Lie-Nielsen Toolworks builds heirloom-grade planes on the Maine coast, about an hour north of our campus, and their tools are an absolute joy to use. When Gaius talks about woodworking as therapy, these are the tools he means.
The 60-1/2 Rabbet Block Plane runs its blade the full 1-3/4-in width of the body, with open sides, so it cuts flush into corners, dressing tenon cheeks, rabbets, and shoulders that a standard block plane cannot reach. Two small A2 nickers score the fibers ahead of the cut on each side for clean cross-grain shoulders. The blade is bedded low at 12 degrees for end grain, the ductile iron body is ground flat and square to a thousandth, and the bronze cap sits in the palm the way it should. Fine Woodworking called it the best-value block plane on the market.
Specifications:
- Pattern: rabbet block plane, based on the Sargent No. 507
- Blade: full body width, 1-3/4 in x 1/8 in thick, A2 tool steel, bedded at 12 degrees
- Nickers: two circular A2 nickers protruding .010 in, one each side
- Overall: 6-1/4 in long, 1-3/4 in wide
- Body: ductile iron ground flat and square to .001 in; bronze cap
- Weight: 1.65 lb
- Recognition: Fine Woodworking Tool Guide 2014 Best Value Block Plane
- Made in: Warren, Maine, USA by Lie-Nielsen Toolworks
