Cheap brand plane experiences

[Reggie]

Hi all, having just bought and fettled an axminster no.5 plane to a very usable state, I'm wondering what your personal experiences of the cheap planes are?

My experience was pretty simple, I just ran through the usual things that you'd check on a 2nd hand record/stanley bench plane, the yoke was loose, easily fixed with a pair of pliers to make the ends closer together which stops it jumping out of the adjust groove, I also had to regrind the face on the chipbreaker that meets the back of the blade, it only touched on the back edge of the face on the chipbreaker leaving quite a gap at the front, as soon as you try and plane anything it jams up immediately, once the face was reground, the front edge of that face meets the back of the blade correctly and now the shavings curl up nicely as they should do

The actual brand of the axminster plane is SOBA, apparently made in india.

Mine needed a minimum amount of fettling, it's such it's a bargain for what it is. I'm hoping this thread will turn into a reasonable place to come and look for experiences on these types of planes and how to get them to a usable state.

 

[baldpate]

I think the extreme variation in feedback (http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-axminster-no-5-jack-plane-prod377654/#bottomsection) for this Axminster plane tells the general story: with a cheap plane what you get is a bit of a lottery. I think you got lucky, and got one at the better end of the spectrum.

I've found that needing to hone the fit of the back iron/chipbreaker is not uncommon in older second-hand planes, so I imagine it is the same in new modern planes at the cheaper end of the market.

My experience of cheap modern planes is limited, but negative. An Anant No 4, which I eventually got to work but required a lot of effort (extensive work on blade, chipbreaker, sole and frog); and a Silverline No 4 which had a fundamental flaw making it unusable (depth adjuster yoke not long enough to engage properly with the chipbreaker).

I guess my examples came from the worse end of the spectrum .

 

[matthewwh]

Why not just fit a longer y lever?

 

[G S Haydon]

I think the key thing to remember here is your rights if your buy on line. The two bad reviews were of a faulty product. In that instance it should have returned for a replacement or refund.

 

[Mr_P]

Never used a new cheap plane so can't really comment but after reading this forum for a while now don't think I ever will.

I can buy a brand cheap car for £6k or I can buy a brand new expensive one for £100's of thousands. Both can be driven from the showroom and get me from A-B.

I can buy a very cheap plane and apparently these are not fit for purpose in most cases. How are manufactures getting away with this ?

1. Most of the cheap planes sold are sold to DIY'ers who don't have a clue, so they give up and blame themselves and rather than return them plonk them in the shed to rust and then chuck away in few years time.

2. People with more knowledge fettle the plane into something usable.

3. People with more knowledge return them for a refund.

4. They are not as bad as people say or perhaps its a lottery and some are great/ ok / appalling.

If more people took the 3rd approach maybe quality would improve ?

 

[Reggie]

The state of cheap planes is mainly why this topic exists, if people post their experiences here, how they fixed the issues, then these cheap planes can be a useful addition to a beginners tool kit.

If my plane hadn't been fixable then it would've gone back, if there had been any issues with the casting, again, it would've gone back, I might still send an email to axminster to let them know I had to fix it before it was usable.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

If you consider the cheapest of power tools - drills for £7.50 and other impossibly cheap offerings - these have a working lifespan counted in minutes. Possibly on one hand. The reason being that they are usually bought to do one job, then spend the rest of their life in the garage.

I suspect these planes take it a step further. They are made for people who will buy them with good intentions, but never get around to using them. So they don't need to actually work, just look the part :lol:

 

[baldpate]

Why not just fit a longer y lever?

Tried that, Mathew - bought and fitted one of your very own 'extra long' ones. So bad was the mismatch. however, that even that didn't work! There was something fundamentally wrong with that plane.

On the bright side, I now have a longer-reach Y-lever ready for the day I choose to fit an extra-thick iron to one of my other planes.

 

[Graham Orm]

EBAY!! Masses of reasonable planes at good prices. All shapes and types. Almost guaranteed as good if not better than the cheap new ones.

 

[Vann]

EBAY!! Masses of reasonable planes at good prices. All shapes and types. Almost guaranteed as good if not better than the cheap new ones.

But Grayorm, they're not nice and shiney... #-o

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Graham Orm]

EBAY!! Masses of reasonable planes at good prices. All shapes and types. Almost guaranteed as good if not better than the cheap new ones.

But Grayorm, they're not nice and shiney... #-o

Cheers, Vann.

They can be and it's fun making them shine! :mrgreen:

 

[longinthetooth]

You can buy a cheap NEW plane & fettle it all you like without knowing how the casting might warp over time ...

I just hate the thinking that goes into the manufacture of cheap stuff. It lacks integrity. It hoodwinks the unwary. If a thing doesn't work right because of poor manufacture, & remains un-used for that reason, then the materials and energy that went into it are wasted. There are principles at stake.

 

[Jacob]

You can buy a cheap NEW plane & fettle it all you like without knowing how the casting might warp over time ...

I just hate the thinking that goes into the manufacture of cheap stuff. It lacks integrity. It hoodwinks the unwary. If a thing doesn't work right because of poor manufacture, & remains un-used for that reason, then the materials and energy that went into it are wasted. There are principles at stake.

