Sounds like Rex needs to partner with a solid company to help them create a really solid plane for beginners. Or just solid planes overall! Keep up the good work.
Bought one today 7/12/2023 (Lowers ) marked $69.95 This plane is head over heels, from what other big box stores sells! I got both the #4 and the 601/2 for under $100 (10% discount) I am new to planes (and woodworking) so tune up will be a challenge but I do a lot of things ~just to see if I can (actually woodwork is just that, to see if I can develop the skills to make something somebody wants) 60 year I didn't do wood because I remember my absolutely atrocious high school shop project (a leaning book holder) it became firewood. Love your channel (and your skills) Right now I do power tool projects, hope to progress to hand tools before I croak!
Hi Rex, I never used the lever cap to undo the chip breaker because that's the very reason why so many Stanley lever caps are broken . Happy New Year from a vintage Carpenter in England.
Something to consider. That Stanley #4 that cost $2.40 new in 1910 would be about $75 in today's dollars. Another thing to consider. US labor was considered cheap compared to Western Europe in 1910. In 1910, a much larger percentage of the workforce was using hand tools. The electric hand plane also didn't exist in 1910. A question to ponder. How much of the pandemic driver interest in home based projects that helped fuel this channel will remain after more normalization? On the one hand, many people who would never have thought about woodworking were introduced to it. On the other hand, not all of them will stick with it. Lots of moving parts will determine the future offerings of hand planes. How many people would have bought the equivalent of a Veritas in 1910?
Regarding the bailey plane, it's hard for me to imagine that stanley didn't already figure out how to squeeze every single nickel out of that pattern. The fact that modern manufacturers think they can find a design cost savings where stanley couldn't...I dunno. Seems silly to me.
I agree and I think you've hit on the problem exactly.....except that manufacturing has changed so much. Sintered metal would have been science fiction to anyone who worked for stanley. Today, it's common and cheap.
@@RexKrueger I agree. The distinction I would make is that a sintered part and a cast part can meet the same design spec if companies cared to do it. So the process is different but the overall design is the same. If that makes sense. I don't care how you get to tolerance on the frog, for example. Sinter it, mill it, cast it, use magic for all I care. But recognize that it was designed to be that way because it was refined over, what, almost 200 years, to be the cheapest way to get to usable. There's no fat left to trim in those designs. If you're going to copy them, you've got to hit tolerance. Which, btw, doesn't mean ready to go right away. If it had taken 20 minutes to get a $70 plane tuned up and running right, I personally would consider that acceptable. I'm sure the bailey's needed that sometimes. Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks Rex!
@@b61982 There also was no CNC machining back then, in this context it might be why the chip breaker is milled instead of stamped. If that part was the only one stamped it dosn't make sense for relatively low production runs
The frog adjustment seems like almost a hybrid between Bailey and Bedrock. My overall impression is that this is a so-so $70 plane that could have been a very interesting $100 plane.
As odd as it is to call buyers of a hand plane "early adopters" in this day and age, that might be what stage we're in with these Jorgensens. If they listen to customer feedback, maybe hire some guys like Rex as consultants, they might have a decent market to capture being the bog standard for.
I think they might have paid attention to your criticism. I just picked one up Sep 2024. Out of curiosity, I tried planing out of the box with it. Brought the frog into position and.. I was shocked. Within seconds, I was planing .001 gorgeous shavings with that nice feel to it.. Chip breaker worked perfectly. I'll do the usual checks for flatness tomorrow, but at 69 dollars, it's a decent plane. Only 2 issues. The thing is HEAVY. And I'm not all that keen on the "orange is the new black" color.
I was surprised by your scarcity in finding it. They had 4 of them at my local Lowes for standard MSRP. I appreciate you taking the time to go through your process of, “Fixing” it and giving us your feedback on it. Amazing channel and I always look forward to your videos!
Hey Rex. I dig your show. You get right to the point, and explain everything clearly. My father was a self employed cabinet maker. I’m a machinist with 25 years of experience. I think you would benefit by adding a granite surface plate in your shop for flat sanding, inspecting, and tuning your tools. Grizzly industrial has an 18”x24”x3” Gade B (0.00015 flatness)for a little less than $100. I hope you consider it. I have mine on top of my roll away toolbox and keep it covered with a piece of cardboard. If space and storage is an issue.
