Sean previously covered the Veritas twin screw vise with a chain drive here at TM. Evidently Lie-Nielsen thought it was such a good idea they produced their own chain drive vise. The concept behind both vises is simple: make sure the large jaw closes parallel by turning both screws the same amount.

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Here’s a free chance for anyone in the Wayne, NJ, area to drool and paw over Lie Nielsen’s finest hand tools and planes on June 26 & 27, 2009. Oh, and there’s interactive stuff there too. Did we mention the Lie-Nielson hand tools?

The LN folks have demos going all day at two interactive stations designed to help you learn sharpening and hand plane techniques while playing with the very best tools they have to offer — which as hand planes go, aren’t shabby at all. We find these demos are a great place to learn a few quick skills and pick the brains of the people in the know. It also goes without saying that at the show you will be able to purchase almost anything Lie-Nielsen makes.

Admission to the event is free, but be careful — these shows are a lot like a ghetto-style crack dealer. They entice you with the free product samples and no cover because they know once tool fanatics smell new tools they gotcha. Stay strong or leave the plastic at home if you’re weak/broke like me. 

Check the site for details and directions.

Lie-Nielsen Hand Tool Event [Site Details]

I can’t imagine a time when I would lose my mind enough to consider spending $85 on a cross-peen hammer — in fact, I have people standing by, ready to smack me in the head should I attempt such a maneuver. That said, these Lie-Nielsen hammers look good.

As you can see from the tool porn picture above, they all sport beautiful cherry handles and either brass, A-2 steel, or hardened A-2 steel heads. Lie-Nielsen says they’re good for tacks, brads, and fine blade adjustments on your planes. Personally, if I’m paying just shy of $100 for a tack hammer, it had better have zombie-slaying magic or be able to summon the power of Zeus or something.

If not, I’m sticking with my cheapo tack hammer and small ball-peen hammer which put together don’t total $25.

Cross-Peen Hammers [Lie-Nielsen]
Street Pricing [Google]

This odd-shaped chisel with two blades rotated 90˚ to each other allows you to cut square-sided mortises in tight places you’d never be able to reach with a conventional chisel.

Chris Becksvoort designed this modern reproduction of the traditional drawer lock chisel, and Lie-Nielsen manufactures it with 0-1 tool steel and precision-grinds it here in the USA.

You’ll pay $75 for a pair of these chisels.  We’re not sure why Lie-Nielsen sells these chisels in a set of two — from the picture we can’t see much difference between ‘em.  Maybe somebody can give us a clue in the comments.

Drawer Lock Chisel [Lie-Nielsen]

Not every woodworker needs a set of fishtail chisels in their shop, but if you’ve ever wondered how to clean out the back corners of dovetails or other recesses, you might want to take a look at these tools.  So named for the chisel head’s similarity to a stylized fishtail, the shape allows you to get into acute corners on either side of the cutting edge.

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Justin from North Carolina wrote in and asked us, “What’s the cheapest way to get a few good, adjustable bench planes without awakening the rage of my significant other because I spent a huge wad of cash.”  Well, Justin, that depends greatly on which tools you consider “good” and how much cash you can throw at them.

Construction, materials, and adjustability largely determine how much a plane will go for.  You can buy a cheap non-adjustable plane for a few bucks.  A fully adjustable high rig, like the Lie-Nielsen pictured above, can run you $300 a pop, which’ll probably lead to the rage you spoke of earlier.

In short, you’ll probably have to make some trade-offs.  If you just want something that’ll work, any number of planes will do; but if you really need the Full Monty (something like the old Stanley Bedrock) you might have to save a while.  Off the tops of our heads we can’t think of any that are super-solid AND cheap — but the Toolmonger readership might be able to help.

Do you know of any planes out there that could fit Justin’s bill?  Let us know in comments.

