Plane manufacturers

[benldwyer]

Hi All,
This is my first time posting, so hello to everyone and great forum.
Sorry to bring up this topic again, I have read the previous thread but given it was 4-5 year ago I thought I would re-visit it. I have limited knowledge of the quality of different tools and am currently setting up my own workshop. I have decided to follow Trevor's advice from a previous thread and get a low angle Jack plane but I don't know what brand to get and the price range varies greatly. Carbatec sell Goz $150, Veratis $450 and I have also found new Stanley 62 planes from the UK for $200.... I have read reviews on the Goz but these are 7 odd years old, maybe the quality has improved..
Can anyone provide some advice on a reasonable quality plane please? I won't skimp on price but obviously don't want to pay more than I have to.
Thanks in advance,
Ben

[kiwigeo]

I have decided to follow Trevor's advice from a previous thread and get a low angle Jack plane but I don't know what brand to get and the price range varies greatly. Carbatec sell Goz $150, Veratis $450 and I have also found new Stanley 62 planes from the UK for $200.... I have read reviews on the Goz but these are 7 odd years old, maybe the quality has improved..

Most of the planes in my fleet are Veritas...IMO you can't go wrong with a Veritas. Ive couple of Leigh Nielsen planes which I acquired second hand at a decent price.....Rolls Royce planes that are a joy just to look at. Goz.....the last time I looked at a Goz my immediate thought was you get what you pay for. New Stanley stuff......good for use as door stops or holding down piles of tonewood.

[lamanoditrento]

[/quote]
New Stanley stuff......good for use as door stops or holding down piles of tonewood.
[/quote]

Couldn't agree more with that statement. When I was first started thinking to buy hand tools, I bought a new no. 4. It had a plastic depth adjuster nut that pretty much threaded it self after the second use. Complete waste of time.

Here is a good tute about reconditioning a old plane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYyV6IUpsYk if you want to keep the cost down.

[routout]

I have a couple of old Stan's refirbed by me ,Garrett and Wade used to have an outlet here no more sad to say ,take a look at their website they have some cool stuff .I like scrounging for stuff that is a great option as the guys here will tell you it's for life a good quality tool.

[56nortondomy]

I've got mixed reviews on new Stanley's, I bought a new No4 and it was a piece of crap, soon got rid of it. I did however buy a new Stanley sweetheart low angle plane and I'm pretty happy with it. I've also in the last couple of weeks been lucky enough to inherit a couple of old Stanley's a No4 and a No5 and there great. Wayne

[benldwyer]

Thanks everyone for your input, great advice that I will take on. Any opinions on the Lie Nielson planes?
Is this the Stanley wayne? http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Stanley-62-Jac ... iid%253A20

[benldwyer]

Sorry, silly question...I was looking at US procing for the Lie Nielson..

[kiwigeo]

Thanks everyone for your input, great advice that I will take on. Any opinions on the Lie Nielson planes?
Is this the Stanley wayne? http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Stanley-62-Jac ... iid%253A20

LN's are the Rolls Royce of planes. I've got a couple of LN's in my fleet and they're just a pleasure to use..

[rocket]

I have mainly Stanley but some Veritas and my opinion is that Veritas is the ducks guts as far as hand planes go, so if you want the best go Veritas!

[benldwyer]

Thank you to everyone for your help, really appreciate it, Veritas it is! I will be keeping my eyes out for additional vintage planes as well, the reconditioning video was really helpful.

[kiwigeo]

Thank you to everyone for your help, really appreciate it, Veritas it is! I will be keeping my eyes out for additional vintage planes as well, the reconditioning video was really helpful.

Shop around. I bought most of my Veritas planes from Lee Valley in the US.

[Mark McLean]

+1 for Veritas. I have a plane and spokeshave made by them that I use every day I am in the shop. Just a pleasure to work with.

[Fisherman]

Vintage planes work great - look for ones in good condition and do a little setup work. I do most of my work using size 4 and 5 Stanleys, mostly the 4. I also have some larger Carter planes which seem ok, but the larger ones are a luxury not a necessity. All really well priced... you can have a full set of planes for the price of one Veritas....

A small block plane is also very useful - I used a surprisingly good $15 one for the last few guitars but have recently upgraded it to a Veritas

If going vintage you can flatten soles with sandpaper on a flat surface - glass or a machined bandsaw table etc. Then work out a sharpening system that works for you and ur all set.

[mqbernardo]

Reconditioning / refurbishing old planes is almost an artwork in itself. i liked doing mine (a Stanley 4 1/2 and 212 scraper type 11 planes) but now I prefer to invest my time elsewhere. Problem is most vintage, pre-war (1st one that is) nice stanleys are over priced imo (at least here), and some need spare parts. So if you find them locally and can inspect them AND have the time, by all means do it. Hunting ebay becomes an obsession and when you factor in shipping costs it can get a bit unreasonable money wise, IME.