My advice to any new beginners is do exactly what I did. I go to my local flea markets, antique stores and yard sales and I've bought Stanley number 4 , 5 and number 6 for less than $20 each. And most of the ones I find are usually made in the '50s or '60s and they're just built solid and stand the test of time.
Loved that line too. My wife was looking at her own phone and not paying me any mind when Rex uttered that line. It made her look up and say "what did he just say?" with a big grin.
@@kurthausch7400 I think that Elon Musk is guilty of that on occasion. :grin: (I have to say, though, that, for all of his failures, he *IS* pushing technology forward *FAR* faster than it otherwise might go.)
@@kittytrail you are right. That doesn’t make me wrong. You need to look for antique planes, which takes time and effort. Going to a store and grabbing one off the shelf is a very predictable process. Antique ones may miss parts or have broken parts. A store bought one with missing or broken parts can be returned. You can’t do that with antique ones. I have 200 antique planes. Probably 180 too many.
@@kittytrail You forget that in some parts of the world getting an antique shipped from the US or england can probably already put them at a higher price than a new inexpesive one
@@axialmount5571 you forgot that Stanley build, marketed, exported and sold those in lots of countries in the 20th century by millions if not tens of millions. i've seen those planes from Algeria countryside to Malaysia, Yemen, India, tribal Pakistan, Slovenia, Russia and more. the only things needed are time, perseverance and a good eye to find them in heaps of rusty tools in flea markets or lot auctions. even found a smallish one in Japan for ¥500 once. seriously, you can find pretty much everything everywhere nowadays, even NOS or 19th or early 20th century stuff with a bit of luck.
@@What_Other_Hobbies didn't say you're wrong, just that thou forgot what Stanley Works was and did in the 20th century, planes, chisels, rasps abound and spare parts too. when you want good tools that'll last and are known as _el_ _cheapo,_ you gotta do your homework and be ready to take your time. no amount of PRC junk or greedy corporate compromise of bastardized tools will satisfy your thirst of plane goodness. with those 180 planes of yours, you could open a shop anywhere in the world except probably Antarctica. 😉
@@twcmaker Okay....if anyone knows it is going to be you. How do we pronounce Worcestershire or....the infamous Worcester ? (At least I say cabinet wright....right.)
I really enjoyed your presentation style in this video. It felt authentic, conversational and concise. Not sure why that feels different than usual, but thanks for the content!
Got this at lowes for 50-60 dollars. It's the tutorial level for planes. Beginners should be able to work with this and get a really nice results. I honestly get carried away with this thing sometimes when I get it rolling, especially when I put a little wax on the bottom to make it cut like a breeze.
Hey Rex. I love this video. I saw these at my local Lowes. There is also a finger plane and an adjustable mouth block plane. I picked up the block plane. The sole is hollow on that one too. I may grab the other 2 to have the full set of planes that don't exist.
I bought the finger plane today, mostly because it was only $15. It's clearly a direct copy of the lie-nielsen #101, even though the instruction booklet was copied word-for-word from the lie-nielsen #102 product page. Particularly funny is that they copied the part about the mouth being sized for a .008-.010" thick shaving, even though the gaping mouth on the Jorgensen would fit about 1/16". It does work well enough after some honing on the iron.
I went ahead and bought one last week, and saw the shortcomings you mentioned. Being new to hand planes, but not to tinkering, I think I learned some valuable skills for tuning up planes and got it to cut pretty well. Getting the chip breaker to mate with the iron was frustrating, but I think I finally got it there and am not seeing the clogging anymore. I think, for me, it was a good overall value.
