Blue Spruce / Woodpecker Router Plane Follow Up

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Warranty parts already? Which one is faster to change, the Walke-Moore I kept comparing to, or the Blue Spruce? Can I use Veritas or vintage Stanley router plane irons in the Blue Spruce? These are the questions I answer in this follow up video on the blue spruce router plane.

If you haven’t seen my review of the Blue Spruce router plane, I recommend checking that one out to get the whole context of this one.



Warranty Parts

A few weeks after getting my Blue Spruce router plane, I got a notification from Blue Spruce thanking me for an order I hadn’t placed. I asked the customer support about the order, making sure it wasn’t an error of some sort. This was the response I received:

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your email. The reason for this order is that while we were assembling the router planes and fence, we did not encounter any issues initially. However, after a subsequent group of hardware was received, we discovered some problems. To address this, we want to ensure that our customers who have received the router plane and fence hardware packets receive the correct components. We will be shipping you these corrected packets next week, and you will receive an email with tracking information once they have shipped. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you, and have a great day!

When I received the shipment it included a packet of hardware for the plane and a packet for the fence. It also included a new iron post and both spear and straight edge irons. It also included a letter explaining they why. Essentially it boiled down to a couple of screws that may have been the wrong size and irons not seating fully on the post. I will note that my router plane and fence did not have either of the issues referenced.

They proactively sent everyone a new set of hardware just in case. That’s a pretty good philosophy, to get ahead of it rather than waiting for customers to have problems and reach out.


Changeover Comparison

One of the things I was curious of and actually cut out of the original review was which plane, between the Walke-Moore and Blue Spruce, was easier/quicker to swap between different configurations. I did a comparison between the two switching from the standard inboard configuration to an outboard end configuration that I often use for tenons and half lap joints.

There was a 20 second difference between the two, 53 seconds for the Walke-Moore and 1 minute 53 seconds for the Blue Spruce. While 20 seconds is not a lot, and the frequency you change your router will be very dependent on what you do, that’s almost a 40% increase (plus you have to keep track of that allen wrench).

That’s not the whole story, though. While the Blue Spruce took more time to change over, I think that was from having to access screws on the bottom and use allen wrenches to make changes. With the Walke-Moore, while faster, there were a lot more pieces that had to move to make it happen. It seemed “easier” to switch the Blue Spruce around, even though it took more time. Again, not a huge difference in the overall project time frame, but an interesting finding none the less.


Cutter Assembly Compatibility

The other aspect that I didn’t get to in the actual review was the cutter assembly, and whether or not it was compatible with anything else.

The first thing I tried was using the Veritas router plane irons. The clamping mechanism in the Blue Spruce had enough travel to tighten down far enough on the Veritas iron to hold it in place. The caveat to that, though, is that it has to be really tightened down. It’s at the very end of its capacity due to the Veritas iron post being smaller. If it doesn’t get tightened all the way down, then it won’t hold the iron. Even once tightened there is the potential for the iron to wiggle a little, since it’s at its extreme end of adjustment.

The other aspect to the Veritas irons is that the depth adjuster does not engage with these irons very much, and I wouldn’t recommend using it in fear of damaging the brass of the depth adjuster. So with all that in mind, do the Veritas irons work in the Blue Spruce plane? Technically yes, but I don’t think it’s something I’d do on a regular basis. Only if nothing else would make do.

As far as vintage Stanley router plane irons, neither of the two I had were large enough to get clamped down, so for me the answer appears to be no. There may be variations to other sized router irons, but I certainly wouldn’t rely on it.


Thanks for checking it out, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the plane, and if you have any additional points about the plane, whether in design or in use

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