QS No 62 - Initial impressions

[carlb40]

As some of you know i recently purchased 2 QS planes, LA block and No 62. This is for the No 62.
It was ordered through WSH while they had it in a sale - i paid ( Feb 2014) £134.60. I placed the order on a Friday morning at 6.30am, it was delivered before 9am the following monday.

It comes well packaged, first a cardboard sleeve with the plane number on it.

Once you take that off you are left with a wooden box, complete with a plastic wrapping.

And the 2 spare blades.

After opening it up, you will find plenty of additional padding.

Inside the main wooden box is the plane in a sealed plastic bag.

Complete with the most horrible anti rust gunk i have ever seen. :shock:

It is everywhere on the plane, it even spread to the handle.

It also seems to stain the metals, the rear of the 25 degree blade is stained and it also stained the brass cap on the block plane.

You all know the sizes etc or can read them on WSH so won't bore you with them. :yawn:

After cleaning all the gunk off, it is actually a nice looking plane.

Then a slight disappointment set in, the japaning wasn't the best, a few spots were missed.

However as this is a work one, i let it go.

It has a nice weight to it and in general it feels comfortable in use. If you have small hands it will be better.

After playing with it yesterday on a few timbers, i stripped it down and compared the rear handle to one from my stanley 4 1/2

As you can see it is often reported the handles are smaller. The height is the same, it is just the shape that is wrong. doh:

So now to the nitty gritty, the following scenes were taken with the 25/50 degree blades as supplied. No honing done to them yet.

So first up a piece of oak. This was planed from rough with the 25 degree blade.

After just a few minutes it was nice and smooth, no tear out of problems planing with/ against the grain.

Then onto oak end grain

Again no problems, i think the added weight helped.

Then i tried a bit of maple, again no problems. No pics as i forgot to take them.

One thing i did notice was a slight ridge during planing. Thinking the corner of the blade was digging in slightly, i had a look underneath. The blade was fine, it was the adjustable mouth causing it. The was a very slght dent on the rear edge closest to the blade. After removing the mouth a couple of gentle swipes on 1200g wet and dry sorted the damage.

So now onto the purple heart, the 2nd piece i ordered has a lot of varying grain direction. Which even with my 4 1/2 finely set caused a lot of tear out. :shock:

So after just 2 passes with the 25 degree blade i stopped. i was getting a load of tear out.

Not sure if it shows up properly here?

So after unwrapping and cleaning the 50 degree blade, which like the other spare blade arrives in a wax paper not that horrible goop . :clap:

I set about the purple heart. The plane took nice thin shavings, i could probably have got them thinner if i had bothered to go through settings etc.

The blade was great, no tear out and took it all in it's stride. It was harder to push the plane, but i guess that's the price you pay for the steeper angle. It left the purple heart smooth as a smooth thing on ice. It actually made it a pleasure to plane the purple heart. :shock:

Now some gratuatis shavings pics. :mrgreen:

Some oak from the 25 degree blade.

A few quick ones with the 50 degree blade on oak.

A mix from oak/ sapele ( forgot i tried that out ) and purple heart.

So overall a great litle plane for the money, especially in a sale with 3 blades supplied. Comfortable in use, will be better when i have made the curly maple handles for it.

So far it has handled the timbers well. Adjustments are easy to apply, you just need to keep the nut tight on the front knob or just the knob turns when you want to alter the mouth.

From honing the block plane blade is a pleasure after the A2 steel in the LN block plane. Minutes rather than hours. :shock:


Suggestions for the next version.
1 -This will apply to all QS planes, stop using that anti rust goop and find something better. It is staining the metals.

2 - Reshape the rear handles to provide better comfort / fit. Buy an old stanley bailey rear handle and copy it. I see with the new Wood river 4 1/2 plane the handle is different, so things could be looking up.

3 - Grind a slight taper on the sides of the blades to allow better use of the Norris type adjuster for side to side adjustment.

Would i recommend it? Yes, in fact i am considering a 2nd for workshop use over the LN version :shock:

 

[MMUK]

Now all you need is some aeromatherapy oils and you can market the shavings as Pot Pourri

 

[Trafalgar]

We might all look back and call the last few years the Quangshengification of Great Britain. Worse than decline of Empire, really.

 

[Dissolve]

Intertesting. I've had the No 5 KJack QS for a few years and it was vey much my "Jack" plabe, two irons and it's served me quite wellfor most jobs. Now I have my own space and a growing plane collection, I'm thinking of setting up the No 5 as more of a stock remover than anything else, I now have the QS jointer for levelling/straight work and an old No 4 at the moment which serves me fine as a smoother/finishing plane.

I'm interested in the 62 for using on figured wood mainly, but it looks like a fantastic all rounder (possibly better than a QS No 5!). The No 5 isn't brilliant in anything difficult it seems. What are your intentions for the bevel up Jack? by that I mean, what are you most likely going to use it for given you've got three bevel angles to choose from too!

 

[Grahamshed]

Thats a good review Carl.
Very happy with my ordinary 5 and block planes. Don't remember them being covered in Gloop

 

[MIGNAL]

I don't get why the rear handle is deemed 'wrong'. Surely that just comes down to a matter of preference and not one single Plane manufacturer can ever get this aspect 'right' - unless they start offering 10 different handle types. That Quangsheng handle isn't that far off the old Stanley, especially compared to the much more upright Veritas and Stanley Premium Plane handles.

