I was really excited when I saw that Lee Valley had released a miniature plow plane. I’m a huge fan of my Record 043’s and the Box Maker’s Plow Plane is a modern take on that exact plane. I bought one right away (with my own money, at full price), and started putting it to use.
I decided that I was going to do a video review and overview deep dive of this plane, because I didn’t find much else that did that. I shared some pictures, and reached out to Lee Valley, and eventually was able to be put in contact with one of the engineers who worked on designing the plane. While I was asked not to share identifiable information (as one would imagine the potential flood of inquiries), I mocked up an interview and read their responses to my questions. Probably unnecessary, but it was a fun exercise in my videography 🙂
This video took a couple months to put together. With all the moving pieces to it, the different elements I shot, and wanting to make sure I actually got some good use of it before giving my opinion. I’d also be curious about anyone’s thoughts on the production aspect as well, as I put more effort than usual in to that side of it (expanding hobbies…).
Any who, what follows is the short write up of things I liked and thought could be improved below. It’s largely just going to be a summary of the video, but here it is.
Things that I Liked
There are a lot of things I like about this plane. It is very well made, and the effort they put in to the ergonomics of the main plane body had a great effect on the overall comfort of holding the plane. The added form of the rear portion, and moving the reinforcing ridge down on the main casting make this plane feel a lot more like a natural fit in my hand the a Record 043.
I am absolutely thrilled with the blade retention mechanism. Adding the thumb screw to hold it to the plane body was nice, but having the lever cap attached to the body is fantastic.
The ability to use the Box Maker’s Plow Plane for decorative beads was added by beveling the main skate. I like using small beads for accents, to hide tongue and groove or ship lap joints, and just as a little simple element to dress up a work piece, so I was excited by that.
Things I Think Could be Improved
While the form of the fence casting certainly works, I do find it to be less comfortable in use than the Record 043 fence. With the lack of the large hoop that the 043 has, it feels like my left hand is just hanging out in space, and if I try to brace it against the fence then it does really start to feel too small.
I’m also a little torn on the fence being threaded rather than having screws go in to the wooden sub fence, for ease of replacing. Though realistically it’s not a huge deal, and I’d be surprised of more than a small percentage of people ever replace theirs anyway, so maybe it’s not a huge deal. Plus with a clamp and a center punch, a person could probably get the new wood piece lined up pretty easily anyway… Ok maybe I’m convincing myself that’s not actually that big of a deal.
The fence rods. I harped on it a lot in the video, but there’s not a ton that I like about how the fence interfaces with the plane (apart from the fit and finish). I don’t like the step in the rods, the fact that it’s attached to the fence casting instead of the plane body, and that you need an Allen wrench to adjust it. On mine I replaced the factory screws with thumb screws, but I still don’t like the rods sticking out the opposite side of the plane. I really wish they’d offer short rods for the plane as well, or revamp the fence casting so plain rods could be used instead of stepped and threaded.
That’s really about it, though.
Overall, I was pretty impressed with the plane. I’m sure all of the things I addressed as areas I”d think could be improved could certainly be addressed, but I also know that all of them would likely add to the cost of the plane as well. That’s part of why I think the plane is impressive. It’s a great plane, and when I saw the price of $159.99 (with only the 1/4″ iron), I was actually pretty surprised. That seemed to be about 20% cheaper than I was expecting it to be.
It’s a nicely made plane, that hits a great price point to be competitive with the vintage options (at least given Record 043 prices in the US). For my money, I’d probably buy another Box Maker’s Plow Plane before another Record 043 (but I’ve also got 3 of those already…).
Given I’ve already got all the irons for a Small Plow Plane now though, I might have to pick one of those up next instead! That slippery slope is a real thing…
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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