I finally looked up the actual cost of a full set of Lie-Nielsen hand planes

I was reading an old Fine Woodworking article from 2018 and it said a basic set of five core planes would run over $1,500. I always knew they were pricey, but seeing that number written out really hit me. Do you think that level of investment is still worth it for a shop doing mostly cabinet work, or have modern machines made those tools more of a luxury item?

4 comments

4 Comments

karen36122d ago

Oh man, that whole thread just brought back something my buddy Dave went through last year. He makes custom fireplace mantels and bookshelf stuff, not really a production shop, more one-off fancy work. He spent forever saving up for a Lie-Nielsen low angle jack plane, the whole deal with the extra blade. First week he had it, he was working on some gnarly bird's eye maple for a client's library shelves. The thing just laughed at the tear-out that his lunchbox planer was making a mess of. He texted me a video of the shavings coming off like tissue paper, and you could see the reflection of his shop lights in the wood. But here's the thing, he also told me he's still got his granddad's beat up block plane that he uses for quick chamfers and breaking edges because it's already beat up and he doesn't baby it. So I think there's a place for those expensive tools when you're up against really difficult wood and need that perfect finish, but they're not every-day beaters. You gotta decide if your work actually demands that level of performance or if you're just buying a status symbol.

paigep852mo ago

I read a blog post last year where a cabinet maker argued his Lie-Nielsen smoother was the only tool that could clean up tricky tear-out after the planer. For a production shop, machines do most of the heavy lifting, but those final perfect surfaces sometimes need a hand tool. The cost is steep, but if you're dealing with expensive figured woods and client expectations are high, it might be justified. It really comes down to how much hand finishing your work requires.

vera_johnson92mo ago

That part about "client expectations are high" really hits home. I had this one guy who wanted a live edge coffee table out of some crazy curly maple. My planer left it looking like a cat scratched it up, no matter what I tried. Ended up spending like three hours with my old Stanley No. 4, just taking whisper thin shavings. The Lie-Nielsen would have been faster for sure, but sometimes you just have to work with what's already in your toolbox. The client never knew about the struggle, they just saw the perfect glassy surface at the end.

betty_wells2mo ago

My grandpa had this ancient Bailey No. 5 he called "Old Reliable." He'd spend whole afternoons just tuning the thing, flattening the sole on a piece of plate glass with sandpaper. Said the work was in the setup, not the tool. Watching him get a mirrored finish on a piece of wild cherry with that old plane taught me more about patience than any new tool ever could.