On Nov 3, 7:11*pm, Doug White wrote:
With Christmas coming, I'm thinking I could finally get myself a good block
plane. *I've seen decent reviews of Veritas's planes, and Lie Nelson is
probably too pricey. *None of the reviews I've read put the Stanleys in the
same general class as the Veritas planes.

I'm not going to be doing much fine cabinet work, but have occasional need
to trim pine, oak & walnut to get a good fit. *That & the occasional sticky
door. *

In terms of features, what do folks think about low-angle vs normal, and
adjustable throats? *The low angle planes seem to be recommneded for end
grain, which I have to deal with on occasion. *Is there a downside to the
low angle?

Thoughts, comments?

Thanks!

Doug White

Old Stanleys are good users, and cheap. The adjustable toe
prevents tearout by letting you set the mouth just wide enough
to feed a shaving through, breaking it as soon as it's cut. It
works better than the "chip breaker" caps used on bench
planes.

Expensive LN and Veritas planes are for expensive work.
Shame to ruin them on the edge of a painted door slab.
A #220 is good, a less than pristine #5 is better.

Angle of the frog is less important than sharpness of
the blade.