The tote does take a bit to get used to, but I seem to have adapted quickly enough. The #4 I purchased off Amazon took maybe 10 minutes max to flatten the sole, a couple attempts to get the frog set, .maybe a total of 5 minutes to work both sides of the blade, 2 minutes on the breaker, and am able to take full width "gossamer" shavings . The adjuster on mine is very tight tolerance, hardly any freewheeling before the iron moves, which makes for excellent micro adjusting. I'm sorry to hear that you got a plane made on a Monday or Friday. I am naming mine Tuesday, because that's when workers usually get over their weekend hangovers and buckle down to pay attention to detail. I am quite pleased have a #4 that actually has enough space in front of the tote for my long fingers, I doubt I will be going back to Stanley #4 planes at all
I was at an antique tool/curio store the other day. Didn't buy the Stanley #4's but they had several. Price was $68. for "good shape but needs a little love". To $149. for "fully restored and good to go". Quotes are mine BTW. And the $5. for "pile 'O' rust in plane shape". I'm no expert but the $68. ones could be tuned up by anyone who watched Rex's excellent video on the subject. A little off the subject, there's something kinda groovy using a tool some other shmoe had used @ 100 yrs. ago. My #5 is @ 1914 and was beautifully restored. I found it on ebay for $150. Thanks, Rex !!
I always love watching your show and learn a lot from you. To add to my tools I am waiting for the new R. Krueger line of tools to come out. I don't think they will be el cheapos, but I think they will be very well made.
This plane is now 49.95 at Lowes. Which is a pretty good deal for what you're getting. I can't touch a rusted up vintage Stanley for even close to that now especially the #4.
Thank you for being you. About 5 years ago I watched your "#3: Fast plane restoration with BENCH GRINDER" and have been restoring hand planes ever since. It was a longer road learning to tune up an old neglected hand plane than just buying something new. But the knowledge gained along the way, was well worth it.
Speaking of casting and seasoning I used to work in a industrial machining factory and we would often make our own replacement parts for the machines. When it came to casting iron we would always do it in bedding pits and for example we would leave a lathe bed in the pit completely covered for nearly a year. It's unreal how much metal reacts to curing.
Story time, I apologize beforehand for the wall of text. I've been there. Earlier this year I developed an interesting in really taking up woodworking. I researched, compared prices, made lists of what I really need first and watched hours and hours of YT videos - your channel being one of my main sources. Relatively soon the issue of a plane came up, so I looked into a smoothing plane. I was sceptical of the hammer adjustment - just like you said - but did not want to spend too much money because I was not sure yet planing was actually for me. I bought a cheap 4 1/2 Stanley Bailey off Amazon. Made in India, I believe, rather low quality. I did not expect too much and I had seen videos on how to set up an prepare planes. I wasn't worried about sharpening, by that point my chisels had mirror polished edges. So, that out of the way I took the damned thing apart and did everything the usual suspects told me. Flattened the top of the frog, flattened and polished the back of the iron and the chip breaker for good contact and sharpened the iron. When I finally set to flattening the sole of the plane, disaster finally struck. A few strokes on 80 grit sandpaper removed the weird coating and revealed three hollows in the sole. One towards the back, another one right on the toe and the deepest one right around the mouth. I spend HOURS trying to flatten this thing and finally gave up. You could still serve soup in those hollows. 🤬 Next try was buying a cheap wooden smoothing plane from the Czech Republic. The plane body is surprisingly good, but the iron pretty much sucks. However, it did work. Flattening the sole was easy (wood!) and the iron did cut once it was sharp. So far, so good. I dropped the iron and bent it. Yes, it was that soft. Begrudgingly, I ordered a replacement blade, but this time from ECE (the same brand your wooden smoother is). Flattening the back was not necessary, I only polished it a bit when I probably did not need to. The primary bevel was perfect 25°, I just took the ears off and set a secondary bevel at 30°. And then, at that point, I was FINALLY where I wanted to be. For the original price of the plane plus the price of the new iron I could - and SHOULD - have bought a brand new ECE smoothing plane ... The hammer adjusting thing is way, way overdramatized. It's really simple and you get the hang of it very quickly. What you need ... is a smaller hammer. Something cheap with a 100 grams head would be perfect and that's that. I have since extended the fleet and now own a used Ulmia jack plane and a humongous ECE jointer plane (60 cm long). I found out I quite like wooden planes and the only metal planes I might eventually buy are a low angle jack plane and a block plane. Apart from that, I'll stick to wood. So to anyone who might be in the same shoes: Give a decent wooden jack plane a try, especially if you are from Europe. Good used ones go for about 50 € on a certaine electronic auction house with a four letter name. To anyone who made it this far: Thank you, legend.
