Combination Plane with

A2 Blade 1/4 inch = 6.35 mm VERITAS

Combination planes are renowned for their versatility. Despite this, they are not complicated to use and can often be set up faster than a machine for occasional tasks.

The combination plane from Veritas was designed from scratch to eliminate the issues that the original Record and Stanley models had, which often made working with them frustrating. It is precisely manufactured, quick to adjust, and securely holds its settings, making it reliably usable. With straight blades and a fence, it can create basic wood joints such as rabbets, tongues, and grooves. With the help of a homemade strip, it can even create slots.

The plane consists of a main body and a movable auxiliary body, allowing it to accommodate blades of various shapes and widths. This enables you to cut slots as narrow as 3.2 mm (1/8 inch) and rabbets as wide as 25.4 mm (1 inch). To prevent wood grain tear-out, adjustable scoring blades cut the edges ahead of the blade on both the main and auxiliary bodies.

The auxiliary body provides stability and guidance for the blade. It is securely clamped to stainless steel rods. The fence can be attached on either side of the plane, allowing you to set it up for right- or left-handed use, depending on your preferred hand. Additionally, this allows you to adjust the planing direction according to the grain of the workpiece.

The package includes two pairs of guide rods for the fence, measuring 127 mm (5 inches) and 203 mm (8 inches) in length. The longer rods allow you to work up to 127 mm (5 inches) away from the edge of the workpiece. Once the fence is clamped to the rods, you can precisely align the guide made from heat-treated maple with an adjustment screw. The depth stops on the main and auxiliary bodies also feature a threaded adjustment mechanism for quick and precise setting.

The package includes a 6.35 mm (1/4 inch) wide straight blade. A range of additional blades for slotting, rabbeting, and various profiles is available separately. The 45° plane bed can also accommodate all right-handed blades from the small Veritas plow plane. However, the position of the blade adjustment prevents the use of left-handed blades (1/8 inch to 3/8 inch and 4 mm to 10 mm). Since the fence can be mounted on either side of the plane, the right-handed blades can be used for planing in both directions.

In addition to Veritas blades, the Record 405 and Stanley 45/55 blades also fit the plane. Blades can be used individually or sequentially to create a variety of decorative profiles from simple to complex. The size of the profiles ranges from working on veneer edges to architectural details.

Using this 267 mm (10-1/2 inch) long and 1.8 kg heavy plane is a pleasure. It is made from relaxed ductile cast iron. The fence is made from heat-treated maple, and the screws are made from brass.