No. 4 Bench Plane [Lie-Nielsen]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Lie-Nielsen fans are going to be stoked about the upcoming Hand Tool Event that’s going down December 5-6, 2008 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  You can get your hands on some Lie-Nielsen gear and hone your skills at some of the activities they’ll have going throughout the event.

The Lie-Nielsen site says there’ll be a ton of different types of hand tools you can play with, and most likely you’ll be able to purchase anything you have your heart set on — it is a show, after all.  Even if you don’t take home a new tool, the demos and interactive stations’ll help you learn techniques to save time and build better projects, which isn’t a bad deal either.

2008 Show Schedule [Lie-Nielsen]

For an uber-slick way to differentiate your latest wood project, try adding some sweet-looking inlay. If you’re clueless on where to start and how to make it work Lie-Nielsen offers an expensive but complete set to get you going.

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A float is a tool similar to a rasp, but it cuts more aggressively, and you can sharpen it with a triangular file when it dulls. We’ve covered Lie-Nielson’s Planemakers’ Floats on Toolmonger before — now they offer a new line of joinery floats more suited for cabinet-making and furniture-building.

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When you visit your local hardware store, you’ll notice they probably only carry birch and oak dowel rods. Even if you trek to a specialty woodworking store, you’ll still only find dowels in a few additional species like walnut and cherry. For a more exotic species dowel, you’ll need to create your own with a dowel plate — like this one sold by Lie-Nielson.

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Those who sign up in time — and are willing to make the trip to Warren, Maine — can join Deneb Puchalski for Lie Nielson introductory hand planning skills workshop in June.  In July, Christopher Schwarz will be there, too, schooling eager attendees in the ever-popular project of building a workbench.

According to Lie Nielson, space is limited, and the experience will set you back $50.  But considering the topics, I’d love to sit in and soak up some wood working wisdom.  It’s a sure bet there will be Lie Nielsen tool reps lurking about the workshop — and there are worse things than folks with good tools willing to let you handle a few before you buy.  Check out the Lie Nelson site for details.

Lie Nielsen Workshops [Lie Nielsen]

Chisels and chisel designs are a hotly debated topic amongst woodworking craftsmen.  Arguably on top of the all-time heap of best designs out there are Stanley’s 750 series bevel-edge socket chisels.  They’re pretty rare now and difficult to find, but Lie Nielsen recognizes the 750 vibe and addresses it with a set of bevel edge socket chisels that mirror the 750 series closely.  Read on past the jump for more info and pics.

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Floats are traditional tools used to cut, flatten, and smooth or “float” the surfaces of a wooden plane.  Generally floats are craftsman-made and very personal in their construction, but Lie Nielson offers a full range of craftsman-designed float tools. 

The Lie Nielson floats are constructed of S-7 tool steel and have study maple handles.  They’re handy for all sorts of woodworking projects around the shop besides plane making.  They work a lot like a file but they are generally wider and shaped to various points to aid in making surfaces conform to a particular shape.  A cheek float, for instance, has a broad, flat wedge shape that allows easy sizing of a mortise to match standardized wedges. 

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Lie Nielsen sells a lot of planers; it’s probably their single biggest-selling product.  If you’re looking to get started with fine quality woodworking hand tools, you could do a lot worse than picking up one of their cabinet maker’s scrapers.  They’re simple to operate and produce excellent results. 

The cabinet makers scraping plane is a size in between Lie Nelsen’s large and small planes, and the blade is the full width of the tool to allow you to work against an adjacent vertical surface.  The knob at the rear of the plane tilts to the left or right to ensure a good grip and better control over its movement.

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We always love to browse when it comes to Lie-Nielsen.  They make fine hand tools that are works of art in and of themselves.  Their saws – like this dovetail for instance – are always simple, elegant and functional.
 
Lie-Nielsen saws have a beautifully sculpted open-handle style that shows off the wiping varnish finish that presents a “softer” feel to the maple handle.  The steel is Swedish high carbon hardened steel (16 teeth every 25mm) with a milled, solid back that adds weight to the cut. 

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