Stanley 13-050 vs Veritas Small Plow Plane

After saying in a first post that: the Stanley 13-050, being a last generation model combination plane, has nearly everything covered and is well thought over, I want to make the comparison with a recent plow plane the Veritas Small Plow Plane (VSPP).  To compensate the fact that I don't have access to a Veritas plow plane,  I look at the excellent article from Derek Cohen staging a comparative test between Veritas and Record #043 and #044. What I miss in this line up is the Record 050C which has the same rounded body as the Veritas plane.

Weight
The 13-050 is nearly two times heavier than the VSPP, this is due in part to the second skate and part to the heavy, square construction.  Derek Cohen says that the VSPP has the perfect weight being in between the  #043 and #044.  Adam Cherubini favours even lighter planes,  saying that the lighter wooden planes have a distinct advantage over their heavier metal counterparts.
To counter this, I look at traditional irons.  The two I have weight as much or more than a 13-050, respectively nearly 3 and 4 pounds, even if they were used intensively by the 'weaker sex' of those days. I think that, as long as I am not planing balsa, weight does not matter that much.

Left - Right
The VSPP has a left and a right hand model.  This can be important, as Peter Follansbee remarks in his plow plane, up one side & down the other post, having only one sided plow plane is sometimes a problem.  The 13-050 is nearly fully symmetrical, as the fence and depth gauge can be set left or right.  The 13-050 gets asymmetrical when using small blades as only one skate is used, allowing for only one spur when cutting cross grain

Blades
The 13-050 comes with 18 blades, including beading profiles. The VSPP comes with one blade, but extra metric and imperial blades are available which depending of the model used are set left or right.  Better than the 13-050, the VSPP narrow blades won't fall out of the plane when setting the depth as they have an enlarged body.
Both the 13-050 and the VSPP align the blades with the skate, where the #043 and #044 have no blade alignment. This can be important when after setting the fence to a certain value,  adjusting the blade will not change this value.

Fence and grip
Derek Cohen likes the 4" long curved fence of the VSPP and the warmth and solid feel of the Veritas grip.  The 13-050 has also a 4" fence, but square. The grip is big, bigger than my stanley-like #5, and it is not in metal :).
The VSPP claims a better fence stability than the #043 - #044.  For the 13-050 I did not see problems here,  the body, fence and screws are big and sturdy,  all that extra weight is buying me something.

Dados
Nothing stops Derek Cohen, after cutting grooves and rabbets, he even cuts dados with the VSPP to show it is possible, preferring in the end his router plane.  The 13-050, has spurs and skates to cut dados and fillisters.

Setup
At first sight the VSPP and the 13-050 have good setup possibilities.  With small differences, the VSPP has maybe better fence arm clamping screws and the 13-050 has a two screws depth gauge.

Cutting
In the end it does not matter what plane you use: All the planes performed at an equally satisfactory level says Derek Cohen talking about the VSPP and the #043 - #044
And yes the 13-050 has also a little extra,  there is always a depth gauge hole left open where a straw will fit to indicate if the plane stands plumb

Stanley 13-050 Combination Plane

I was hunting for the Record 043 plough plane based on the description of the Cornish Workshop "The #043 is one of those planes that everyone who tries it loves immediately".  But after seeing the #043 come and go through my ceiling on ebay UK,  I finally got a bottom price hit on my parallel track: a Stanley 13-050 Combination Plane.
For the Stanley 13-050 the description is "A modern abomination ... , but apparently can work rather well.", but no complaints, compared to a plough plane, it has more blades and can do more.

 As I expected, the Stanley 13-050, being a last generation model combination plane, has nearly everything covered and is well thought over.

• The handle of the plane is in plastic (that's the abomination part of the plane): lighter and warmer than metal, more resilient than wood and allows for a better price on ebay
• Symmetrical: the depth gauge and the fence can be placed on both sides and the spur is also on both sides
• The spurs are just depth adjustable knives, in my case rounded (for safety?)
• Depth gauge and fence are held with two rods,  increasing the stability of the setup. 
• The extra beading fence (I first thought it was a faulty depth gauge,  as it can't pass the skate, being too large) allows to make a clean beading on a tongue side of a tongue and groove
• ... 

To make it more complete, a picture of beaded tongue and groove joints used in a front door.  In this case the door was made with a standard router.

Fitting plough cutters under 6 mm seemed impossible,  but after (reading the manual and) removing the sliding section the smallest plough cutters ( 1/8", 4mm and 3/16") can be set on a single skate.
I have also found my next challenge: clamping, as I need to clamp a workpiece with 2 full length surfaces standing free to accept the skates and the fence.


Receiving my 13-050 I was surprised to see it was made of cast iron.  Most probably I had seen pictures of the 12-050 model sold on some second hand list,  and that model looked like made of plate iron,  but maybe it is the combination of square lines and a fully finished surface.  I tried to confirm this by checking on internet,  but no luck yet the internet seems empty regarding that model.  If confirmed, you can't call that model a boat anchor as it must be much lighter.

What I did find, was an example of a Stanley 13-030 plough plane on ebay that looks as if  the body and the fence of the plane is made with extruded light metal profiles.

I also found a different model packaged in the same 13-050 box with a light brown handle on the cover.  This was an unused model, looking like it was produced a few months ago,  with a dark brown handle, still in plastic but with a more natural touch.