Axminster 60.5 'Rider' block plane review

[ByronBlack]

Ok, I received this today:

My first impressions of it aren't great, its rougher than a badgers bottom, and the details are ugly as sin. The japanning is a glupey thick dimpled hammerite finish, and the 'bronze' looks like it was painted on with a blunt stick.

However - the sides are perfectly square to the sole, the sole is flat across its length and width, the blade seats solidly, and the adjustments are smooth with less than a quarter turn of backlash. The adjustable mouth is perfectly aligned with the sole, and is smooth to adjust and locks down without distorting anything.

I haven't had time to hone the blade or test it out properly yet, just wanted to get my thoughts down on 'paper' as it were and will revisit in a day or two with photo's of it's performance.

Here's some pics of the hideous finish:

Despite it's ugliness, due to the solid feel, squareness and flatness, I think it'll perform well.

 

[jimi43]

Is this the £34 one they are all raving about?

Jim

 

[bugbear]

Is this the £34 one they are all raving about?

Jim

Who is this "all" - this is the first I've heard of "Rider"?

BugBear

 

[jimi43]

Is this the £34 one they are all raving about?

Jim

Who is this "all" - this is the first I've heard of "Rider"?

BugBear

Sorry mate...I shall explain....

In this recent thread about the Axminster Sale...the other "BB" asked about the new cheaper Axminster 60 1/2 and 90 1/2 planes.

Either this is the "older" cheap block plane which was rather rough...no...it was terrible...or it is a new one and they have hugely varying quality control.

The one I had a brief glimpse of was close to an LN not close to a brick...

Looking at the website (it was too late last night...) it would appear the new ones are RIDER so this is one of those...

All I can say is the one I held looked like this one and not the painted bronze that came in the post!

The "raving about" comment came from what Peter at Axminster said about how they were shooting out of the door...and the comments that he had received from buyers.....

Hope this clarifies my comment....

Jim

 

[bugbear]

Here's some pics of the hideous finish:

Is that "fake bronze paint" or real bronze with a GOD-AWFUL lacquer job?

BugBear

 

[ByronBlack]

Ok, just to clarify - this is the 'new' block plane from axminster and is supposed to be a step up from their previous own-brand efforts from Groz, which were frankly dung.

This looks ugly as hell, but I do not know if they are all like this; in all probability they aren't, as I doubt axminster would be happy sending these out after a marketing push in their latest mailshot. They are probably closer to the photograph.

I'm personally not bothered by it as its just the finish and at £34 I can't be arsedto send it back to get another, especially considering how solid, well made (from a manufacturing and not finishing point of view) and square it all is.

It actually feels very good, the adjustments don't feel cheap at all, and it's very quick and easy to adjust the blade; not quite as fast as say the veritas block, but still very easy nonetheless.

I shall be honing up the blade tonight and testing it out on various end-grains and also general purpose use, and will post my findings.

BB - At the moment I don't know if its bronze, paint, lacquer or whatever, but I will give it a prod and scratch and investigate further this evening to see if I can find out.

 

[jimi43]

I think BB that the example you have from a finish point of view is a Friday 4:55pm one.

Although I did not get to play with the Rider at Sittingbourne..I did hold the one Peter was fettling and it was not like that at all...the GROtZ (sic) one was! :wink:

If that is a poorly finished bronze casting (probably is) then it will polish up fine if that is your need..

Nice to hear it is fairly square, flat and robust!

Jim

 

[ali27]

Hello everybody. Hope you are all doing well.

Byron, I am a bit shocked axminster would send you such
a plane! I mean, it looks quite old and used.

Rutlands and Matthew sell the qiansheng block plane. I think
Matthew sells it for 49 GBP and Rutlands for 29 GBP, which
is quite a difference I might add.

LN and Veritas block planes sell for over a 100 GBP if I recall
correctly. LN is made of ductile iron, this Rider plane is made
of grey iron.

I don't think Clifton makes a block plane.

The qiansheng planes are made of ''a good iron'' as Christopher
Schwarz could not break a QS block plane with a hammer.

I don't think the Rider plane is a qiansheng plane, but maybe it is.

Regards,

Ali

 

[ByronBlack]

Ok, here are some photo's of the rider block in action (it's very good).

Flattening the back of the blade and the sole - both only take about 20 seconds on the lapping films to remove the marks and become perfectly flat

Bevel polished with the eclipse up 1 micron - lovely mirror finish:

In use on the shooting board (handles it very well):

Nice thin shaving from beech:

Rosewood end-grain before (has some gum on it too which was removed)

Rosewood after:

Fine rosewood shavings:

Macassar Ebony Before:

Ebony After (I didn't plane all the way - it would have taken much longer)

Conclusion:

It's excellent. It took no more than about 20 mins to get everything flattened, honed and polished. It's very easy to setup, and produces excellent results on end, side and face grain. It worked well in the shooting board. The thumb grip is especially well placed for this, and made using it very comfortable.

It was surprisingly good on the ebony, being such a small plane, I thought it might struggle, but it's a very solid feeling plane, and coped very well, and left a lovely finish.

I'm particularly impressed with the quality of the adjustments. All the threads seem firm without being too tight, there is very little backlash in the blade adjuster, and the bronze cap knob is also very smooth. The whole experience of adjustment while using is very impressive.

It's a little smaller and lighter than the LV block plane I had, but I would say so far, that the results are comparable, although I don't have one at hand to directly compare.

