Any Cheap & Decent NEW LA block plane which you can buy?

[MrDavidRoberts]

I wanted to purchase a low angle block plane(not the very tiny models, but the bigger ones)
I don't really want to wait weeks/months for something to come up on ebay, - they are rather rare there and go for high prices anyway.
I checked the reviews for the 60 1/2 stanley , Record, faithful New models- and seems like they are low quality poorly made garbage?

From my quick research seems like nowadays you should skip everything until the Quangsheng Luban?
Wanted to get something cheap which I can play around with and see if it's any use for me and what functions I like & want.

 

[fezman]

I bought an axminster rider one recently - seems good to me. this one https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-r ... ane-506557

They occasionally have them @ half price on their outlet sites. They say they have cosmetic damage and just need a fettle. I was a bit impatient too so ended up buying one full price from the store.

 

[novocaine]

I have a faithful no 9 1/2. other than the japaning being a bit hit and miss (mainly out of site where it meets a ground surface on the top like the frog) it's a cracking little thing that gets used often, in fact it gets pulled out in place of a bigger plane on many an occasion.
the blade is thin but stays sharp and sharpens well, the back was fairly flat with only a small depression 40mm from the cutting edge. there is a slight wallow in the sole, just behind the blade, the rest is flat to within surface plate measurement, the adjustable throat works although I found a bit of japaning on the runner beneath it that needed to be cleaned off.

maybe I'm lucky and I'm sure someone will tell it me isn't as good as an XYZ thats 10 times the cost, but it'll do me and when it gets knocked off the bench and bust I won't be crying over it, I also don't have to add it to my house insurance, just in case.

 

[user22161]

I bought a Faithful 60 1/2 LA block plane and it was absolute junk, casting was rubbish forcing blade to be offset, rejected it. Replaced it with a Rider 60 1/2 and that was good, straight out of the box.

 

[Bodgers]

I wanted to purchase a low angle block plane(not the very tiny models, but the bigger ones)
I don't really want to wait weeks/months for something to come up on ebay, - they are rather rare there and go for high prices anyway.
I checked the reviews for the 60 1/2 stanley , Record, faithful New models- and seems like they are low quality poorly made garbage?

From my quick research seems like nowadays you should skip everything until the Quangsheng Luban?
Wanted to get something cheap which I can play around with and see if it's any use for me and what functions I like & want.

The new Stanley Sweetheart (not the standard one) low angle block plane is excellent. There were some issues with the machining of the movable mouth piece originally, but they have sorted that now.

Geninune premium plane for a decent price.

When you are looking at reviews of this look for ones done after 2012 where they started sorting the initial problems out.

 

[Dangermouse 2nd]

You get what you pay for.

 

[ED65]

I checked the reviews for the 60 1/2 stanley , Record, faithful New models- and seems like they are low quality poorly made garbage?

Were you perhaps overly focussed on the negative reviews to notice the good ones? Because I bet there are some good reviews for each of those brands; I know for a fact there are good ones for Faithfull.

Just checked, there are 81 reviews for the Faithfull 60 1/2 on Amazon and it has a score of 3.8 out of 5 so must be a few good reviews sprinkled in there :wink: (79% 4 or 5 stars for posterity, and one of the reviews that gave one star was because it wasn't sharp!)

From my quick research seems like nowadays you should skip everything until the Quangsheng Luban?

Bad reviews of those too if you look around for them.

 

[ED65]

You get what you pay for.

I think we can see fairly conclusively from the above that this isn't a truism.

While there's some truth to the idea of course it discounts the better-value and outright bargain tools that have been around for as far back as it's easy to look.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... and one of the reviews that gave one star was because it wasn't sharp!)

Yes. be wary of bad reviews. I was looking at chainsaws and one (excellent) saw was given one star by someome - because it came without petrol in it.

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

I have a QS 601/2, it is the only new plane I have ever bought and it s excellent. I bought the three iron set from WH, TBH I wouldn't bother with the three irons as I rarely change them.

 

[MikeJhn]

... and one of the reviews that gave one star was because it wasn't sharp!)

Yes. be wary of bad reviews. I was looking at chainsaws and one (excellent) saw was given one star by someome - because it came without petrol in it.

LOL

A table saw on the Axminster site has a bad review because it snapped a belt, its only after a bit of investigation you find out they took off the belt guard.

Mike