Veritas BU Jack or shooter


doorslammer

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I hate doing this, but I'm looking for some opinions to push me off the fence. Originally I had my eye on the shooting plane, but struggling with it being such a specialized tool. Sounds like the BU jack would be almost as good on the shooting board and be more versatile. I already have a vintage bedrock 605 and Baily 5 1/2, not to mention an old Record setup as a scrub plane, so I don't really "need" any more jack planes. Thoughts?

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Hmm...seems like everyone is leaning towards the shooter, when I think I was slightly tilted the other way :). I still mix hand and power quite a bit which is part of my hesitation. However, part of the reason for my current three headed setup is that I prefer to use them for different tasks. Grr......the internal struggle continues.

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The Veritas BU jack is probably the single plane that sees the most use in my shop, with the possible exception of my old #4.   Unlike the #5 1/2, which is as I recall the same length, it ends up being useful for jointing and is far better for uses like a shooting board.   One could probably tune a #5 1/2 to get similar performance, but I don't think it can be the all-rounder that the BU jacks from Veritas or LN are.

 

That said, the dedicated shooters are a real step up in performance, both speed and quality of surface.  Depending on how often you use a shooting board, it would make a lot of sense.

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I'm swaying back towards the shooter. I spent some time with my 605 And 5 1/2 tonight and realized that they do what I need. My 5 1/2 is an early one with the same 2 1/4" wide iron as the Veritas which I really like. I don't see any benefit in the high angle capability of the BU format in a jack since a tear out can be tolerated if you are going to follow up with a smoother. So that leaves the low angle end which is for shooting. I think if I were just starting out the BU would make sense, but maybe not at this point.

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