Cheap Stanley plane...

[pswallace]

Hi folks, I recently bought two Stanley planes at greatly reduced prices in B&Q,one was A block plane at £10 reduced from £40 the other was the handyman style bench plane ..£6 from £25. I flattened the bottom of both planes using A long strip of 6mm glass bonded to 18mm MDF with 80 grit-120 then 240 glass paper stuck to the glass with Pritt stick...this produced great results. I then reground the irons on the Tormek at 25 degrees then honed A micro bevel with 40-30 then 5 micron lapping paper, again great results .When I tried the block plane on 19mm pine,then 22mm oak I couldn't believe the results,nice cigarette paper thin curly shavings but when I tried the bench plane it just about shaved A few slips of the pine and it just juddered along the top of the oak. I wasn't expecting 'Veritas' or 'Lee valley' type results but after getting such great results from the block plane I thought I could get Ok results from the bench plane but no matter how much I adjusted the set up I just couldn't get acceptable results. Can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong here or Am I just trying to punch above my weight with A cheap plane? thanks Phil.

 

[David C]

Not certain but I suspect the Handyman has a very poorly supported frog? i.e. no support at all under the front edge.

David C

 

[undergroundhunter]

I have a cheapo wicks plane i bought in an emergency and that is a pile of c**p the blade is razor sharp but it wont cut properly no matter what i do to it....... does make a good door stop though.

 

[pswallace]

...It's not the £6 I spent that's bothering me (let's face it £6 wont break the bank) it's the two hours I spent flattening it...but the block plane really does make up for it,before long i found myself shin deep in shavings just because it was such A pleasure using it !

 

[jimi43]

...It's not the £6 I spent that's bothering me (let's face it £6 wont break the bank) it's the two hours I spent flattening it...but the block plane really does make up for it,before long i found myself shin deep in shavings just because it was such A pleasure using it !

Just living proof of the old saying..."you can't polish a......" ....literally!! :mrgreen:

If you want to expend that amount of energy...get an old Stanley or Record from a bootfair for a few quid...

It may not even need fettling and it will almost always produce good results.

See the numerous threads on the forum about plane restoration...just use the word "restoration" in the search engine.

Jim

 

[pswallace]

...'got the plane problem sorted,it was indeed the frog (thanks David C) .Underneath the frog was poorly finished and badly uneven so the frog couldn't sit squarely or flat,so after much filing with A cranked miniature diamond file and flattening of the frog bottom on A lapping plate I'm actually getting quite good results but I must have put about 5 hours into it so I guess it wasn't that much of A bargain after all . . . Am going to keep an eye out for A second hand fore plane now! Phil