Worst plane ever used.

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Thought I would start a thread on the worst plane ever used, since the best ever thread is current.

Aside from defective planes, or ones so cheap and grotty they shouldn't qualify as tools ( and that thing that Tobytools has posted today) what is the worst plane anyone has owned or uses. I guess I'm getting at a plane that is functional and well made, but just doesn't cut it.

My nemesis is my Record 010 carriage makers rebate plane. Cannot abide it and should probably sell it, since they fetch good prices. I am a Record plane fan and want to like it, but this just drives me mad, always clogging and needing clearing.

I haven't given tuning the thing much thought, maybe I will, but I recently got a Veritas rebate plane, which works a treat, the skewed blade sending the shavings nicely away to the side. Some things are just designed better and some probably can never be improved.

Mike.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

This is probably slightly outside the parameters of the question, but the worst I've experienced was a new Record 04 when I started serious(ish) woodworking in the mid 1980s. It just wouldn't cut, until the iron was advanced drastically outside the sole, whereupon it made juddering, tearing thick shavings. The Record 07 I bought at about the same time worked fine, so I couldn't work out what the problem was, and set it aside. About three years later, I saw an article in the Woodworker magazine (which at the time was a fine organ) on plane tuning, and after reading and digesting that, tried a straightedge on the sole of the errant 04. It was about ten thou concave in length. Since it had been in my possession for about four years (albeit unused for three and a half), sending it back for a refund was out of the question.

A contact at work arranged for it to be surface ground. I also replaced the handles, and gave it a Japanese laminated iron. Since then, it's been a really good plane.

That plane almost caused me to give up woodworking. If it hadn't been for the decent-out-of-the-box 07 showing me that my shaky beginner's technique was not wholly to blame, I'd have assumed that hand planing was beyond me.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello Cheshirechappie,

This is in the parameters of the question, I just phrased it badly, I think.

That Record should have been a good plane, it was a quality manufacturer and it wasn't to be expected that it was a dog. It wasn't as if it was a B and Q jobbie.

My first plane purchase, after a few inherited ones, was a Record 04 a little later than you bought yours. I still use it today, albeit with hand made handles, Clifton double iron replacement. It is a great plane. The original cap iron would probably work great, as it is so much better than the equivalent Stanley ones, and actually, I think better than some of the early Record ones. It is much thicker and better shaped. It has just reminded me, that I kept the original irons for coarser work, so I can have 2 mouth settings in one plane without frog adjustment. I just forgot all about it.

Mike.

 

[Jelly]

Worst plane I've used is a little brass faced rosewood shoulder plane with an ebony wedge, it came free with a box of moulding planes, and looks for all the world like it should be be a wonderful plane... but will it cut, will it hell! the mouth appears to be far too tight (basically closed up), which makes me think it's experienced some kind of abuse, deforming it slightly or that the iron is a replacement which doesn't quite fit...

I'm sure that once I figure out why the mouth is closed up I'll be able to sort it, but using it is currently an exercise in futility!

 

[Corneel]

Stanley Handyman, plastic handles and all. My first plane and not even cheap! It never functioned right on hardwood, not even after trying every tuning trick I could find. I still have it somewhere and I have no idea what is really wrong with it.

 

[G S Haydon]

Never had a bad one yet. They have all been stanley/record bailey types.

 

[David C]

New Stanley no 5, approx 2000.

Sole is 6 thou" hollow in length, therefore not capable of planing a straight edge on a moderate sized piece of timber with a fine shaving.
By this time finish was awful. Looks like coarse belt sander.

David Charlesworth

 

[woodbrains]

New Stanley no 5, approx 2000.

Sole is 6 thou" hollow in length, therefore not capable of planing a straight edge on a moderate sized piece of timber with a fine shaving.
By this time finish was awful. Looks like coarse belt sander.

David Charlesworth

Wow, it is a wonder they sell any at all. I wonder who in the world buys them? They are not exactly cheap, not that, that is an excuse, but for the price they retail, they ought to be better than they are, i.e. work. I mean, presumably they still make the less well fettled, handyman version. :shock:

Mike.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I fished a nearly new No4 Stanley out of a scrap metal skip at the local dump (recycling centre. Although you're not allowed to recycle.) When I checked it over, I realised why it was there. I reckon it would have failed quality control at Rolson or Silverline, it was awful. Still, I'll make a fiver at a car boot from some idiot who thinks newer is better.

 

[Eric The Viking]

New Stanley 92 "Sweetheart". I reviewed it several years ago.

Basically they took all the good bits of the 90/92/93 designs and chucked them out. You can't even adjust the mouth finely. I had to shim the 'frog' to get the blade iron properly(-ish). Decent bit of steel for the iron (A2) the rest isn't worth the effort.

Depressing.

I hate the thing, and it annoys me every time I use it, but all the plane pocket money's gone for the time being.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Stanley #75 Bull nose rabbet plane. :shock:

'nuff said.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[woodbrains]

Stanley #75 Bull nose rabbet plane. :shock:

'nuff said.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Oh I forgot, I used one of those once and know exactly what you mean, dreadful.

Mike.

 

[tim burr]

Veritas small router plane. Just can't get on with the bloody thing :evil:

 

[woodiedonald]

Modern stanley spokeshave, bit too fond of a judder when least expected on the workpiece.

 

[custard]

That plane almost caused me to give up woodworking. If it hadn't been for the decent-out-of-the-box 07 showing me that my shaky beginner's technique was not wholly to blame, I'd have assumed that hand planing was beyond me.

That's very sad, but I suspect also very common.

In times past if a tyro had a poorly performing tool there'd be an experienced man close at hand to suggest a solution. Maybe the internet can now go some way to plugging the knowledge gap, but there was a terrible period in the 70's and 80's when tool quality reached an all time low and there was no-one around to help. I wonder how many aspiring woodworkers threw in the towel during that period?

 

[woodbrains]

That plane almost caused me to give up woodworking. If it hadn't been for the decent-out-of-the-box 07 showing me that my shaky beginner's technique was not wholly to blame, I'd have assumed that hand planing was beyond me.

That's very sad, but I suspect also very common.

In times past if a tyro had a poorly performing tool there'd be an experienced man close at hand to suggest a solution. Maybe the internet can now go some way to plugging the knowledge gap, but there was a terrible period in the 70's and 80's when tool quality reached an all time low and there was no-one around to help. I wonder how many aspiring woodworkers threw in the towel during that period?

Hello,

What would be worse, them giving up woodworking, or going to the dark side and becoming power tool woodworkers? Those who give up might return later, now tools are much better than they once were, but is there any coming back for those who must plug in and turn on.

Mike.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Well some of us enjoy both!

 

[woodbrains]

Well some of us enjoy both!

As do I, but I have heard of those who do not have any planes imagine that!

Mike.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:shock: I got rid of nine on my last thinning out!

 

[Tony Zaffuto]

Stanley #75 Bull nose rabbet plane. :shock:

'nuff said.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Patrick Leach says on his website the Stanley #75 is only good for scraping paint from sashes (or something similar). Well, I bought one from him in person a few years back, to use for cleaning some errant paint. I can unequivocally the plane is NOT even good for that.