On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:13:50 -0600, "Mike H."
calmly ranted:

I'm wanting to purchase my first real hand plane (smooth plane), but I don't
have the $ for a Lie-Neilson (the Cadillac?). Therefore, I was going to get
a Veritas. After reading reviews and shopping online (and according to the
2005 Tool Guide from Taunton), the Veritas planes appear to be the best
value for the money.

You'll find that most of us (those without several satchels of cash)
have all bought used Stanleys which are up to around 100 years old
and all of us love them to death.


But the Stanley planes *look* descent enough, and are about half the price
of a Veritas. And I have seen photos of Stanleys in professional wood
workers' "favorite hand tool" selections. So I was wondering if anyone out
there might have first hand experience in providing a side-by-side
comparison of the Stanley vs. Veritas hand planes (in particular smooth
planes). Amazon had a nasty review for the #4 Stanley, but the fellow
didn't say why it was such a horrible hand plane.

The newer models aren't as well made as the oldies.


So what's the difference? Please help.

Shininess. LN, Veritas, and new Stanleys are all quite shiny.

Another possibility for you is to buy one of Steve Knight's
smoothers. It's a wood plane with a thickarse blade. They cost
less than Veritas, too (by a whopping $4 and s/h.) Look for them
on Ebay or at his website at www.Knight-Toolworks.com . I own a
whole bevy of his planes and like them, using the smoother a lot.

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