Another problem with this under-seasoned iron is that it is still seasoning... not just that it has already warped, but that it will continue to warp as the iron continues to crystalize. Even if you get it 100% flat today doesn't mean that you won't be doing it again next year.
If you like wooden planes give the japanese pull planes a run. It is different experience altogether. They are surprisingly simple in design so once you know what you need making them would be something to explore. The plane function is determined less by the length of the plane but by the width of the blade. Best part is, you already know how to adjust them since they are hammer adjusted as well.
@@rylandfoster1937 Kanna are a bit peculiar, though. They don't come ready made and need a lot of adjustment before they are ready. You usually need to refit the blade to the bed, which involves chiseling. So far I have refrained from buying one, but that IS indeed on the list.
@@rylandfoster1937 Japanese wooden pull planes are great after adjusting - finnicky to say the least, as Uli said. What did impress me were Chinese pull planes - dirt cheap, not worse than average Japanese pull planes in terms of adjustment needed (very plump and raw though, which does not matter for what they did cost me), and the cut quality/blade quality almost as good as mid range German blades. I bought a couple some years ago just for curiosity reasons and expected a laugh, but no, these things were actually everything else than a joke. I do make my own blades for special tooling (soft St37 body and an edge welded on from HSS stickweld), but the chinese blades were actually better than my own homebrew in terms of cutting edge and holding that.
@manfred schmalbach , appreciate the comments - I've tried a Kanah and finally surrendered to the reality of my ineptitude. (At my age, there is little likelihood of living long enough to develop the techniques necessary to use those simple tools.) The Chinesium versions might be doable for me.
Wooden hand planes that you can build are the best in my opinion. Quick and easy to flatten and very quick and easy to adjust. Most of the ones sold are cast iron garbage that are brittle. I've had the front portion of the blade holder on one of mines break just from tightening the blade turning the hand plane into a door stop.
I bought this. It's available in all of my local Lowe's. In my opinion, the biggest problems are the iron and the chip breaker. The iron isn't flat on the side that contacts the chip breaker, and the chip breaker appears to be very slightly twisted on mine, by about .005". Flattening the iron is very time consuming with an extra coarse diamond stone--it's a good time to watch the director's cut of the Lord of the Rings trilogy--although it might be faster on a coarse water stone. I found that the bevel on the iron *also* wasn't completely flat, and that's also a slow process to correct. The chip breaker being twisted is an enormous pain. There's not a great fix, although I was able to force it to be flat enough using paper shims. I haven't flattened the sole yet, so I may decide that's a big problem when I get to it. *BUT* ductile iron is relatively fast to smooth, compared to hardened O1 tool steel. I've only tried it on fir so far; I have some soft maple, red oak, and a bit of poplar I can test also. I'm not getting a chip forming across the entire width of the blade--just the middle--and I'm betting that it's because the sole of the plane is hollowed. But the chip that I *am* getting is very clean, and I'm not getting anything jamming against the chip breaker, or between the mouth at the frog. My hands are a bit large for it; I don't think that a different shape to the tote would help me a lot on ergonomics. It's not comfortable, but it's not awful. The weight isn't bothering me yet. It might in the future, but it doesn't now. Overall, since I didn't have $300 to spend on a Veritas, this seems like a good first plane. It's sufficient for what I need to do right now, and if I ever get good enough that this won't work for me, well, then I'll have to shell out the cash for the Veritas. If I hadn't watched this video before I bought the plane, I'd probably be pretty upset at how badly it worked out of the box, and I'd be really frustrated at how many hours it's taken me to get it workable (so far). But after watching this video, I decided that my time--since I was already off work for the holidays--was less valuable than my money. That makes it a worthwhile purchase for me.
Learning how to fettle and set tools, and why. Is a basic learning curve that is essential for all aspiring wood workers. After learning how to make tea and sweep up. Fettling is the next important thing to learn for any apprentice.
