Suggestions to Santa Claus

Most of the people who give me Christmas gifts have no idea what to buy me for my shop. In past years my wife has purchased a major shop machine (lathe, joiner, Leigh jig, etc). One of those machines and a few small catalogue items and my Christmas was complete. Now I am at a stage where I really don't need any more machines. So I will start a list of some smaller, but not necessarily inexpensive, wood working items that I would enjoy having.

#1 on my list is a good low-angle block plane.

Woodcraft sells Groz block planes. They have a heavy cast iron body, accurately ground surfaces, lateral adjustment levers, and black enamel finish.
The Low Angle Plane has a 1-3/8" iron set at 12° and an adjustable
Groz Low Angle Block Plane, catalogue #146074 Price:$27.50. They can be ordered directly from http://www.woodcraft.com/

The other example of this same kind of low angle block plane is made by Lie-Nielsen. This is said to be the best brand of planes available - and the price suggests that they are right.

They feature sturdy ductile cast iron bodies and 1-3/8" by 1/8" thick blades.
The surface ground body is perfectly flat and a movable shoe allows precise, easy control of the mouth opening for adaptation to the work at hand.
The bronze cap iron comfortably fits the hand and is tensioned with a 1-1/2" brass spin wheel. The low angle iron is set at 12-1/2º. Low Angle Adjustable Mouth Block Plane These can be purchased through Woodcraft or directly from the maker at http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1221. It is significantly cheaper to buy this plane from Lie-Nielsen

Finally, another superior brand is Veritas from Lee Valley. This unit is slightly more in cost, $145.00, catalogue number 05P22.01

I would be grateful to Santa for any one of these. Don't feel too trapped because I will make other suggestions of other gifts later.