Faithfull planes

[dynax]

Today i purchased a #3, a #4 & 60 1/2 combo,and a #5 from uktoolcentre, i only got the #3 to push it over £75 for free delivery, i have looked online for reviews and tbh there isn't a great deal and what there is are very mixed, so i thought i would take the plunge and do some proper reviews on them, one reason i went for these is i prefer the screw cap iron to the lever type, and going by the pictures they look reasonably well presented nice looking wooden handles, the #5 comes in a wooden box, the #4 & 60 1/2 combo had 2 options 1 in a wooden box or slightly cheaper in padded bags i went the cheaper option, i don't know how the #3 will come wether in a bag or a box there was no mention of this,as for the prices,

#3 £15.12, #4 & 60 1/2 combo £30.79 and the #5 £30.67,

disclaimer: i never used this company before or have any affiliation to them, cheers.

 

[Vann]

Just a small clarification: the cap is a lever - whether actuated by a screw or a cam. So yours will have a screw actuated "lever-cap".
And the "cap-iron" is the 2mm thick steel screwed to the "cutting-iron" or blade.

Looking forward to your impressions of the planes.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

The only useful functions I've ever been able to discern for any Faithful plane straight out of the box I've come across has been as a paperweight/ doorstop or a good example of exactly how to not make a plane. From time to time when I was running a furniture making programme I'd get eager undergraduates starting their first year whose parent's had decided to give them a good start with a gift of two or three planes. Those that arrived with Faithful planes made my heart sink rather - the presentation boxes were generally of better manufacture than the planes, and the boxes were nothing to write home about!

I don't think I ever managed to get one to work truly satisfactorily. Barely adequate performance after much mucking about? Yes, sometimes, but never one that could make the heart sing with joy in its use. Most ended up languishing unloved and unwanted gathering dust in an inaccessible corner of the toolbox.

Hopefully your Faithful's will be the exceptions that prove the rule, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[ED65]

Those are good prices so you did well there Mike.

I've had the chance to use three Faithfull planes and all three were keepers after standard fettling, in all cases with zero work done to the soles. But there are reports of definite duds; as with all cheaper planes you take the chance you'll get poorer one or an outright lemon.

Even with the ones that do function well I do have to say their product pics give a slightly better impression of their looks than the reality! So I'd say it's realistic to expect to have to do something to the woodwork.

 

[ED65]

Hopefully your Faithful's will be the exceptions that prove the rule, ha, ha. Slainte.

Wouldn't be the only exceptions

hand-planes-t102033-60.html

 

[Friedrich]

Good luck sir, You will really need it!

 

[nabs]

i prefer the screw cap iron to the lever type, .

I think that using a screw, rather than the original thumb-push, on the lever cap is a better design too.

With a budget of 75 quid for 4 planes then I expect some elbow grease is going to be needed to get them to work properly - looking forward to your review!

 

[g7g7g7g7]

The faithful 60 1/2 block plane is excellent, they have that particular plane mastered, theirs are better quality castings and finish than what Stanley are producing nowadays, had a direct comparison in college with a few others to compare and the Faithfuls are damn good block planes.

Not sure about the rest of their products but I'm always tempted by the price of their bench rebate plane.

 

[custard]

Looking forward to your review Mike.

 

[dynax]

might not have to wait too long, got an email for a parcel being delivered today, but not sure if it's the faithfull planes or the record 045c, should know within a couple of hours, if it is the faithfull planes then that is excellent delivery service to start with,

 

[dynax]

reading what has been said just in this thread alone, is the reasoning why i bought them, so hopefully i will be able to give an unbiased view of them, i am not into brand snobbery or a hard fast one brand user, i would like to think that with the reviews that i have read most of which are quite a few years old, that the qc aspect of production may have been addressed and that what are being produced now should be a quality tool for the price, if they are truly carp then they will be returned it's as simple as that, and all that has been wasted is my time,

 

[dynax]

they have arrived, to say that i bought them yesterday morning that is exceptional service,
so just having some lunch then will make a start on the reviews so for now that's all,cheers,

 

[ED65]

Since the block plane is likely to require the least work you might start on that to get the fastest start on an in-use review. If you're lucky it will take you all of five minutes to put it into service. The one I tried apparently only needed excess grease wiped off, a little deburring on one or both sides of the sliding mouth, honing of the iron of course and it was good to go.

 

[dynax]

Hi ED65, hehehe, i went straight for the big boy, just about to start my review on it, will start a new thread for it then Andy or who ever can add it to the other review section, cheers,

 

[graduate_owner]

I wonder how Faithfull planes compare to the ols Stanley Bailey planes that crop up from time to time in car boot sales and auctions.

K

 

[G S Haydon]

In my experience the Faithfull planes look to be close copies of very late Record planes, I'm basing this on the way their frog is made and how the #078 is made. They are fine, however casting accuracy is the issue, more so on a #7. I don't think I'd have much problem getting one to work well based on the ones I've seen. However, with good Stanley & Records rarely fetching more than £30, sometimes much less, I'd personally prefer to use vintage models.

 

[dynax]

to save clogging up the review threads, regarding the No3 the hollow isn't that pronounced and in all fairness i was probably being a bit harsh on it, the castings are not bad at all really, earlier this year i bought a Clarke No 5 from machine mart and that was abysmal i spent a couple of hours on that and still couldn't get a clean shaving so it went back, by comparison these faithfull ones are so much better and crisper in all aspects, they may not be to everyones taste, and i agree that perhaps the early offerings were poor, but if these later ones are the result of better quality control and better production altogether, then i would not hesitate to recommend them as a workable budget tool, they will do the job that they have been made for, earlier today i took a piece of 63mm x 38mm scant and using the no5 took all but a couple of minutes to par and square it, and it left a finish as good as any if not better that any par timber you can get at a merchants, and that was with the light fettling i did on it yesterday, cheers.