Official Luthiers Forum!

So, I have a fair chunk of change to spend at LN through Christmas gift certificates.
Wondering what tools others may have purchased that worked well for them.

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

No. 62 Low Angle Jack Plane I use it for dang near everything. With different angled blades you can use it to join plates, even very figured wood.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Same here, LN No. 62.
And cabinet scrapers.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

The Violin makers plane & Small block plane get used daily. I have the adjustable mouth block plane its nice, just a little big for guitar work.

I use the two small bronze block planes mentioned by Clinchriver all the time. I own, and use, the low angle jack plane mentioned above, as well; but the block planes see the most action.

LN socket chisels are my main chisels; I use those all the time, too.

I also use their tiny bronze spokeshave. It is a good size for shaping a neck.

I also agree with the No. 62. I would also suggest the No. 60-1/2 Adjustable Mouth Block Plane. It comes in very handy for be for a number of tasks.

Planes.... spokeshave.... scrapers:)


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Thanks guys.
I do have a number of tools from LN currently. Chisels, spokeshaves, small brass block planes, 4 1/2 block, No51 shooter, auriou rasps...probably more.

The 62 Plane seems popular. I purchased the No51 for joining plates and it works awesome. How do I know? Because they turn out perfect and im no woodworker. ; )
I do not have a larger plane at this point and maybe do not need one, but i have to buy something!

My first thoughts were of the 7 1/2 low angle jointer or 7 or 8 jointer plane. I do have larger pieces of stock, but no lumberyard by any means.
Where do you feel the 62 fits in this mix?

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

I have a full compliment Of L/N tools too many to mention.You did not specify what tasks you hope to accomplish? If just starting out . The adjustable mouth low angle block plane, full width block rabett plane. a 62 L/N low angle jack with 2 blades 50 deg and 25 deg, and a small low angle flat instrumentmakers plane. . If planing a lot of boards for resawing I would consider the low angle number 7 jointer plane as well . I have a number of L/V tools but IMHO the quality seems better in L/N. Good luck with your planing. The L/N staff are also very helpful in answering any of your technical questions which I appreciate , Don/t know if L/V has a tech advisory system.

If you already have the #51 for jointing plates, another tool aimed towards the same task seems superfluous. Your #4-1/2 will handle highly figured material which low angle planes can have issues with, and is a good smoother. The rule for jointing is a plane length of at least half the stock length, and given that plates and neck blanks are about 22"-24" in length, a jack plane handles the job, so a 22" jointer plane - while nice to have for other projects - might be less useful than a general purpose jack plane like a #5 with a standard angle frog or perhaps a #6.

In terms of other useful Lie-Nielsen tools, the honing guides are quite nice - we have three in the shop, with each set up for a different group of tools. The saws (tapered dovetail, tapered carcass, and tapered tenon) are very reasonably priced, although all of my use has been on furniture or shop projects versus luthiery tasks thus far. My small trimming plane - what they call the violin maker's plane - is very nice as well, and is sized for an apron. Finally, while I favor the older Ulmia bench chisels for most work, the Lie-Nielsen A2 chisels work really well in abrasive woods like anigre for both trimming and mallet work.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Actually got the adjustable mouth block plane in the game today. I've been building a few Strat's & Tele's curly maple necks and fretboards with compound radius. My smaller block planes while scary sharp had some minor chipping planing the fretboards. Reground the blade (steeper angle) on the adjustable mouth block plane and its working wonderfully. Nice size for fretboards also.

Has anybody tried the Lie Nielsen #3 or #4 with the higher angle frogs?

The #4, #4-1/2, and #5-1/2 all have 50 degree frogs. Wisdom in the shop is that tuning up the chipbreaker edge, which is poorly shaped on the 'improved' Lie-Nielsen version, and setting it as fine as possible (per Blackburn and other older authorities...within a few thousandths) makes more of a difference on figured or difficult stock than the frog angle, but all other things equal, the higher angle helps.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Thank you Ernie, woodie, and clinch.

I'm not certain of the task, was hoping someone would just say "I bought this tool for this task and it worked great!"

I have the essential tools, but now that I am forced to buy something, just looking for some ideas.
The 62 is sounding interesting. A long plane because I don't have one.
Thought of the apron...but I'm vegan so that doesn't work ; )

Thanks again guys

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

I use the Violin Makers Plane for so many tasks I can't count - first pass at radiusing the kerfing above the rims is one area that it is the perfect size. I also use it for breaking edges on my neck and tail blocks. But its used more than any other plane in my tool box.

The small brass curved spoke shave can be very nice for final brace scalloping.

The Lie Nielsen brush is also great—from brushing brace shavings off of tops, to dusting my planes—keeps me from wiping then with dirty/sweaty hands, or from blowing the dust or shavings which risks other contaminants.

