QuangSheng Rebating Block Plane

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wizer

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Sorry for the delay on this on folks. Health issues galore atm, I won't bore you with the details.

MarkW and I reviewed this together and I will let Mark give a technical point ov view. I'll just give my overall opinion of the plane.

As said in the other thread. It comes well packaged in solid wooden box and, inside, the plane is sealed in a bag with the usual machine protecting goo. After a clean up, first impressions is that it's as close as you can possibly get to the LN version. I've not got the LN, but looking at the diagrams on their site, it's (meant as) an exact copy.



On taking the plane apart, I found it tricky getting the iron itself out. I'm not sure if it's the same with the LN version, but you seem to have to remove the screw and then skew the blade in a certain way to get it out. Had me stumped for a few mins.



As also discussed elsewhere, Mark and I only gave the blade a moments attention on our first inspection. We managed to get it working fairly well but Mark was sure he could do the blade more justice with his own setup. He took it away and returned a couple of days later.



Mark and I both got to have a play with it and agreed on a couple of points. This plane is quite specialist. It's function really only relates to a couple of tasks and we wondered if a woodworker that had reached a level where he felt the need for one, he might go for the top end product. Also, the adjusting mechanism is quite course. You get a kind of 'all or nothing' situation where you can miss the 'sweet spot' and it'll just dive into the wood. With care you can get it cutting nicely, but I couldn't get very thin shavings.



In my own test, I used a piece of Ash from my scraps bin that already had a routed rebate. Using holdfasts, I fixed it to the bench and set about cleaning up the router marks. I found it rather difficult to hold at such a low profile. But after a while I got used to it. Again, the setting took quite a bit of fiddling to get spot on and even then, it didn't handle slight changes in grain direction too well. The mouth is rather wide and I think this might contribute to the problems. The iron edge seemed to hold up well, but obviously it's hard to tell in a short review like this.

Not having much experience with specialist planes I'm probably not fully qualified to comment, but my feelings are that I'd buy a shoulder plane(s) first. If anyone is considering buying this to do a dual duty task as a block plane, I don't think that's wise. The wide, non adjustable mouth and sharp iron edges, really don't make for a good block.

My opinion of Quengsheng planes on the whole is still positive and I intend to have a look at the block plane. I'm also very happy with the spoke shave (review soon).
 
Thanks, Tom. Good review.

If it's not to be used to cut rebates then there are only two other uses I can think of - both of which were mentioned in a thread on the Hand Tool forum - trimming tenon cheeks and for raised and hand-cutting fielded panels, where you may not own a shoulder plane that is wide enough to finish each cut in one pass.

When removing the blade, did you try sliding it out through the mouth? As you would on a shoulder plane, for example... :wink: To me, that's just how it looks like it should work (guess I'll find out soon enough though!).
 
Nope, it won't pass through the mouth
 
OPJ":39l72bqh said:
When removing the blade, did you try sliding it out through the mouth? As you would on a shoulder plane, for example... :wink:

I'm sure that the mouth is way too small to do this. Shoulder plane irons are removed by rotating them through 90 degrees and pulling them back through the body.

Nice review by the way Tom, it seems that you were more than happy with the quality/fit/finish, it's just that this plane was probably the wrong type for you.

I'm quite tempted to try one of these planes out, even though I really don't need another plane. :roll: :roll: Damn this slope!!

Cheers

Aled

Edit : we must have posted at the same time.
 
Good review Tom...it's the coarse adjustment on the thread that's the most annoying thing I suspect. The wide mouth is also a bit of an issue to me :-k and I just wonder if the LN at about £100ish more has the same sort of discrepancies. I suspect not - Rob
 
Good review Wizer, thanks for that, I'm also interested in the block plane, hope we get to see a review of that soon.
T
 
Looks like a well made plane.

What affiliation do you have to Workshop Heaven?
 
I'm not aware that Tom has any affiliation with workshopheaven.
It was Matthew (workshopheaven) that organised the plane pass around though.
 
Green":30hq0bph said:
Looks like a well made plane.

What affiliation do you have to Workshop Heaven?

none. This is part of a passaround.

Perhaps this should have been posted in the hand tools forum?
 
Ah ok.

What do you think of the spokeshave, Wizer? Have you reviewed that yet?
 
I bought the plane myself, I already have a Veritas Low angle block and an apron plane... this was for rebates...
The impressions are the same, very high quality build.
The main defect is that in mine the blade was narrower than the body by 0.5 mm, so to change direction in the rebate you have to re-align the blade, even if it takes a few seconds... I trimmed the half mm from the body... problem solved (a sanding disk on the tablesaw)... I know it removes material, but there's plenty where you need for strength, the arch is strong enough and the leverage for blade blocking is all within the solid part of the sole, so if you can't live with it... not a big issue.
Removing the blade is tricky as it is also putting it on, so, to reduce the risk of hitting the edge... again a little trick, just trim the angle on the rear wings of the blade, very little only. Sure, you can do it with YOUR OWN plane... not a passaround!
For the real work it is a little jewel... the blade stays sharp for long... very long since you will not be using it all day long!
Well done...
Alberto
 
Green":wy41da17 said:
Ah ok.

What do you think of the spokeshave, Wizer? Have you reviewed that yet?

I liked it and will post my review as soon as i get out of this bloody hospital bed. In short, its very close to being identical to the boggs shaves, which I love.
 
wizer":cpzqv3ub said:
Green":cpzqv3ub said:
Ah ok.

What do you think of the spokeshave, Wizer? Have you reviewed that yet?

I liked it and will post my review as soon as i get out of this bloody hospital bed. In short, its very close to being identical to the boggs shaves, which I love.
Now I like the sound of this. Worth taking a punt on over the Boggs Tom???
 
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