After being favorably impressed with Veritas' spokeshave, I expected to be wowed by their low-angle block plane as well. I wasn't disappointed.

Veritas' offering in this crowded field is similar in form to Stanley and Record models, but differs in the details. It incorporates a thick A2 steel iron with an ingenious combination depth/angle adjuster that works beautifully and with minimal backlash. It also has a broad machined bed that supports the hefty iron solidly, eliminating chatter. There are also two small set screws that center the iron in the body. The tighening wheel assembly on the cap is easy to operate and very smooth. The whole assembly is so rigid that it took less than 1/4 turn of the wheel to tighten the cap fully, from the point where it initially contacts the iron. Once the iron is adjusted and locked down, the plane feels and acts like it's one piece.

As expected, the iron needed flattening and honing, though not an excessive amount. One caveat; the tapered shape of the iron makes it impossible to sharpen it using a vice-type honing guide. The Veritas honing system works perfectly
with it and a Stanley guide should work as well. The iron comes honed with angles optimized for use on softwoods, perfect for boat and paddle building. At 32 degrees total (12 degree bed angle + 20 honing angle), it has the lowest
planing angle of the low-angle block planes I've seen.

The sole of the plane was smoothly machined right out of the box, but it wasn't flat. There were high spots at the throat and the rear, and the toe piece was not perfectly flush with the sole. A few minutes of sanding it flat and it was fully operational. I also lightly broke the sharp edges on the mouth, toe piece and toe piece recess with a

ceramic hone, to eliminate any chance of them shaving the workpiece. The sides (wings) of the plane are not perfectly square with the sole, but they're close enough that it shouldn't matter if you use the plane on it's side or againsts a guide to produce square edges. The cap retaing screw and the iron centering screws were loose in the body, but a drop of Loctite on each took care of that.

The feel of the tool on cedar is SWEEEEEET! It's hefty enough to glide smoothly though it, like the proverbial "hot knife through butter". It was a very simple matter to adjust it to slice off perfectly formed curls only two thousandths of an inch thick! A half turn of the adjuster knob and it will knock off stock ten thousandths at a whack with no tearout. Fine adjustments on this tool are so easy, precise and repeatable that you won't think twice about making them. It puts my previous favorite tool, a Lie-Neilsen block plane (#103), to shame in this regard. The L-N is a smaller tool that's very handy for certain tasks, so the two tools compliment each other nicely.

OK, so the Veritas low angle block plane is a great tool. It's also better than twice the price of a Record (which I also own) or Stanley. However, if you equip either of these two with a comparable iron - say, from Hock - you're pretty close to the price of the Veritas, but they still lack the precision adjustment and overall quality of machining. The closest contender in price/performance is the L-N Adjustable Mouth Block Plane @ $150. So, the Veritas comes out looking very nice for the price. I'd certainly say it's worth it.