I can confirm, that the fittings and the cap are in fact bronze, and that horrible finish is just lacquer, but seeing as it doesn't effect the excellent performance of the plane, I intend to leave it as it is.

For £34 it is streets ahead of the stanley's and records, and performs as well as a LV but is miles away from the quality of finish, which if that is important to you, you won't like this plane. However, if you are looking for a solid but not overly bulky plane to chamfer edges, trim end-grain, and knock out some high spots on hardwoods, this is a great choice, and I can highly recommend it.

 

[jimi43]

Hi BB

So....never judge a book by its cover I guess!

Seems to perform really well. Good review too!

I played around with my old Stanley today, juning the iron up a bit...

Just a quick question...is the iron on the Rider thicker than the standard Record/Stanley?

Jim

 

[ByronBlack]

Hi BB

So....never judge a book by its cover I guess!

Seems to perform really well. Good review too!

I played around with my old Stanley today, juning the iron up a bit...

Just a quick question...is the iron on the Rider thicker than the standard Record/Stanley?

Jim

Hi jim,

The blade is 2mm thick, not sure if that is thinner or thicker than an old stanley. I wouldn't say its espeically thick (don't think it's as thick as an LN or LV), but either way, it certainly performs well.

 

[Qwibble]

I just been oggling this plane on Axminster's site. Tempted.
Good low priced starter block plane?

I've got a record block plane which is close to useless even after much fettling.

 

[ByronBlack]

I certainly recommend it - despite my one being a bit rough on the finish, the actual performance is excellent. and required little to no fettling other than honing the blade.

 

[MIGNAL]

Hi BB

So....never judge a book by its cover I guess!

Seems to perform really well. Good review too!

I played around with my old Stanley today, juning the iron up a bit...

Just a quick question...is the iron on the Rider thicker than the standard Record/Stanley?

Jim

Hi jim,

The blade is 2mm thick, not sure if that is thinner or thicker than an old stanley. I wouldn't say its espeically thick (don't think it's as thick as an LN or LV), but either way, it certainly performs well.

Stanley stock blade is 2 mm. The blade on my LV Apron plane is just a little thicker at 2.3mm.

 

[jimi43]

When I was in Axminster on Tuesday...I saw they had some more Riders back in stock and checked it out.

It is obviously not up to the level of LN but it was a hell of a lot better looking than the one you got BB. That being said...it looks like the brass on the cap has lacquer on it and this can be removed if required.

I talked to Mike Jeffery (the Manager) about these and he thinks they cut almost as good as the LN and for a fraction of the price.

The plane felt very weighty and substantially better built than a Stanley of the same type and milez above the Grotz....(sic) which is their other "cheaper" contender.

I am still impressed...and it looks like your are now BB...any further feedback?

If you are down in the area on 26th of June it may be worth visiting the Plane and Chisel day and watch it in action in Peter's hands...

Jim

 

[ByronBlack]

Hi Jim,

Ive used it a lot these last couple of days, and I'm really smitten with it. It performs as well as the LV I had, but its a lot more manoeuvrable and easier to hold. Its also better than the LN I had because of the square sides; I can shoot with it, whereas with the LN - the curved sides prevented this.

I'm even using it to joint edges of short panels. The low angle blade gives a lovely polished finish.

I use it a lot for squaring up the end grain, it works equally well on meranti/sapele/mahogany as it does on hard maple and rosewood.

It is far superior to the flimsier feeling stanley/records and a light year ahead of the groz.

I even like that its ugly and only cost me £34, I cannot see where the performance can be improved on as it does everything I ask of it with ease. I cannot see a reason to buy a more expensive plane unless its just the ownership/collector status that the more expensive planes offer is the main buying decision, as certainly the performance is equal to any of the top block planes I have owned and used.

 

[tomasg]

Hello
Ive been oogling over this plane for a wee while...
so I looked it up at axminsters site today and decided to
read the reviews ..
One person mentioned that the quality control was hit and miss :shock:

I don't mind doing a days fettle as long as its not totally off
ie. sides way off square, Im not bothered if the brass is shiny looking

Has anyone got one of these recently ?
Thanks guys
Tom

 

[jimi43]

Hello
Ive been oogling over this plane for a wee while...
so I looked it up at axminsters site today and decided to
read the reviews ..
One person mentioned that the quality control was hit and miss :shock:

I don't mind doing a days fettle as long as its not totally off
ie. sides way off square, Im not bothered if the brass is shiny looking

Has anyone got one of these recently ?
Thanks guys
Tom

Hi Tom

A long time has passed since this thread and I would say now that you have a much better option in the Quangsheng one...the low angle one come with two irons too!



I haven't got one but someone here will have...I do have one of the QS irons though and it is really impressive!

It's on sale at the moment but that puts it £30 more than the Rider but in this instance...I think it would be worth it....

Jim

 

[Benchwayze]

I certainly recommend it - despite my one being a bit rough on the finish, the actual performance is excellent. and required little to no fettling other than honing the blade.

Hi Byron,

Where yah been! Haven't seen you online in a while!

The proof of the pudding as they say... Also, that handle would soon buff-up on a wheel. Then it would be in good disguise as a Lie Nielsen!

Regards

John

 

[studders]

Hi Byron,

Where yah been! Haven't seen you online in a while!



John

Dates John, Dates.