Man, I am really excited to see your channel keep growing, I found you when you only had a few hundred subscribers and it wasn’t that long ago! I love your content, you are a fantastic speaker and teacher. Keep goin!!

I just got a 4 1/2 Custom. And I have a 4 1/2 Lie Nielsen that I just love. But this custom plane from Veritas is a real game changer.

Interesting design. I've used planes with Norris style adjusters, not crazy about that. And I prefer the large blade for freehand sharpening.

Wow this was SO worth watching! I thought I had a good idea of what was different/better but I was way off the mark I couldn't agree more with your outro. Lee Valley continue to impress with their ground-up rethinking of what a tool could be, that alone is rare enough but their consistent innovation to provide _what would be of most use to the most users_ I think makes them unique.

Great video, Jamie. I would invest in Lee Valley stock, but they are privately owned. Great tools, customer service, and Canadian to boot.

I’ve always wanted a cabinet full of lie Nielsen tools, but veritas seems to make everything cheaper, more innovative designs, more options, and tools that are actually in stock! Speaks a lot to the powerful draw of the traditional look of lie Nielsen, otherwise it seems like the contest between the two is over.

Thank you for such an informative and helpful review! I’d really like to get the 4-1/2 custom but have to keep saving my pennies and nickels.

I appreciated the tip on the mouth for the standard!

Hope one day you DO get sponsored by Veritas!! I love that company for so many reasons. Fantastic customer service representatives too

i bought a custom 5 with flat knob and small trad tote, 45 frog and pmv11 blade...LET ME STATE THIS CLEARLY-This is hands down the best plane I have ever used. I have other pmv11 planes, lie nielson, vintage restored sweethearts, and wood river jack. Ot blows them all away in performance, features and feel. If I knew, I have bought the veritas bevel up jointer pmv and all the rest would be custom for my bench planes.

I enjoy your enthusiasm!

Im thinking about getting one of the custom veritas 5 1/2 jack planes but im kinda worried that the shorter blade wont be long enough to to fit my honing guide. Do you know if they're long enough to fit a traditional honing guide(not the veritas honing guide)?

Veritas also has shooting grip for the side holes.

Anyone know what size screws are needed for the custom blade and chip breaker…..I broke the one that keeps the circular piece in the blade.

Good video. Thanks for sharing your insights. I remember when Lee Valley came out with these custom planes. They had a whole section of their website dedicated to customizing the plane. You'd pick the body, knobs, totes, frogs, etc... Now all I see is buy the base model and if you want a different frog, tote, knob, etc... you have to buy them separately. I haven't been able to find that section recently. Maybe I'm just missing something?

I love the look of the custom if I ever have a shed load of cash I would like a set of these

Another great review Jamie. 👍👍👍 Veritas has clearly done some innovative thinking about how these tools are actually used and maintained. Interesting to note the similarities and evolution from some hundred-years-gone-by experiments in terms of functional development that never really caught on, from both Stanley and Sargent. We all know about learning lessons from history to avoid repeating mistakes. Veritas is looking in the right places but they haven't quite solved the quick-and-easy sharpening problem in a completely satisfying way - if that was their goal. The shark-fin shape of the Veritas Custom distinctly echos the old Stanley/Gage (Self Setting G3, G4, etc.) planes from the 1920's and 30's, while the Veritas Standard shape reminds us of the slightly earlier Sargent Auto-Set design (VBM 708, 710, etc.). Both of these long-gone planes had a combined chip-breaker/lever-cap device (not really a lever cap, as they were secured, like the Veritas, with a knurled thumb screw), that allowed the iron to be quickly removed for sharpening and re-installed without losing the plane's settings. Only Sargent's system avoided the pesky extra chunk of steel screwed to the iron. One little gripe I'd offer about the Veritas Custom is the fussy and imminently misplace-able Allen wrench needed to remove the chip-breaker - LV might wanna consider an on-board clip or slot right on the plane to keep it close at hand. And that strippable little screw is gonna be a problem in the long term for sure. Just think about all the chipped lever-caps on old Baileys, mutilated by busy or distracted woodworkers, who didn't take the time to grab an appropriate screwdriver to detach the chip-breaker. Obviously there's still room for some further improvement to get to a truly simple one-step system for iron removal and sharpening. Maybe Veritas could get Jony Ive, of Apple fame, on board, to really think outside the box on plane design. 🤔🤔🤔 Another gripe: Like a lot of folks that make stuff, I'm a sucker for functional tools that are durable and look good. I wish Veritas would quit sticking such fugly slab-sided totes on their otherwise beautiful and functional tools. 😄😄😄 Maybe I'm lucky to have a hand that fits a classic Bailey one-size-fits-all rosewood tote. Wrapping my hand around that perfectly shaped beauty is one of the great tactile pleasures of woodworking. I've never felt the need for different shaped totes on my planes (although to be completely honest, I kinda prefer a low knob). Every bench plane in my arsenal has essentially the same tote although the planes are all different shapes and sizes. Veritas has, in my opinion, solved a problem that didn't, or barely, existed, with an unnecessary complication. I'm okay with complexity, if it works well and simplifies the user experience - the Auto-Set has a fascinating complexity. As Robert Venturi famously said: I like complexity and contradiction. But I'm not okay with uncalled-for complicatedness. Nonetheless, extremely cool to see Veritas mining the dustbin of history. Carpentry - the second oldest profession. Makes one wonder which ideas will come back around in another hundred years - assuming we haven't killed off all the trees by then, and someone can put their 3D printer aside long enough to manually shape a chunk of good-old-fashioned genuine tree carbon.

