# Stanley 45 or Veritas plow plane



## Vance100 (Mar 27, 2012)

Should I look for a Stanley 45 or buy a new Veritas?


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## Tim457 (Jan 11, 2013)

Depends on what you want to do. The Veritas is just a plow plane which means it is limited to grooves and there's a tongue cutter available. The 45 can do that plus it has a variety of other cutters available like the slitter and beading cutters. You can also buy additional bases that do hollow and round and some other things.
See here:
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan6.htm#num45

He does not like the 45, but a lot of people do.


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## bonobo (Oct 8, 2012)

I'd go with the Veritas and just the 1/4" cutter (I think 95% of grooves are 1/4").

I use a Record #405 which is an exact copy of the Stanley #45. I'm happy with it but I was lucky that the #405 I purchased was in nearly perfect, complete condition. You might not get so lucky, so the Veritas seems to me like a much safer bet. Not that the #405/45 isn't a great plough plane, it's just that mine came in a wooden box and I have to take it out and fit the fence each time.

I'm planning to buy a Record #044 or #043 at the local Tools of the Trades show in October.


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## bonobo (Oct 8, 2012)

...that's not to say that when it's all tuned up, the #45 can't do really nice grooves, beads and rebates, just that there's a bit of a learning curve and more to go wrong with it than the Veritas.

I should add that I don't own a Veritas but own several other Lee Valley planes and find them all to be excellent.


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## BubbaIBA (Nov 23, 2011)

I've owned a pristine 45 for somewhere around 40 years and I would bet I could count the number of grooves I've cut with it without taking my shoes off. While there are others that will disagree and it is a fascinating work of woodworking tool art, as a woodworking tool it is a POS. It's not that it will not do all the functions it is there are other planes that will do them better and with less fuss.

Get the Veritas. I have one along with several wood stock plows, the Record 778 and a Stanley 78. If I'm making furniture and not just goofing around I will always reach for the Veritas. Put a wood fence on the Veritas, rough up the depth stop post so it will hold, make sure the iron is sharp and it doesn't get better.

I just finished grooving five large drawers with 3/8" grooves and I would bet the router and/or table saw guys would not beat me by much.










Here is what the aux fence looks like:


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## sikrap (Mar 15, 2009)

I have a 45 and the Veritas plow and the Veritas does a much better (and faster) job on rabbets, grooves and dados. Unless you want to use the 45 for making moldings, I think the Veritas is a much better value.


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