First SW in captivity?

[jmk89]

Hi Jeremy

It sounds like you did very well - an excellent score at the price.

What you get with the Veritas is out-of-the-box useability plus all the bells-and-whistles. With the Stanley you may need to tune it up to extract the maximum performance.

I'd get a Thumbsucker-made blade for it (since I believe that Stanley are not making spare blades as yet), and hone it so that you a LA blade for the shooting board and a HA blade for difficult grain.

What is the bed angle and what was the cutting angle you used?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek

Bed angle is 12.5 degrees. The bevel is 25 degrees, so the cutting angle was 37.5 degrees.

I think it is a very good idea to use a TS blade to make a high angle blade for BU work on Aussie hardwood. It might be a bit of an effort, though. I suspect that I will have to fill in the slot in the TS blade and drill new holes to match the SW LAJ layout. Not impossible I know, but a bit of a fiddle! I will put it on the To do list!

Although I have never bought a Veritas or LN LAJ or LA Smoother, I do have a couple of their block planes, bought new. I would say that the SW LAJ is as usable straight from the box as those block planes were for me. Further, ISTR that Veritas say that their planes will need tuning as well.

So "straight out of the box" is a realtive term. That is, all planes, even the best, can benefit from some skilled set-up. Some planes can give acceptable results without that, and some absolutely have to be fettled before they are usable at all.. I reckon the SW LAJ passes that test except for the need to hone the blade (which you should do even with a Veritas or LN).

What is good news is that the SW LAJ comes out of the box with a flat, solid base, a thick quality blade, very good fit between parts (so the blade sits solidly on the base) and good mechanics and handles. It is a while since I could say that about a Stanley plane bought new!

As for bells and whistles - that is true, Veritas and (to a lesser degree, LN) do have more of that stuff. Some of it is hlepful (the indexing screws to facilitate returning the blade to the same spot; and the addition of nickers to the skewed rebate block planes). Some I find gimmicky (how's that for a complaint from someone who uses and enjoys combination planes (even the ultimate boat anchor - the Stanley #55)), but I supsect that this is a case of one man's meat is another man's poison - ie what I find a gimmick, someone else finds essential. But $200 or more is a lot of dough to get those advantages.

Probably the point is best illustrated by comparing the SW LAJ and the Veritas and LN alternatives with their automotive equivalents. The SW LAJ is if you like a Lexus. It is an appreciable step up from the other cars of the same maker (Toyota) and can hold its head up in the company of BMW and Mercedes (at the bottom of their ranges). But it is not, and doesn't pretend to be and certainly is not priced to be, a competitor with the top of the range BMW or Mercedes.

[dynoforce]

G'day Jeremy,

I am glad your SW works almost right off the bat. Thanks for sharing.

I just read about this not so flattering review here, http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...ley+No+62.aspx.

Cheers

GUNN

[jmk89]

G'day Jeremy,

I am glad your SW works almost right off the bat. Thanks for sharing.

I just read about this not so flattering review here, http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...ley+No+62.aspx.

Cheers

GUNN

Yeah, I saw Chris's review. He seems to have got a pre-production dud. I suspect it may have been quite rough. The good news is that Stanley seem to be taking this feedback seriously.

This weekend I may investigate how the mouth closing feature works to see if I can make it close up more

[derekcohen]

Hi Jeremy

IF the mouth does not close up enough ... it is not a big deal for this plane:

1. For the shooting board, planing end grain you do not need a tight mouth.

2. If used as a high angle smoother (say 60+degrees cutting angle), then the size of the mouth is not important.

There are also ways to tighten the mouth should you need to do so ... IF this is an issue.

Chris' sample sounded a different animal to your plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[dynoforce]

IF the mouth does not close up enough ... it is not a big deal for this plane:

1. For the shooting board, planing end grain you do not need a tight mouth.

2. If used as a high angle smoother (say 60+degrees cutting angle), then the size of the mouth is not important.

G'day Derek,

Thanks for this info. Always learning something new here.

I believe when you mention "high angle smoother", you meant the cutting angle. Which applies to BU planes as well.

Cheers

GUNN

[jmk89]

Agreed. I reckon my plane is pretty good.

The mouth tightness issue isn't a major issue for me. But I suppose on the snoopiness principle, I want to see why the mouth doesn't close as much as it should and see what remedies are available

[Vann]

I think it is a very good idea to use a TS blade to make a high angle blade for BU work on Aussie hardwood. It might be a bit of an effort, though. I suspect that I will have to fill in the slot in the TS blade and drill new holes to match the SW LAJ layout. Not impossible I know, but a bit of a fiddle! I will put it on the To do list!

Hi jmk89,

If I recall correctly, TS said that next batch of Stanley replacement irons could include more shapes, such as for Stanley #10 & 10.5 rebate planes. So possibly you could get some Stanley LAJ irons produced. I don't know if there's a minimum number of each shape, and you'd have to supply the dimensions.

In fact, if you PM me with the dimensions, I could draw it up on CAD in anticipation.

Cheers, Vann.

[jmk89]

Vann,

Thanks for the offer. I may well take you up on it soon.

On other news, I used the LAJ to pare end-grain this weekend (about 4 metres of it!). One sharpening lasted the whole session and the finish was superb - I was using poplar, which can crush when endplaning, but this was fine. Cutting end-grain does not require a fine mouth so that was not an issue.

I also tried to use my #386 fence on the LAJ just for fun on a couple of pieces that were inconvenient to fit on the shooting board. It doesn't fit. Fortunately my other fence (an Aussie one whose name I have forgotten) attaches at one point and has on roller bearing to maintain squareness and it fitted and worked fine.