Rex, I invite you to do a follow up on the Jorgy smooth plane. Don’t know if you got an early production plane or what. These planes are now readily available. You mention weight. A iron LN is 6 ounces heavier. Handle comfort is subjective. I have not found any issues. Out of the box with only an adjustment to the frog. I’ve not had a single clog. In terms of flatness, mine was dead on except for a small area under the tote. In the video you toss the tool on the concrete hard enough to cause a chip. Then go on to measure the flatness. I’m not a metallurgist but a before and after measurement would have been better. Like yours, the tote was a little loose. Tightening the toe and heel screws fixed that. Do you didn’t get a washer. A mistake by Jorgy. Grinding the rod is one way to fix the problem. Another is to source the correct part. Sure its PITA but you really carry on about a minor issue. For the price point I think the Jorgy is a helluva deal. This coming from an owner/user of Carter to Holtey. Stanley to MF, LN of various types and vintages. Your comments have done a great disservice to WWers looking for a budget friendly but capable tool.
Thanks Rex - you saved me $$. I too had high hopes Looks like you put more work into it than I have into the roughest of my old Stanley's from the antique shops Hoping your supposition that they are being recalled and reworked is correct!
I got a new "stanley" No.4 plane for about 50$ about a year ago. The box says it's made in mexico and the tote is plastic. It works pretty well after some adjusting and sanding. But sadly/unsurprisingly the plastic tote broke recently and i'm currently working on a replacement made of beech👌
I bought my "Made In Mexico" Stanley Bailey Jack (No. 5) Plane new about a year and a half ago and it too has a black plastic tote and knob. Its casting is very rough, especially when compared to my Stanley Bailey Fore (No. 6) Plane which I purchased new in the mid '90's. It also came with a black plastic tote and knob, but was "Made In England". The No.6's sole needed very minor flattening and the rest of it a minor tuning up, whereas the No. 5's was a whole lot worse.
*Sigh* I know your pain about breaking the plastic tote on a plane. My so called "stanley" fell of my workbench onto the floor and the tote shatered. So I ended up replacing it with one carved out a bit of scrap oak I had to hand. The end result feals a lot better in my hand when I use it.
I don't know jack about planes, or woodworking. That's why I dig Rex. He's one of many RU-vid woodworkers/craftsmen who has had a plane in his hands for years. Plus the ability to articulate that experience concisely and tangibly. ...and the "price point" analysis of the "business objective" that Jorgensen was aiming for. Looks like the Indian version hit the mark.
Always enjoy your straight forward approach and entertaining style. Regarding a cheap hammer adjusted plane...I picked up 5 complete 22" wood bodied planes (plus a couple of others) for $5...total. Cleaning and sharpening and a very light pass over the jointer produced more heavy old planes than I have time to play with...so I'm giving one to my brother-in-law.
Rex, the wooden chinese style plane you showed a while back has me hooked. I prefer it over my Stanley 5 and 4, and i got it at a fraction of price. Once you learn how to tune it with a small hammer, you honestly enjoy it lots. Glides over wood and gives a mean mean surface. Thanks for all your help. If i was in ohio i would take your autograph on your book and keep it, alongside a signed paper i got from Paul sellers. Two of my teachers
Lowe's in Amarillo TX is showing one of the smoothing planes in stock. They've got 10 each of the 60-1/2 block planes and 102 low angle block planes. They also show a corner easing plane available to order. I didn't check our other Lowe's. Don in TX
I was able to get a #4 "record" I got at Menards for $20 into honestly not bad working shape without a ton of work. I'm not saying it's good, but if you wanna see whether or not you like planing, and can spend some time flattening it on a tile with some sandpaper, then sharpen it, it's not bad. The frog was really flat and well seated. I have since converted it to a scrub plane and still use it.
Rex a few years ago i picked up a very similar irwin plane for 25$ at Menards, it is extremely similar to a satanley number 4, it has all the same issues out of the box as this plane does, however after some tuning it preforms excellently lots of money saved for lots of annoying tedious labor, but if you were going to spend 70 for the same issues as a beginner it would make lots of sense to go for the cheaper option
I bought one. It took a little tuning but that’s to be expected for the cost, in my opinion. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it. I’m getting good shavings and the adjuster doesn’t have much slop, which you can’t say for other planes in this price range. I’m ok with the heavy weight of it but that’s my personal preference.