I watch a Canadian maker who I really respect, who said once that he didn't like Veritas, but didn't say why. I think my next Plane will be a Veritas No. 7. I also think that if you tell someone you don't like something, you'd better say why!

Yup. Absolutely bang on! Been watching a lot of your videos. great stuff. Why would I buy a Lie Nielsen when I can spend 1/2 the price and get the genuine article? When tuned correctly, there is absolutely no advantage that a LN has over a vintage bedrock. I like Veritas for exactly the same reason, comfort. Also, I've never met a LN that I can use for extensive amounts of time. One thing to note is that even though the customs have basically the same length, they actually have less reference for large surface smoothing (could be preferred in some cases). They have slightly shorter peripheral reference on either side of the blade, making them follow the flat a bit more if the surface is wider than the plane itself. Is there a practical difference? probably if one is anal retentive, but very little and only if you take multiple strokes in same direction to compound the errors each time.

If you could pick one custom plane from veritas, I’m thinking the difference between a smoother jack jointer. Which custom plane would you get? honestly, I’m kind of torn between a four and a five so maybe a 4.5?

I have a Stanley low bob 4 and 4 1/2. From my dad, from his dad. Never had any using problems. I bought a Veritas 4 on a cash windfall whim, but resold it before using it! Main reason was the rear handle. But, good luck to you multi millionaire working woodworkers who can afford them.

I love the custom line to bits but I wish they had "standard" style chipbreaker screw. Not because of stripping but because I don't want an extrh tool or tiny screw to loose in a pile of wood shavings. To be honest I've thought about turning a dedicated handle to epoxy an allen head bit into so it's easier to keep track of. No idea how to never drop (or easily find when I DO drop) the screw though.

Hi, do you have to order the full custom and then buy the knob, frog angle, slow norris, etc you want the replace the ones Veritas sells as default??? I was expecting an option list to choose the parts you want, but Lee Valley site just sells a "Standard Custom" version (so it's not custom options, am I missing something??).

So wonderful! I can't afford one😥

We need all their planes to be available in custom ......! My next purchase is a shooting plane.....but I want it in a custom.....!!!

Well…. If this review were any more thorough, I would have thought that you secretly owned a large stock holding with Veritas! You do a better review than Veritas does Jamie and it’s a hoot seeing you hyperventilate and salivate 😂😂

One thing you did not mention it looks like with the newer style Norris adjuster being a lot lower down and no where as far back if you have the tension set in the cap in the sweat spot you should be able to adjust the depth on the fly with just your index finger basicaly giving it the same advantage that the Baily style adjester has.

The Veritas custom is very attractive. Shame there's no gap in my plane chest.

LN are the super models on the cat walk...... Veritas are the geter done girls with sweat & performance......

Sorry for the comment on an older video but I have a question for you regarding the Veritas adjustment. The lateral adjustment seems like it would be easy to knock out of place when making depth of cut adjustments or if you hold the plane in awkward angle. Do you have any comments regarding the lateral adjustment?

The cap finish is nickel...

Lmao I too wondered if one could put a blade on that huge frog and have a chisel plane.

Hi, do you feel the push is harder with the 55 degree frog?? Could a woman use it?

1. You probably mentioned this in the video but can you put a fence on the costom? 2. The old style is UGLY! Lol

Regarding squaring the frog, you're doing it right: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fd-AfpR61dbcoYk.html

I just can't get past the norris adjustment, so akward. While innovative, I gotta question why change what has worked for decades? I must give Veritas the value for $$$ though, but not as much of a Veritas fan boy as you. Glad to see the channel grow

How come there is more metal in the standard one but the custom one cost much more? Hahaha.. i understand the R&d price... but does custom one do really more unless you add different frogs?

Its too bad they used thumb screws. The baily style adjustment wheel is better in every way.

A heavier plane is easier to push through the cut -heavier is usually better up to a point you need to be opened minded in some of your opinions a control your biases. Veritas does make a excellent hand plane to be sure but so do many other manufacturers.

Bit silly defending the tiny frog and backiron. If you know the intended purpose you know the effectiveness of a heavy frog/backiron. 100% you WILL get more chatter with that veritas over a heavier Bailey type plane. Go plane a piece of brown oak and tell me there isn't a difference.

If you could pick one custom plane from veritas, I’m thinking the difference between a smoother jack jointer. Which custom plane would you get? honestly, I’m kind of torn between a four and a five so maybe a 4.5?