Lie-Nielsen No.4 Bronze with 45° frog
Price, USD: 415
| Manufacturer | Lie-Nielsen Toolworks |
| Trademark | None |
| Manufactured | 2019 |
| Country | USA |
| Item model | No. 4 Bronze Smooth Plane |
| Item serial number | 1-4B |
| Note |
Purchased from Lie-Nielsen Toolworks with 45° frog.
Condition: Used - Good
This was one of my first tools I bought from Lie-Nielsen. I remember carefully opening it to discover delight inside. The bronze was perfectly brushed. When I took it out of the box I just held it and looked at it. I had no idea what it was. I knew it was a smoothing plane but I didn't know how iconic the plane was but I could see that it was something else. The well-proportioned size and shape with the surprising heft that the bronze brings left me in awe and still does.
I've thought of changing the handle and knob to some golden olive wood with figure or a rich rosewood but something about the cherry it comes with is how I keep it. Sometimes I let a patina develop but sometimes I can't resist polishing it up so it shines. My appreciation of this plane might get in the way of me using it but the shavings it makes are so thin and wispy that I can't resist using it.
I didn't know what I was doing when I started with this plane and while I was planing over a knot in a piece of wood I must have run it over a rock a couple of times because the bottom is scratched. I could probably resurface the sole but those scratches remind me of a time when I didn't know very much and a time when the wonder of hand tools began. I love this plane.| Length, mm | 45.72 |
| Mass, kg | 2.04 |
| Blade Width, mm | 50.8 |
| Blade Thickness, mm | 3.175 |