That's a bit romantic! I bet a great number of the beautiful posh planes people buy hardly get used at all.
If saving materials and energy were an issue then most of us could manage perfectly well with a tenth of the tools we have, and buy them all second hand.

 

[Vann]

I just hate the thinking that goes into the manufacture of cheap stuff. It lacks integrity. It hoodwinks the unwary. If a thing doesn't work right because of poor manufacture, & remains un-used for that reason, then the materials and energy that went into it are wasted. There are principles at stake.

I agree. When I buy new hand tools (whether they are users or nice-to-haves), part of the attraction is that they are made by people who are trying to make something well. I don't care if I could buy a cheap shiney item for £10, that could be made to work. I don't want something that was made/marketed by a company that's just wants to make a buck. I'd rather buy an old one off "the bay". This is my hobby - I want to feel good about it. It IS about the tools...

My old apprentice instructor would say "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well." I prefer to spend my precious tool funds on companies that feel the same way.

Luckily we've got Clifton, Lie-Nielsen and Veritas, and hundreds of pre-1960s planes for sale on internet sites.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Reggie]

Thanks for all your opinions on why you wouldn't buy cheap planes or buying old planes off ebay but that's not what this thread is about, it's about the experiences people have had when they have bought cheap planes and how they fixed any issues. There are threads for fettling old tools, threads to look at the shiny shiny new things, I can start another thread if you'd like to do 20 pages of the merits of each type of plane :-D

If you can't bear your hands touching anything but a > £150 plane, this thread probably isn't for you :-D

The thread is somewhere for people to come who have made a choice to buy a new cheap plane and see if they can make it usable, whether they've had experience with customer support etc.

 

[matthewwh]

On the bright side, I now have a longer-reach Y-lever ready for the day I choose to fit an extra-thick iron to one of my other planes.

There is a cost associated with making a metal plane flat, square and true with properly engineered components. There are also plenty of people who don't want to pay those costs, and for that market the world has provided metal planes that are not flat, square, true or properly engineered. I can understand why they are made, what baffles me is why anyone would choose to buy one?

If you want to plane wood accurately but don't have the budget for a good metal plane why not consider wooden ones? Old or new, they are comparatively affordable, easy to tune, and work beautifully.

 

[Mike Wingate]

There is a difference between having a usable plane and one that really works well and will continue to work well. As a tech teacher, I could set up a No.5 plane, check it, let a student use it only to find that it does not work for him. Check, readjust, test...There is a technique to everything. You have to read the timber and know how to adjust and why. All my own personal hand planes will plane really well, and continue to do so in my workshop. They are mostly old Stanley/Records with better blades and chipbreakers and yolks. There is a satisfaction to using them. Back to tuning my compound bow with it's new string and cables.

 

[Graham Orm]

Thanks for all your opinions on why you wouldn't buy cheap planes or buying old planes off ebay but that's not what this thread is about, it's about the experiences people have had when they have bought cheap planes and how they fixed any issues. There are threads for fettling old tools, threads to look at the shiny shiny new things, I can start another thread if you'd like to do 20 pages of the merits of each type of plane :-D

If you can't bear your hands touching anything but a > £150 plane, this thread probably isn't for you :-D

The thread is somewhere for people to come who have made a choice to buy a new cheap plane and see if they can make it usable, whether they've had experience with customer support etc.

Reggie,
I saw a very clean old Stanley No 4 go for £7 plus £7 postage earlier in the week. With the greatest respect to Axi far better than anything new for £30. There are lots like this. Your question is directed at people who buy the cheapest planes available. You're on the wrong forum I'm afraid. You need a DIY forum. This is the reason that you have had a different answer than you were hoping for.
Regards Graham :wink:

 

[Vann]

Thanks for all your opinions on why you wouldn't buy cheap planes or buying old planes off ebay but that's not what this thread is about, it's about the experiences people have had when they have bought cheap planes and how they fixed any issues...

The thread is somewhere for people to come who have made a choice to buy a new cheap plane and see if they can make it usable, whether they've had experience with customer support etc.

Oops, sorry #-o . I'll take my soapbox to another thread :mrgreen: .

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Dangermouse]

Reggie, I think you have not quite got how people on here use and buy tools. We would not buy a cheap bottom end plane, because we know what rubbish they are and 99% are useless. I echo the thoughts here that you should either save up and buy a good premium plane or go the good second-hand route. But there are good new premium quality planes to be had for not too much money. I have a set of the new Stanley Sweet Heart planes, the most expensive was the 62 low angle jack which I got on-line for £70.00. The no4 for £50 and the 60 1/2 for £30. They do the job just as well as the ultra expensive planes, just the enamel paint and handles are maybe a few per cent less well done. I have heard, from Jacob, that his no4 plane has a very sloppy adjuster, but I must say mine is fine and I would have returned it if it had one. So if you want to buy cheap, but have a top quality plane, go for the Sweet Heart range from Stanley. But don't touch any other Stanley ( made in China ) rubbish or Record ( Irwin ). Christopher Schwarz has said in his blog the same things about the Stanley Sweet Hearts as I have, so its good he agrees with me