El Barto
👍
Today I took delivery of the above mentioned plane. Now I know these "low angle" planes are controversial in some circles and that Chinese knockoffs are controversial in other circles, so surely this must be some sort of Venn diagram explosion of controversy. I'm not a huge new tool/gear nerd but I thought I'd post my thoughts anyway. As with most of the topics I start, this one is more of a rambling essay but whatever. Maybe it'll help some people.
If you can't be bothered to read it all then that's ok. To save you some time: it's very good.
Ok so to begin with I'll get it out of the way: I didn't like buying a Chinese plane. And I know it's so stupid, especially in 2018, to have that bias. While researching Quangsheng and its Woodriver branded American cousin I read several forum posts and articles (mostly positive). One particularly stood out to me: an American forum member in 2010 (not sure which forum) had said, and to paraphrase heavily, that one of the reasons they wouldn't buy a Chinese tool was that morally they weren't comfortable with it; Chinese undercutting other economies; their disregard for the environment; blatant copying of designs, the list goes on. And while they're all valid points it struck me that what a difference 8 years makes and the amazing steps China has made. Its government might still be quite sketchy but its commitment to the environment and the planet is applaudable. In contrast, why do I feel any kind of allegiance to America or American made products? Especially while America is so successfully embarrassing itself at the moment. These are all rhetorical questions that I don't really need answers to but they're interesting nonetheless. And as for the copying of designs, well I'm pretty sure Lie Nielsen's No. 62 is an exact copy of Stanley's anyway and that the only original design (of bevel up planes) out there at the moment is Veritas'. Might be wrong tho.
I actually bought the Veritas bevel up jack a few weeks ago for a couple of reasons: I was working with some Ash that was driving me mad with tearout/general nastiness and I wanted to see if it'd make a difference. I also thought it looked cool and I was bored after Christmas and wanted one. Long story short it was a waste of money - I didn't like it all which surprised me and I figured it was for the most part a marketing gimmick aimed at newcomers (newer than me, at least). I thought I'd like the general similarities to a 5 1/2 but I didn't so back it went to Axminster. It just didn't feel good. Some weeks later and the same piece of Ash (now pieces that make up a small dovetail box) is still giving me a headache. The grain is all over the place, interlocked and it's just rubbish. But I wanted to conquer it. In the interim I'd got a Quangsheng low angle block plane from eBay and was mightily impressed, so when I started toying with the idea of trying a bevel up jack again that's what I decided to get, along with 25, 38 and 50° irons from Workshop Heaven. I also knew that it probably wasn't going to become my go-to plane or that it'd get heavy use so that bad taste of buying a Chinese tool wasn't quite so strong. Until now I've done 99% of my planing with an old Record 5 1/2 and although new tools and toys are cool, there is something immensely satisfying about getting everything I need out of what was a knackered old plane. Which is why I hadn't bought a new one until now.
As all the other reviews and stuff say, out of the box the plane looks good and is heavy. I don't really care, that's not the measure of whether it works but if you're into that kind of thing then yeah, it's nice looking and reassuringly heavy (not as heavy as the Veritas). More importantly, everything was very straight and square. A relief because I didn't want to have to send it back.
With all the oil and stuff cleaned off and the 25° blade lapped and honed (it was already very flat and quite sharp) I took it for a spin. Ok it works like a plane usually works but will it work on the Ash. With the mouth set VERY close I gave it a couple of tentative passes. No tearout! And so on it went until all the previous tearout was gone and all that was left was a beautiful surface. I wasn't gobsmacked but I was pleased. It's worth noting that the blade was as sharp as the others I'd tried previously in the Veritas and Record, nothing was different in that regard. Around the box I went until each surface had that kind of semi-gloss sheen that a well tuned plane will give you. Impressive. Sorry Record old friend, you've been bested here.
With that out the way I thought I'd try out the 50° iron. I'm not a huge traditionalist but I think I've come to learn that for the average woodworker a Bailey pattern plane will be able to do most of what you ask of it, they have so far for me in my short woodworking career at least. A 50° bevel seemed unnecessary and improbable. I took out a piece of highly figured Walnut which again had been giving me problems with terrible tearout. I couldn't quite figure it out, even after seeking the advice of Custard. The 25° iron didn't make a difference, I was still mutilating the surface, but the 50° worked perfectly and again soon any trace of tearout was gone. Very impressive.
Another pleasant surprise is that the irons hold their edge very well. Bonus.
A couple of bad points:
- The depth adjustment wheel is really annoyingly just out of reach of the index finger you'd usually turn it with. I'd read reports of that elsewhere but still, it's irritating.
- Whenever I remove the blade the Norris style adjuster comes with it. This is VERY irritating.
- There isn't a lot of room for lateral adjustment and the Norris adjuster makes it clumsy. But perhaps that is more the Norris' fault then the plane itself.
These are niggling issues that aren't deal breakers for me.
So there it is. My verdict, for what it's worth, is that this plane is brilliant. For the versatility it offers it's an absolute bargain and it also showed me that bevel up planes can be really useful and that I shouldn't be such a sceptic (or take on board so readily others' scepticism). It 100% did what I could not get a well tuned Record to do. The Veritas could of course do the same thing but for me it didn't. I'd still choose the Quangsheng anyway. What's really stupid though is that in the back of my head there's still a small voice saying "... but it's Chinese". Hopefully that'll fade.
