Initial thoughts on the quality of this plane are that for 90 dollars it is simply amazing. I would expect this to cost easily 2-3 times the cost. All of the parts are well machined, fit tight, and made from quality materials.
The plane has an adjustable mouth which is great for pulling off super thing shavings or adjusting to remove more material. I am not an expert on hand tools and don’t claim to be but i do know that you should always take the time to lap the bottom surface of a hand plane. I did this by placing sandpaper (starting with 220 grit and working up to 800) on a flat glass plate while using some spray adhesive to hold the paper down. This plane was perfectly flat in under 5 minutes, after spending nearly 4 to get my stanley low angle block plane in the same shape it is well worth the extra 45 dollars to get this plane, not to mention adjustability is easier as well. 5 minutes lapping the bottom and 5 minutes sharpening the blade and this plane cuts like a dream.
- nice flat bottom surface
- Easily pulls off thin shavings
I am more than impressed with this block plane it cuts perfect, i’m wishing i would have picked up their low angle block plane as well instead of the Stanley
Pro’s
-Excellent quality machining and tolerances
-Out of the box very close to flat, only a small amount of lapping and sharpening required to make this a fantastic tool
-Low price $90 for a top of the line block plane
-Nice thick blade for almost no chatter
-Adjustable mouth
Con’s
-Depth adjustment seems to have a bit of lag, (maybe not the correct term) but when you switch from increasing blade depth to reducing it there is a third or a turn or so of slop before it will reduce the cutting height.
Conclusion: Simply put this block plane is great, I’m excited to get the No.4 smoothing plane I purchased setup and reviewed. If you dont’ have any block planes strongly consider buying this one.
A good link to check out is this video fine woodworking put out showing the steps to tune a hand plane or this link make magazine put showing the same process.
Loading tweets...