Rrex, love your videos. Here's my two cents....since with any of these newer budgetish planes you will need to put in alot of effort tuning and such. Plus putting up with weird ergonomics.... Why not just look around locally or even just go to ebay and spend $30-50 and just get an old Stanley? Quick ish tune and you're in business with a time proven tool. Additionally, if you really don't have money for the Stanley's(because some sellers think they are made of gold) just look for the older copys like Sargent or even the lesser Stanley Handymans. To get started, tuned and sharpened they will will work great.
I recently bought ones of these from Lowes, and ran into the same problems you did. I didn't know about needing to work on the chipbreaker, and so that'll be the next thing I do. But it's head and shoulders over the Harbor Freight hand plane I got, and served me well on completing my first project.
Thank you Rex for irreplaceable advice for beginners like myself. Just got myself a Christmas gift for myself with this hand plane and this helps me tune it in the near future!
Very good video. Most of my planes are over 60 years old(Sargeants and Stanleys). The way to add good planes to my shop was garage sales and flea markets. Then I spend the time restoring them. In the 1980s it was easy to mail order parts from Stanley. In the near future nothing will be affordable. Good Luck, Rick
I got mine a few days ago. Ordered in online from Lowes. It had the same problems that yours had. Hollow sole, blade not flat, chip breaker not closing. I think this is a quality control issue. Yes it will cut "out of the box", not well and will choke on shavings. I spent several hours flatening the sole and blade, getting the chip breaker to seat, honing the frog and smoothing the plane body so the frog would seat as it should. After honing the blade and setting the mouth and chip breaker, it cuts like it should. Very thin and wide shaving th full length of a scrap of red oak. Even against the grain, good shaving. This is a really good plane when tuned up as you would do on a vintage plane. A beginning woodworker will have to learn how to set up a plane, a great skill to have, then will have a good plane. As for weight, this would be a great plane for a shootint board where extra weight is an advantage. Great work on your video, it's what decided me on the purchase and I'm not dissapointed with it.
They are at lowes here in indiana and it's 50 bucks here so thank you for this video it's saving me some cash I was stoked since I'm just now getting into woodworking and I'm on a small budget
I recommend getting older tools at tag sales and online shops like eBay Facebook marketplace ecs they are cheap and most of the time they are an easy restoration such as just sharpening the tools
Tramontina planes are really good for what i do Wich involves a lot of rounding work though they tend to need sharpening before use they don't really come sharp out of the box
I actually have seen a few different Jorgensen planes at my lowes on oahu and they are still there, there's the 10" one, the tiny basic block plane, and then a decent looking adjustable block plane. They seem to have rolled back their kobalt line of hand plane offerings and replaced them with these.
Thank you for excellent thought shared with us. Eventually I decided to buy this plane especially I had a gift card. I spent about an hour tuning it and it is perfect now. Looks like they fixed the majority of those defects you mentioned.
@@johnbesharian9965 take your time and you shouldn't work up too much of a sweat. Sometimes sweating is good though. Sweat out the poisons. In time many realize that going slow is the fastest way to achieve a desirable result. Haste makes waste.
I got my planes from our local antique store. They all cleaned and fixed up pretty good. I am happy with them. I got a nice little block plane for cheap but it was missing the front wooden knob. It had a 1/8" pitch threaded boss that the wood knob screwed onto. I 3D printed a threaded insert and epoxied it into a custom wood knob to fix the block plane.
I just got my first planes from a UK company called Axminster tools. I paid £165 ($197) for a 9 1/2 block plane and a 4 1/2 bench plane as a package deal. They were almost ready to go from the box, just a wee sharpen and a clean was required. Definitely recommend them to any UK folk watching this.
I paid a grand total of $1.75 for a Stanley No. 4 and a Stanley 60 They were both clean when I got them but did need to be sharpened. They weren't a package deal. I got them at different garage sales.
Thanks for this Rex, an interesting discussion & comparison regardless of whether you're looking to buy one of these. I always appreciate your presentation style but thought this was a particularly assured "performance" very professional ! I think we're trying to fix a problem that doesn't currently need fixing - particularly if every plane that's not either LN or Veritas seems to need fettling anyway then as long as there remains a plentiful supply of vintage Stanleys and Records (etc etc) for £20-30 (or $) then why not just buy one of these and enjoy the process of getting to know it ! The reason they can't seem to improve on it at a low price is precisely because Stanley spent 100 years refining and cutting all the corners that could reasonably be cut - it's already been done !