This photo was taken just before I'd finished smoothing the surface - you can still see a few dodgy spots. I should have got a proper before and after because the difference was truly night and day but this will have to do.
Shoutout to Workshop Heaven for the quick delivery too.
If you can't be bothered to read it all then that's ok. To save you some time: it's very good.
Ok so to begin with I'll get it out of the way: I didn't like buying a Chinese plane. And I know it's so stupid, especially in 2018, to have that bias. While researching Quangsheng and its Woodriver branded American cousin I read several forum posts and articles (mostly positive). One particularly stood out to me: an American forum member in 2010 (not sure which forum) had said, and to paraphrase heavily, that one of the reasons they wouldn't buy a Chinese tool was that morally they weren't comfortable with it; Chinese undercutting other economies; their disregard for the environment; blatant copying of designs, the list goes on. And while they're all valid points it struck me that what a difference 8 years makes and the amazing steps China has made. Its government might still be quite sketchy but its commitment to the environment and the planet is applaudable. In contrast, why do I feel any kind of allegiance to America or American made products? Especially while America is so successfully embarrassing itself at the moment. These are all rhetorical questions that I don't really need answers to but they're interesting nonetheless. And as for the copying of designs, well I'm pretty sure Lie Nielsen's No. 62 is an exact copy of Stanley's anyway and that the only original design (of bevel up planes) out there at the moment is Veritas'. Might be wrong tho.
I actually bought the Veritas bevel up jack a few weeks ago for a couple of reasons: I was working with some Ash that was driving me mad with tearout/general nastiness and I wanted to see if it'd make a difference. I also thought it looked cool and I was bored after Christmas and wanted one. Long story short it was a waste of money - I didn't like it all which surprised me and I figured it was for the most part a marketing gimmick aimed at newcomers (newer than me, at least). I thought I'd like the general similarities to a 5 1/2 but I didn't so back it went to Axminster. It just didn't feel good. Some weeks later and the same piece of Ash (now pieces that make up a small dovetail box) is still giving me a headache. The grain is all over the place, interlocked and it's just rubbish. But I wanted to conquer it. In the interim I'd got a Quangsheng low angle block plane from eBay and was mightily impressed, so when I started toying with the idea of trying a bevel up jack again that's what I decided to get, along with 25, 38 and 50° irons from Workshop Heaven. I also knew that it probably wasn't going to become my go-to plane or that it'd get heavy use so that bad taste of buying a Chinese tool wasn't quite so strong. Until now I've done 99% of my planing with an old Record 5 1/2 and although new tools and toys are cool, there is something immensely satisfying about getting everything I need out of what was a knackered old plane. Which is why I hadn't bought a new one until now.
As all the other reviews and stuff say, out of the box the plane looks good and is heavy. I don't really care, that's not the measure of whether it works but if you're into that kind of thing then yeah, it's nice looking and reassuringly heavy (not as heavy as the Veritas). More importantly, everything was very straight and square. A relief because I didn't want to have to send it back.
With all the oil and stuff cleaned off and the 25° blade lapped and honed (it was already very flat and quite sharp) I took it for a spin. Ok it works like a plane usually works but will it work on the Ash. With the mouth set VERY close I gave it a couple of tentative passes. No tearout! And so on it went until all the previous tearout was gone and all that was left was a beautiful surface. I wasn't gobsmacked but I was pleased. It's worth noting that the blade was as sharp as the others I'd tried previously in the Veritas and Record, nothing was different in that regard. Around the box I went until each surface had that kind of semi-gloss sheen that a well tuned plane will give you. Impressive. Sorry Record old friend, you've been bested here.
With that out the way I thought I'd try out the 50° iron. I'm not a huge traditionalist but I think I've come to learn that for the average woodworker a Bailey pattern plane will be able to do most of what you ask of it, they have so far for me in my short woodworking career at least. A 50° bevel seemed unnecessary and improbable. I took out a piece of highly figured Walnut which again had been giving me problems with terrible tearout. I couldn't quite figure it out, even after seeking the advice of Custard. The 25° iron didn't make a difference, I was still mutilating the surface, but the 50° worked perfectly and again soon any trace of tearout was gone. Very impressive.
Another pleasant surprise is that the irons hold their edge very well. Bonus.
A couple of bad points:
- The depth adjustment wheel is really annoyingly just out of reach of the index finger you'd usually turn it with. I'd read reports of that elsewhere but still, it's irritating.
- Whenever I remove the blade the Norris style adjuster comes with it. This is VERY irritating.
- There isn't a lot of room for lateral adjustment and the Norris adjuster makes it clumsy. But perhaps that is more the Norris' fault then the plane itself.
These are niggling issues that aren't deal breakers for me.
So there it is. My verdict, for what it's worth, is that this plane is brilliant. For the versatility it offers it's an absolute bargain and it also showed me that bevel up planes can be really useful and that I shouldn't be such a sceptic (or take on board so readily others' scepticism). It 100% did what I could not get a well tuned Record to do. The Veritas could of course do the same thing but for me it didn't. I'd still choose the Quangsheng anyway. What's really stupid though is that in the back of my head there's still a small voice saying "... but it's Chinese". Hopefully that'll fade.
This photo was taken just before I'd finished smoothing the surface - you can still see a few dodgy spots. I should have got a proper before and after because the difference was truly night and day but this will have to do.
Shoutout to Workshop Heaven for the quick delivery too.
