Customer Reviews

Low Angle Block Plane

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fantastic plane. The sole is dead flat, the blade is thick and was razor sharp out of the box, and the chipbreaker is perfectly flush across the width of the blade. Blade adjustment is simple and it stays locked in. I have only to lightly hone the blade from time to time on a water stone and it beautifully cuts everything from curly cherry to pine; it even did a decent job chamfering some ironwood from here in the desert. Not to get too poetic, but even here at work, I can actually remember the feel of the plane in my hand as it cuts the wood. Now I just have to save up for some bigger LN planes :-)

I have had the bronze body version for a long time. This is the hardest working tool in my shop and I'm afraid I have to respectively disagree with the view that the Stanley comes close... The stanley blade floats and chatters, while the adjustment is fiddley - I also have the Stanley, but I only use it on unforgiving harsh material like chipboard -- the bronze body of my Lie-Nielsen is beautiful, but it's soft and the sole picks up marks from some of the harsher man-made boards.... so, if you can live with the lesser beauty of the grey iron body of this model, then you have got yourself something you will always enjoy and can use everywhere. I'm only trolling this site because I'm considering getting the iron body one as well.
Never buy a cheap tool!

this tool is heirloom quality...with unbelievable precision. i will be proud to pass it down to my sons...

When I first saw these Lie-Nielsen planes I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to spend the money for them, aside from bragging rights, and frankly, bragging rights aren't worth the incredible difference in price to me. But I've had to do more hand planing lately, and my right-priced Stanley block plane is difficult to control and just won't produce consistent shavings, even after professional servicing. That and a sudden infusion of some extra cash led me to take a chance on this more expensive plane.

Up until the moment I used it I was afraid that I might have wasted my money. The plane looks gorgeous, but would it really work any better than the Stanley? And the answer is, out of the box, with no adjustment whatsoever, yes, it works amazingly better. So much better, in fact, that I can't imagine ever going back to any Stanley plane whatsoever. A good workman never blames his tools, but somehow, on the arrival of this new plane, I became a much more skilled woodworker! I have been able to take the rattiest looking glued-up panels, and make them look gorgeous with this plane. And unlike planing with my Stanley, I actually enjoy using the Lie-Nielsen! I just want to keep planing and making the surface perfect!

I'm just a casual woodworker, with a limited budget, and Lie-Nielsen tools are expensive. But I would say, even for me, using anything less is a poor economy.

The plane showed up neatly and securely packaged. Everything was straight and true, and right out of the box this little plane was sharp enough to get to work.
The planing motion is smooth and steady, and the tool fits neatly and securely in the palm of the hand whether planing toward or away from you. The bronze does have the potential to turn your palm an interesting shade of green with prolonged use.
I have absolutely no complaints and would recommend the tool to anyone looking for a LA block plane, especially those who have no interest in spending 4 hours retooling and sharpening the poor workmanship out of a Stanley plane.

I have been using this small block plane for four years now, and I have nothing but superlatives to describe it.

It is essential for chamfering and creating beautiful rounded edges, excellent on flattening edge surfaces, and flawless when it comes to really fine-tuned flattening. I just re-flattened my Ulmia workbench and was having a hard time getting dead flat with my regular Lie-Nielsen planes, so I went in and took this little beauty over all the small uneven places, and was able to get as close to dead flat as a bench can get.

It is an intimate tool in that it sits snug in your hand and is very responsive to what it happening between the blade and the wood. I sharpen my blade so that I have a slight curvature at the very edges, giving me a flat blade that leaves no plane tracks, and it performs like a dream.

Got this block plane as a Christmas gift. A high quality tool. Super sharp right out of the box. It is a pleasure to use and I find myself reaching for this block plane often when when working on large and small projects. A good value if you use it and take good care of it.

Not much to say here, you will not be disappointed. This is the epitome of a block plane. Do note that there is no adjustable mouth on this particular model and it is a bit smaller than most planes with the feature.

This was one of the first hand tools I purchased, knowing little at the time to recommend the choice, and I've been thankful for my luck ever since. Lie-Nielsen tools are great value - yes, they cost more but you are not paying for the name. You are paying for dead-flat soles and blades, saving you hours of work and frustration on the tool, and preventing tool-driven errors as you learn. You are paying for well designed tools, with simple mechanics that let you focus on your technique instead of fiddling with settings and "features" that you don't need. And if you ever need advice, you are paying for the generous expertise of the Lie-Nielsen team in Maine, who display the kind of professional warmth you don't see every day.

This Low Angle Block Plane is one I keep at hand for almost all projects - great on end grain, chamfering, and cleaning up through tenons. Comes sharp out of the box and takes an edge with ease. I've added other Lie-Nielsen tools to my bench, and each offers the same excellence as my first. Highly recommended.

Excellent little block plane. I am kind of a bonehead with these things, and I must say that working with better equipment makes me somewhat less of a bonehead. This Lie-Nielsen low angle block plane is perfectly level, incredibly sharp out of the box and very easy to micro-adjust. I will be buying more of their planes. Worth every penny.