//paul whats your choice for a scraper plane..the 112
Funny you should ask. I have an off brand 112 that's been a complete pain in the kiester. I think the design is good (Stanley copy) - mine's just badly made. So, after a lot of fairly radical surgery trying to get it tuned and able to hold adjustment, i'm throwing in the towel. Parts keep cracking and i'm tired of brazing it back together.
I had been looking around for a while now and got a little money together to replace it. I want something that will do large flat panels, so i came up with 4 viable options.
1) Vintage Stanley 112 - a good user - a few flaws would help keep it affordable as long as they didn't effect performance. They're not that common and i wasn't able to find one that suited my needs.
2) Lie Nielsen 112 - Well made, fine materials - eliminated from the running because it is the most expensive option
3) Veritas scraping plane - I really like the Veritas planes i have and this one as well. It has advancements over the old Stanley model that improve fit and finish, function, and ergonomics. The price seems fair as well. I came very close to buying this plane and would recommend anyone look it over.
4) Hamler scraping insert - I came across a short artical on this insert you use to replace the frog on a typical Stanley 2-3/8" bench plane (#4-1/2, #5-1/2, #6, #7, or #8). It lacks the camber adjustment that the Veritas has, but allows you the long registration surface and added mass of the fore and jointer plane bodies. I happen to have an old #6 body with a broken frog, so it seemed a good option. The craftsmanship is excellent, and it has the springed angle adjustment, one of those slap-your-forehead-why-did-nobody-think-of-this-before ideas. So, i ordered the Hamler insert. I won't have it in hand for a few months, but am looking forward to it.
They're all good tools, but really only worth it if you're going to be doing a lot of glued up panel work. The most versatile scrapers are the card scrapers or even a Stanley #80. I am getting a new scraping plane, but i'm sure i won't wind up using it more than my card scrapers.
Paul Hubbman