no 48 plane question

[woodworkersteve]

As I go down this slippery slope of hand tools, I'm considering getting #48 Stanley or Lie-Nielsen, for tongue & groove joints. What says the brain trust? I'm thinking for panel work and I'm a hobbyist and not looking to do production work.
Thanks, Steve

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

One of my all time favorite planes. If you have plenty of panels in your future, or other T&G work, then they are darn useful. The LN version is actually a bit better since the blade is a one piece design. It makes it easier to set the depth consistent for both sides of the tongue. The LN 48 is on my short list to buy myself.

[Admiral]

Vintage 48s have two irons, and can be fiddy to adjust, but have the advantage of being less expensive than the LN. The LN works as it should out of the box, with some honing of the iron, and has a one piece iron eliminating the adjustment alignment of two irons. Once set up, both will do the same work. Sometimes, vintage 48s are sold (especially on EBay) with undisclosed issues (i.e., slop in the fence or pivot) or person irons, so inspect carefully like with any vintage tools.

Personally, I bit the bullet and got a LN, and sold my vintage 48 as it had pivot slop. However, sound ones are definitely out there, I just bought badly sight unseen. Lesson learned 15 years ago! I'm smarter now.

[woodworkersteve]

Thanks for the responses-I'm trying to expand my skill (and tool set) and am working on a coffee table. I had done all of the prep and finish work with my hand tools. In a previous post, I was inquiring how to do the breadboard ends. I ended up cutting myself on the saw, and that drew me to explore a hand plane that I could use. Fortunately, all I needed was a few stitches, but still want to explore alternate ways of making tongue and groove joints. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Lynford in Reno]

Lee Valley small plow plane is what I use:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.as...&cat=1,230,41182

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

You will not be sorry if you buy an LN #48. Mine delights me every time I touch it.

I tried the Veritas T&G attachment for the Small Plow plane when it first came out in 2012. I found the setup to be overly fussy, and there were some minor but annoying dimensional issues that prompted me to send it back. I bought an LN #48 instead, which I use with great pleasure.

LV may have addressed the issues I had, so if you already have a Veritas Small Plow, the T&G attachment might be worth considering. However, I can heartily endorse the LN #48.

[mdhills]

Does the LN48 do reasonably on end grain? (i.e., would it be viable for a frame&panel, or is this lapped backs only?)

Matt

[Paul-in-Plymouth]

I've never tried it on end grain. I think it would be a disaster. There is no nicker ahead of the blade, and even if you were to saw the shoulders, there is no fine adjustment on the blade depth. The plane is designed for making tongues and grooves with the grain as far as I can see. It does that very well. It would not be my choice for end-grain work.

[Rob Young]

I have a type I Stanley #48 and enjoy using it. Had to add the blades as they were AWOL.

And lately I've been experimenting with using various combinations of #44, #45 & #50 for doing T&G work. #45 bodies are relatively cheap, especially those with just one blade, all other accessories being lost. And putting your hands on just the tonguing blade and the matching plow blade is also relatively easy so one could for under $100 set up two of these and just be done.

$100 is less than the LN48 but probably more than a user-grade #48 would be.

Since I've acquired the metalic plow-plane bug, having multiple bodies isn't much of a problem for me.

[Mike Brady]

Got a good #48 Stanley if you are interested.