My First Lie-Nielsen Plane

I've used (and love) Lie-Nielsen chisels, and floats. I've sold off the floats and mortise chisels. One thing I've never had is one of their planes. I love the quality of Lie-Nielsen tools. I could go on and on...

My standard plane needs are rather well satisfied. From scrub plane to smoother, I'm good. Don't need more, nor can I justify them. There's one specialty plane from LN, however, that I've been interested in, and finally picked one up: the Rabbet Block Plane.

Hello gorgeous! As soon as you hold this thing in your hand, you can feel the quality. It has weight, and the machining quality is apparent right away. It is also visually striking.

The "is it ready out of the box" test. All I did was set the blade, it cut right through that piece of oak.

Basic components: body, blade, cap.

Blade is lapped flat. Notice the matte finish. This is the finish I'm familiar with after having a few Veritas planes (as a point of comparison). Dead flat, ready for polish.

Profile of the body casting.

There is a knicker on either side. It's a circular blade that you can continue to rotate until it is entirely dull. I have the feeling that a knicker blade will last a long time.

Knicker in the cutting position.

Well machined casting.

How the blade adjuster interfaces with the blade.

Though blade depth is controlled by the rear adjuster nut, blade alignment is a manual affair. Not a problem, not a drawback, not a "con". I believe a Norris style adjuster would be inappropriate on this plane. Besides, if you're out there buying this type of plane, you've probably encountered enough manually adjusted planes to be able to handle setting up the blade.

I can't wait to put this plane to use. I have a specific project in mind for it. I'm sure that from there, it will become a regularly used tool in my shop.