can try them out and see what you like .  The Woodworking Show is coming to Baltimore in Jan that would be a great place to try different planes .  Maybe reach out to some local guys and see if they have any to try out .  I know there's a bunch of us from the forums here that get together in someones shop .  What part of MD are you in ?   BTW I have the LV  med, small and mini shoulder planes and use them all .

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I think its a personal preference , if you can try them out and see what you like .  The Woodworking Show is coming to Baltimore in Jan that would be a great place to try different planes .  Maybe reach out to some local guys and see if they have any to try out .  I know there's a bunch of us from the forums here that get together in someones shop .  What part of MD are you in ?   BTW I have the LV  med, small and mini shoulder planes and use them all .

Why did I have to read that the woodworking show is coming to me right after holiday bonus time?

If anyone is going and wants to grab a beer and nerd out on woodworking give me a shout.

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