Excellent video as always! Here are my 2 cents: I've been woodworking for about 6 years, and my fist hand plane was a bailey copy, a Magnusson n. 4 from a big box retailer here in Spain, maybe 35-40€. Lots of shortcomings, as you would expect, but I learned to use it and to tune it at the same time, and today performs excellently, even in the purpleheart for my last project. Then I got a block plane from the same brand that turned out ok, and then, digging in my late grandfathers pile of tools, I found two wooden planes, a jack and a scrub (or something like it, very thick irons, neither with cap irons, one with a VERY open mouth, the other much finer). Learned to hammer adjust them, and specially the jack, I use it as a big smoother really, it works that well!
Just getting into woodworking with building a particular 14’ sailboat in mind. I am from Cleveland area also. I bought all the wood for it from a what seems to be a good place in Vickory Ohio (I am clueless about finding good quality wood) I subscribed and am learning a bunch through your videos! Thanks
That plane seems ok to me. Better than the cheaper planes out there. The used market is still the best bang for your buck. The wider mouth is likely needed to accommodate the thicker blade and chip breaker.
I’ve just gotten into woodworking ( have barely gotten anywhere with it yet) and got one of these. I figure for a guy like me it’ll work fine for as long as I need a fine enough plane, and I got it for 30 bucks, which was nice and cheap. I haven’t been able to do too much with it, cuz I forgot my knife safety rules, got too cocky when adjusting the blade, and sliced open the tip of my middle finger. Safe to say I won’t make that mistake again.
Just ordered a Peaktool/ Luban #5 ½ to start my planing career with. No idea what to expect from the lateral in the long run, not a great feeling to have metal on metal without a bearing but we'll see.
There is one in stock at my local Lowes' but I'm not getting it. I would rather have old Stanley. I might consider getting the adjustable block plane though.
Ironically my first plane was a Bailey No. 4 antique in fair shape that needed some rust knocked off and sharpening. I learned a LOT by restoring my antique plane, not the least of which was knowing what is or isn't working as I go. I could be a quick read and it came easier to me, but it didn't feel like rocket science. A lot of hands on and seeing failure before launch, helps. Knowing what is failing is what I learned. If you are agonizing over a microbevel or none on your blade; I don't think I'd actually recommend it. Mine had one and it made sharpening less convenient and thus, less often. Chisel edge is life.
The thing to remember, is that beginning woodworkers aren't making their money woodworking. You have to consider how much their time is worth in whatever field they are working in. For most people, it's going to be a better idea to spend a little more to get a nice plane out of the box than to spend hours getting a cheap plane up to snuff.
I took a class 20 years ago to learn how to make a Krenov style plane with a Hock blade. I use that plane all the time and have Stanley, LN and Veritas planes of all types as well as other specialty wooden planes for roughing green wood.
I'm fairly new to hand planes (couple years of hobby work) and I've become a Krenov convert. I understand that people want Bailey style planes, but I can't defend buying a junk plane when you can buy a Krenov iron for comparable cost.
Great Job, Rex! Thanks for taking the time to evaluate these new planes. I'm sure that, someday, you'll hit one that will be great for us beginners. Unfortunately, I ALSO think that, by that time, I won't be a beginner anymore. ;)
IMHO for the skilled woodworker the hand plane is capable of doing the job of a large jointer or a thickness planer. It may take longer and involve some sweat but it can be done as Rex has demonstrated in an earlier video. So why not spring the cash for new, good #4, 5 & 7 hand planes that might cost less than a powered jointer, thickness planer & a big dust collector. Like they say buying the best only hurts once. Keep on encouraging the hand tool woodworking.
I bought mine yesterday. The issue I have is the hole on the Chip Breaker is 1/4 inch closer to the edge and causes the Chip Breaker resting on the Pin/Screw for the Cap Iron. Therefore, I could not lower the iron pass the mouth with the adjustment screw all the way out. Otherwise, the plane is decent for that price range.
I'm trying something with my plane restorations that might be of help to beginning woodworkers. I'm finding some of those off-brand planes that collectors ignore, but that are good tools and restoring them as well as tuning them to be ready for use. By avoiding the planes that collectors have made expensive, I can keep the price competitive with box store planes.
