Had a package from Lee Valley on my doorstep yesterday, got part of my cyber monday purchase. Here is the factory second router plane:
The only flaw I can see is a near-microscopic speck of a casting pit on the sole, pretty nice. I haven't had the chance to clean and use it yet, but I will try it out tonight.
I also got the large shoulder plane:
Only flaw is a small casting oddity on the lever cap, hidden completely from view in use and japanned/painted over so it's hard to tell. I took it apart, cleaned everything with mineral spirits, waxed/oiled everything, and reassembled. Here are all the parts:
I honed the blade on my 15k waterstone and lapped the back slightly (it was super flat, only a few strokes needed). Took some end grain shavings off cherry, works perfectly:
I also bought a (full priced) toothed blade for my LA jack plane. Hopefully it will reduce tear-out when flattening rough boards. Here is some soft maple before:
And after:
No tear-out at all. I was taking a very heavy cut, too… about 1/32 to 1/16" of the blade was protruding.
I also have a factory second skew block plane coming soon, I'll report back when it arrives.
The only flaw I can see is a near-microscopic speck of a casting pit on the sole, pretty nice. I haven't had the chance to clean and use it yet, but I will try it out tonight.
I also got the large shoulder plane:
Only flaw is a small casting oddity on the lever cap, hidden completely from view in use and japanned/painted over so it's hard to tell. I took it apart, cleaned everything with mineral spirits, waxed/oiled everything, and reassembled. Here are all the parts:
I honed the blade on my 15k waterstone and lapped the back slightly (it was super flat, only a few strokes needed). Took some end grain shavings off cherry, works perfectly:
I also bought a (full priced) toothed blade for my LA jack plane. Hopefully it will reduce tear-out when flattening rough boards. Here is some soft maple before:
And after:
No tear-out at all. I was taking a very heavy cut, too… about 1/32 to 1/16" of the blade was protruding.
I also have a factory second skew block plane coming soon, I'll report back when it arrives.