Lie-Nielsen Large Shoulder Plane

Lie Nielsen’s large shoulder plane is a fine tuning of Record’s 073 model which was based on the Preston shoulder plane from the early 1900s. Record acquired Preston in the 1930s, but quit manufacturing shoulder planes in 1990s. Shoulder planes are related to rabbet and bullnose planes, in that the iron extends side to the side through the sole so it can cut fully into the junction of an inner corner. Shoulder planes, however, are more precise tools than the other planes in the group, capable of taking fine shavings and designed with a low blade angle for finer cuts across the grain.

Lie Nielsen’s large shoulder plane weighs in at 4 lbs making it the heaviest in the series of three shoulder planes they manufacture. If choosing between the small , medium or large shoulder plane, the large plane will probably cover the broadest range of tasks in your shop. Capable of fine cuts at sharp angles, the large shoulder plane is perfect tool to trim shoulders on tenons, create or increase the depth of rabbets, and both remove and clean up additional material from a dado, just to name a few uses. The throat adjustment screw housed in the nose is threaded into the body, enabling it to set the opening wider or narrower with no manual fiddling required. The 8-1/4″ long body is made of ductile cast iron; the lever cap/handle is bronze. The 1-1/4″ iron, bedded at 18°, provides full-width cutting when aligned flush with either side.

Body: 8-1/4″ long x 1-1/4″ wide.

Blade: 1-1/4″ wide x .140″ thick

Weight: 4 lbs. Made in the U.S.A.

Additional Information

Lee Laird from Lie Nielsen Tools Works produces an instructional series on hand plane use and care and has much more to say about Lie-Nielsen’s Large Shoulder Plane. Read Lee’s article about using the Lie Nielsen Large Shoulder Plane Model 073 on the Highland Woodworking Blog.