Anyone have experience with these wood planes?

[Crayola]

Hello all,

I'm getting ready to send Santa my wish list I'm thinking of asking for a plane from Santa, and I was wondering if anyone here ahs experience with the Japanese planes sold by Lee Valley. Here's a pic of one style:

Picture taken from www.leevalley.com

The other style they have can be seen here.

The main difference is that the one pictured above has a non-traditional chip breaker. Any experience with these planes? Or should I just be asking for a simple Stanley or Record plane?

I want a plane for workign with wood for handle materials, wood to make sheaths, and small wood-working projects. Nothign large, so I don't need a big sucker! And yes, money is an object so I can't just ask for a fancy Veritas smoothing plane.

Thanks all.

 

[Tom Anderson]

Looks nice.

Maybe this will help you decide:

Remember that traditional Japanese woodworking tools are drawn toward you and not pushed away.

 

[RokJok]

Wooden planes may require maintenance and/or tuning due to the dynamic nature of wood. If you have the time, it is no big deal.

But I'm lazy, so I go with the Rali planes. They have either a laminated steel sole or a stamped steel sole, depending on model. I have the 105n and 220n with laminated soles and the little Ralimatic model with stamped sole. The 105n block plane at $50 may be big enough for your needs.

Watch for them on eBay or other less-than-retail sources. Pictures and retail prices at:
http://www.advmachinery.com/rali/default.asp
http://www3.woodcraft.com/Planes&Spokeshaves/woodworking/565.htm
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/fullpres.exe?PARTNUM=114-944&DF=114-944#114-944

The nicest features of the Rali planes IMHO are:
1. NO NEED TO ADJUST FOR TILTED BLADES!! The blade holder keeps the edge parallel with the sole of the plane. So you don't have one corner of the blade digging into the wood while the other corner is still retracted above the sole.
2. Simple construction. The number of pieces inside the plane you need to deal with is just two or three (blade holder, maybe a folding bail, and cut depth adjustment lever).
3. Sensitive & easily adjusted depth of cut.
4. Easily replaceable blades, which last quite a long time before they need changing. (Note: I am a woodworking weekend warrior, so YMMV) Reassembly of a standard western style plane (Stanley, Record, Lie-Nielson, etc) after you've sharpened the blade seems to require two pairs of hands, one of which should be Houdini's.
5. Realigning the Rali laminated sole is easy, should it ever go out of alignment. Just loosen the bolts, place the sole on a flat surface (saw table maybe), square the sides, and retighten the bolts.

(edited to add) In spite of my affection for the Rali planes' simplistic operation and maintenance, IMHO the most beautiful woodwork I've seen is the unfinished (as in no stain or varnish applied) burnished surfaces left behind by the Japanese wood-bodied planes. Part of the tuning of a Japanese plane is to get the sole of the plane adjusted so that you get that compression burnishing of the wood surface.

 

[3/16th's]

Crayola I wouldn't bother. I have the exact model pictured and unfortunately, the blade leans slightly to one side. There's not really a way to adjust it (I've tried). I suppose I could grind it square. I guess its a case of you get what you pay for.

Hugh