My grandfather's wooden planes vs my new Lie-Nielsen...night and day

So I inherited my granddad's old wooden planes a few years back. I tried using them on a job last spring, a big oak table for a client in Portland. Man they were a pain. Kept slipping, had to sharpen every 20 minutes, just couldn't get a consistent shaving. I was about ready to give up on hand planes altogether. Then I saved up and dropped $400 on a Lie-Nielsen No. 4 smoother. Set it up in about 10 minutes, took one pass on that oak, and it was like cutting butter. The weight, the adjustment, the blade hold. I never realized how much easier a good tool makes the work. I get that the old ones have history, but for actually getting a job done well, the modern stuff just works better. Anyone else made the switch and felt the same?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_dixon7822d ago

That cutting butter feeling is the real deal, I swear.

-2

robin_foster122d ago

Wait hold on, $170 for a knife? I thought you meant like a thirty dollar kitchen knife or something. That is a whole different level of crazy right there. I mean I get wanting a good blade but that's more than I spend on gas some weeks. That better be able to cut through a brick wall or something.