Honestly a good move. I've found success with the Spear and Jackson planes, my No. 3 works wonderfully and I screwed up the chipbreaker for my No. 5 but I run it with the chipbreaker backed up pretty far and it works like a dream stilly. Soles are pretty flat out of the box too.
@@cracktact7676 There are some nice tools out there that aren't marked "Stanley". This isn't to say anything bad about Stanley. It's just that because of their collector values, a lot of them are priced out of the reach of someone starting out on a tight budget. I restored my first plane in about 1979, a Dunlap that I found in a collapsed barn and I've learned a lot since then. I still restore well-priced Stanleys, but as a tool user and not so much of a collector, I'm looking at the whole field to find tools that just need a bit of work to make them good tools.
Just learned of the following moments ago so headed straight here to add a comment. Taylor Toolworks (TayTools) has a (new?) line of planes which are fairly closely modelled on Baileys and the no. 4 is very similarly priced to this at $75. I did a search after loading as many comments as I could and it doesn't seem anyone else mentioned it, so hope this isn't a duplicate. Anyway, from what I can see they are closely modelled on Baileys with only one design difference in that they have wheel 'lever' caps rather than conventional lever caps. I don't personally feel this is a negative (I like them a lot actually) but I understand others won't care for this detail 😅
I have found the best way to get a good plane, is to go to your local classifieds, buy used Stanley plane and do a bit of work on it. Some of the planes I have bought have been in the box and maybe used once because there is some bits of wood inside it but the blade has never been honed. The original buyer tried it once and then gave up. Also I have a long wooden plane made in about 1880; it will give me a 4/1000" shaving. I love your videos keep them coming!
It looks closer to the late 80s to present Irwin Record Marples handplanes. The straighter tote takes a good bit of time to get used to but after using it for about a month and then comparing with handles that are more forwards, I am torn afterwards. The straighter tote tends to make me balance my application of force amongst the handles (much like the ergonomics of a european horned handplane).
My Lowes has them in stock, looks like they did a 102 and 60 1/2 also. An actual Stanley no 4 is $66 and has all the same issue this one has but also has plastic knob and tote and is a lot rougher machined
A couple of points about hammer adjusted planes: 1) Most are made of wood. If you drop them on concrete the don't shatter, they bounce! 2) Every single piece of genuine Chippendale furniture was made before Len Bailey was born.
I got 2 old Stanley Baily planes at yard sales. Not even the cost of a new low end plane. They work fine once I put a bit of sweat equity to clean and sharpen them.
After some experience w/ a couple of blade steel types, I think I'm firmly in the camp of using O1 steel and spending the savings on a good sharpening system & learning how to use it well. I think there are 2 major reasons why you didn't see these planes again. 1st, Chinese city lockdowns have severely hampered factory production. 2nd is cost of labor in China is near parity with the US, so no savings there. That $70 price point will prove to be an anomoly. Now manufacturing might go to some other South Asian country and that might keep costs down. But I don't see it happening in China anymore. There's a reason China has been pushing for auto manufacturing for a while now.
I actually found one of these in my local Menards, I considered buying it but figured I'd wait until I had a project that needed one. I'm glad I waited, because I mentioned it to my parents and they pulled out an old Stanley and an old Dunlap that were my great great uncle Francis's, and I should be able to restore them and get these treasures in use!
I think you'll do a lot better with those vintage planes. This one really is well made, but the old ones are lighter and more comfortable and they work well.
hi Rex in the UK, lathe and milling machine castings were left in the open for a minimum of three years before machining, clearly to allow the iron to settle. good documentary !
Quite possibly the most informative video I've ever watched. 👍👍👍 ...and last year I bought a 'Buck' brand plane from Home Depot. It was my first plane ever but after buying a Sargent 409 at a garage sale I realized the Buck was garbage and I gave it to a guy at work.
I’m really glad I came across your channel. The details you give are amazing. I’ve never used this tool. Frankly they are intimidating, and I don’t own one. But I know I need one or more. Thanks for the video.
Missed opportunity to remind people about the compass rose tools first product! The hand tool hero! Screwdrivers are for screws! The hand tool hero is for your tools!