I can recommend Poundland paint brushes, 3" plus 4" for $1.30, for any dusting off tasks, handle is at the perfect angle and keep their bristles very well ...............

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Gregerio FWIW FIRST FIGURE out all the intended tasks you plan to do ??? then try and match the different usefulness of the above planes to the task at hand, E.G, for shooting edges L/N low angle jack, headstock cleaning ; bracing etc L/N low angle adjustable mouth block plane and keep going down the list .A scrap of paper and a good pencil are your friends where you can see which company and their plane offerings allies with your intended tasks /uses. Good luck ?!!!. I just buy them 1 at a time until I found/ see which plane will work better for its intended tasks . There are excellent videos on youtube rob cosman canadian and paul sellers english, go into great detail discussing and showing how to use a wide range of planes

Thanks again people.
Just to be clear, I do have tools to perform the tasks needed in my world with MY knowledge. This is why I was looking for some help.
Here is my humble edge tool collection.



I have gone ahead and placed my order.
When the pieces arrive I will post them. Bets on what I chose?
thanks

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

I think planes are often dependent on what you get used to. I have a number of friends that use different size planes to do the same things I do, and they get good results with what they have. I have a few LN planes and they are very nicely made. The 62 is really good, as well as their block plane. I recently bought a #7, but I'm going to sell it. I was trying to replace my old Bailey #8 with something a little lighter and smaller. I figured the LN7 would do the job. My main use for the 8 is jointing tops and backs with the plane on it's side. Turns out the sidewall on the LN7 is shorter than my Bailey and its a bit tippy using it in that way. My old Bailey 8 with a Hock blade works a lot better for me. I go back and forth between the 62 with the LN Hot Dog on it, and my 8. Sometimes one works better than the other and I like having both.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Model maker #100 ... cheap at $75, highly useful for lots of small tasks.

Andy

I think you are right on Bob.
Take me for example. I did whatever research I could, decided i wanted jointed edges on my plates.
I came across the LN51, read that it was great for jointing so I purchased it.
My inexperience shone right through as the plane is a bit one-dimensional; works well though.
The HOTDOG, does that work well?

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

That LN51 is really made for doing miters and end grain I think. I also made the mistake, I think it was mistake #437 or worse, of buying the Veritas version of that plane. There was a guy selling Veritas planes at the GAL in Tacoma some years ago. He was demonstrating what he called the Veritas Shooting Plane as the right tool for jointing tops and backs. I bought one and just could not get it to work. I ended up calling Veritas and they explained it was meant for endgrain. I sold it on eBay for what I paid for it luckily. The LN Hotdog works really great on the LN 62. Makes it much more comfortable to use the plane for jointing on a shooting when used on it's side. I don't know what other LN planes it fits. It does not fit the LN7. Not a very complicated add on. Could easily be made. In fact, I intend to make one that will fit on my Bailey 8. As a vegetarian I'll have to call it a soy dog! Happy planing.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

The Lie-Nielsen #62 is based on the Stanley #62, another plane intended for end grain work - as the Lie Nielsen #51 is based on the Stanley original. If the #51 is working well for you jointing plates, Mr. Gregorio, any concern re: the original designer's intent for proper tool use would seem to be somewhat misplaced.

We have a sheet of what are titled 'Murphy's Shop Rules' posted on one wall of the stairwell entry. Over time, what I initially viewed as a collection of hackneyed aphorisms has proven to be more a summary of universal truths as applied to shops in general and guitarmaking in particular. The one that would seem to apply here is:

"If it looks stupid, but works, it's not stupid."

By the way, aging models use hemorrhoid cream to temporarily suppress puffiness under the eyes before a job. Never having had need for remedy of that particular issue, I cannot speak to its effectiveness, but it seems like re-purposing tools is a similar sort of thing.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Woodie- That's a good point and what I alluded to in my earlier post "Planes are often dependent on what you get used to." I did not know the 62 was also designed for endgrain. Interesting. I almost always end up using my 62 and my 8 in combination. The 62 gets the joint to where it could often be called good enough, but a couple of thin passes with the 8 can sometimes make a big difference. Thanks for the info.--Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

FWIW I use the LN /62 LA and the stanley number 6 or 7 if that meets nasty grain its the ece 24 in vanadium chrome bladed woody jointer if that doesn/t fly, a home made 28in chinese style jointer plane with a 10$ mujingfang blade bedded at 60 deg for really gnarly grain like quilted maple osage orange etc

I have the Lee Valley/Veritas Shoot Board plane its so easy to use joining tops and backs its laughable. Also handy for electric blanks. 0.180/0.200 thick tops and backs are effortless 8/4 ash & spruce is work but the results are the same perfect glue joint.