Regarding modern ones, veritas is my fave but handle shapes are apparently not to everyone's taste. The veritas implementation of the LA jack (and if the block plane, by the way) just seems more polished, even than LN. I'm not so sure about their conventional bevel down planes, at least for a guy with big hands like me. Another option, sort of a middle ground one, is quang Cheng planes. They're actually pretty good and cost less than half of a LN. Maybe they lack the "heirloom quality" factor. I have a number 4 bedrock with bubinga handles and brass frog that performs outstandingly. Steel is surprisingly nice and lasts long.

Cheers,
Miguel.

[Crafty Fox]

Most of my planes and also some other tools are Veritas.
I do have a couple of old Stanleys and Records which I bought new nearly 40 years ago. I still use them but even they have Veritas iron/cap irons in them now.
I sometimes buy from Carbatec, but only go there as a last resort nowadays, and often buy direct from Lee Valley in Canada.
Postage from Canada can be pricey though. I try to buy multiple items to spread the postage out a bit.

[mqbernardo]

https://www.finetools.com.au/collection ... hand-plane

just googled and fond this site, so quangsheng has a distributer down under. no affiliation, never used their services, can't vouch for them... usual disclaimers. but worth a look.

[mooshalah]

Hi Ben.

I've used Luban / Qangsheng / Woodriver (American distributor) planes, chisels and other products for perhaps the last 10 years, and I find them to be of excellent quality. They are all made by the same manufacturer in China but distributed under different names in different locations. I too have Lie Nielsen and Veritas planes, but in fact stopped buying them once I discovered their Chinese equivalent. I (and and many, many others) believe that they are almost up there (in terms of overall quality - i.e. "fitness for use") with these other prestigious manufacturers.

Here's their website in China. http://www.qstools.com/Productsd.asp?ID=377

When I first started buying them, they were being sold as unbranded items at (to me) ridiculously low prices by McJing Tools in Sydney; like $80 for a No. 4 plane with thick, 60 Rockwell blades and beautifully finished fittings in bronze. I spoke with the folks at McJing at the time, and they saw no advantage to mentioning the name of the manufacturer! Times have changed, and prices now reflect the fact that Qangsheng (and woodworkers) sees itself as a worthy competitor in the global market.

Here are some Australian distributors:

https://www.finetools.com.au/products/l ... hand-plane

https://www.timbecon.com.au/planing/han ... jack-plane

https://mcjing.com.au/searchresult.aspx ... ck%20plane

http://www.artesan.com.au/shop/luban-no ... -tools-co/

If you buy one of these, I don't think you'll be disappointed (and hey! My origins are Ukrainian / Polish, and I have no skin in the game!)

Regards,

Frank.

[RodneyStedall]

Hi . This is my first time on the forum as well. I can highly recommend Alex planes from Cremona tools in Italy. Recommended to me by luthier Andrea Tacchi in Florence. I bought low angle Jack plane with 3 different angle blades. Cost Euro 160. Was on my door step about 10 days later. Cremona have all the other good brands as well. Lots of other nice stuff on their catalogue as well.

[benldwyer]

Thanks again to everyone, you have thrown a spanner in the works Frank, but I appreciate it, I will have to re-think my options...seeing as I will be buying a whole workshop's worth of tools, I am keen to save where it's possible.

[mooshalah]

Hi again Ben (and Rodney).

Just for the record, I had a look at the Cremona Tools website in Italy, and can confirm that the Alex plane that you bought, Rodney, is in fact made by Qiangsheng.

Regards,

Frank.

[kiwigeo]

Hi again Ben (and Rodney).

Just for the record, I had a look at the Cremona Tools website in Italy, and can confirm that the Alex plane that you bought, Rodney, is in fact made by Qiangsheng.

Regards,

Frank.

Oh dear.....next thing you'll be telling me all the Stradivarius violins were also actually made in China??

[routout]

I thought strad was up to something A while ago I saw a guy in the us bought the rites to make some old planes and was casting the silicon bronze realy nice gear ,remembering buy once you got it for life if you look after it .

[Andos]

If you have a spare gold mine, check out these planes
www.marcouplanes.com

[Steve.Toscano]

Regarding the woodriver planes mentioned:
I have #4 & #3 woodriver, while they are great planes, the blade steel is rather soft and dulls quickly on anything that is not spruce . I ended up buying veritas PMv11 blades for them - which are awesome by the way.
Once you take this into account they (the planes and the replacement irons) you end up at a cost close to the Veritas planes. So just go for the better quality to start with.

On this note, i recently purchased a veritas bevel up smoother - WOW, what a beast.

[mqbernardo]

I have to say that my impression is different: I think that quiangsheng's blade steel (t10 - I'm no expert, dont know what it is except that it's an "high carbon steel") holds its edge rather well, for my needs it's in A2 territory. and it's not that hard to sharpen. I've bought a veritas blade for an old Stanley but because of geometry issues I had to revert to a quiangsheng blade... I can't say I noticed any difference. 30 degrees bevel.