Choosing between joinery planes
Not sure how many hand tool users there are here but I’m going to buy a new plane and am debating between a plow plane or a combination plane (both Veritas). Plow plane gets me what I need today which is cutting grooves, dadoes, etc but the combination obviously gets a bit more in functionality and available blade shapes plus it has nickers on both sides so reversible direction. I already have a router plane with a fence which is almost as good as a plow but not quite. Trying to figure out if combination plane has any down sides to it at all that I’m not thinking about before I pull the trigger on it.
6 replies
Not sure how the Veritas planes go but as for older Stanley, weight is definitely a downfall of the combo planes. Being able to switch directions can be valuable for tearout on some woods. I don't think I've gotten much use from the specialty cutters outside of curiosity though.
The Veritas combo is definitely heavier but it’s not a behemoth like the 55, it’s closer to the 45. I like the idea of being able to do reads, flutes, etc but I’m also currently needing them for boxes I’m making so it’s a much smaller scale of work. I’ll report back what I end up going with and any insights I have if anyone’s interested.
That's good the 55 is quite a beast. It looks much sleeker too. Looking forward to hearing what works for you.
Between the two, I would get their combo plane personally. I won a plow plane in a raffle and I've used it a fair amount, but wish I could do more with it. I can't really justify having that and the combo, so I'm sticking with it for now. Maybe some day I'll sell it and just get the combo personally too
I ended up going with the box makers plow with a full set of metric blades. When I need the larger plane I’ll probably skip the regular plow and just get the combo. That way I’ve got something for the small work I tend to do more often than not.
Have you found the plow works fine regardless of grain direction? I can’t imagine you really need to have left and right hand models since it’s typically for a joint that will be hidden anyways but curious what your experience is.
I've honestly never had a problem with grain direction, but I've also had pretty good luck being able to select good boards to avoid wonky grain when I need to use the plow. Having both handed versions would certainly be a luxury, but I definitely don't think it is necessary, personally