 

[Mike Wingate]

I have a QS 62 and apart from the handle think it is a great plane. I also bent one of the brass throat adjusters as it was catching my hand on the front knob. I made a replacement rear tote from Bubinga and all is well.

 

[carlb40]

Now all you need is some aeromatherapy oils and you can market the shavings as Pot Pourri

LOL :mrgreen:

 

[carlb40]

Intertesting. I've had the No 5 KJack QS for a few years and it was vey much my "Jack" plabe, two irons and it's served me quite wellfor most jobs. Now I have my own space and a growing plane collection, I'm thinking of setting up the No 5 as more of a stock remover than anything else, I now have the QS jointer for levelling/straight work and an old No 4 at the moment which serves me fine as a smoother/finishing plane.

I'm interested in the 62 for using on figured wood mainly, but it looks like a fantastic all rounder (possibly better than a QS No 5!). The No 5 isn't brilliant in anything difficult it seems. What are your intentions for the bevel up Jack? by that I mean, what are you most likely going to use it for given you've got three bevel angles to choose from too!

Well the 62 is going im my toolbox i'm making. That will house the better 2nd fix / door hanging hand tools. So it will be used mainly on shooting doors in or parts of them when it's too much faff setting up an electric plane. Plus i intend at some point to make a shooting board for it for architraves etc.

 

[carlb40]

Thats a good review Carl.
Very happy with my ordinary 5 and block planes. Don't remember them being covered in Gloop

Cool, maybe you got in there before they started using the Gloop :mrgreen:

 

[carlb40]

I don't get why the rear handle is deemed 'wrong'. Surely that just comes down to a matter of preference and not one single Plane manufacturer can ever get this aspect 'right' - unless they start offering 10 different handle types. That Quangsheng handle isn't that far off the old Stanley, especially compared to the much more upright Veritas and Stanley Premium Plane handles.

Ok i should say the handle is wrong for me. I did say if you have small hands it will not be an issue. However for me compared to the stanley handle, the lower front part where it curves to form the base is too thick so my little finger gets squished. The the upper rear where it curves to form the top is also too thick and squishes into my thumb/ forefinger. So once i have knocked up new handles it will not be an issue for me.

 

[carlb40]

I have a QS 62 and apart from the handle think it is a great plane. I also bent one of the brass throat adjusters as it was catching my hand on the front knob. I made a replacement rear tote from Bubinga and all is well.

Cool, now i will be doing the same but with curly maple for both the rear handle / front knob.

 

[toitoi]

I too have recently purchased the QS 62 although in the juuma brand name ( I have been led to believe they are one and the same. QS, juuma, **** and a couple others are all made there and differ only in the amount of finishing they receive at the factory.). I received it from Fine-Tools out of Berlin. I paid 155 Euros for it. It went immediately out of stock again right after my purchase. (All of the juuma planes had been out of stock with the exception of the No. 7, I believe.

I had to sharpen the blade and give it a hone and I was off. Factory grind on the blade was okay and it took shavings right out of the box. But with a few minutes on the diamond plates and a strop it works much smoother. Works great and I cannot fault it, it has a great Price to Quality ratio.
The only difference I can see from the pictures here, is the juuma has a brass lever cap.
I also have noted the size of the Handle/Tote. I may have to make a new one some day when I find some suitable material.

I also purchased their Rabbet Block plane at the same time and had the same results as with the low angle BU. I will be getting more in the near future, a No. 4, 5 and maybe a 6. I also may try the regular Block Plane also. But all in good time. I am only returning to this after many years away and will build up my tools as needed.

As I do not have access to car boot sales to gather up old Stanely's and or Records, I have found my solution maybe. With juuma, I find their price not to off putting as LN or Veritas.

John

 

[Austinisgreat]

Two years on from the original post - I can confirm that they still come covered in a gloopy mess!

Once cleaned up, however, no problems with quality of the product. From WH who are miles cheaper than Rutlands at the moment, plus you get a free marking gauge thrown in.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I find that meths is the best stuff for getting rid of the gloop.

 

[toitoi]

Two years on from the original post - I can confirm that they still come covered in a gloopy mess!

Once cleaned up, however, no problems with quality of the product. From WH who are miles cheaper than Rutlands at the moment, plus you get a free marking gauge thrown in.

Cheers

Andrew

Hhhmmmm......my juuma version came in a light coating of machine oil. No gloop. A fast wipe with a dry rag was all that was needed. Must be something required by WH????

 

[Hatherton_wood]

Well I had plane from WH which did not seem to have much of the usual gunk and there was a rust spot on the sole - I know what I would prefer - its easy to get off.

 

[matthewwh]

Hatherton,

I'm very sorry to hear that, if you give us a call we will make arrangements to exchange it at no cost to you.

 

[Hatherton_wood]

Matthew,

That's very klnd of you. It was relatively minor so I did not worry too much at the time - just thought it would not have occurred if there was the usual quantity of whatever they use. I'd rather have to clean this off myself - after all they are exposed to a wide range of conditions in shipment - much better to have the protection there. Will give you a ring.

 

[matthewwh]

Cool, it is very unusual to find that they've missed a spot but it can happen.

If anything is found on our random spot checks we open up the whole batch and report it to the factory so they can stay on top of QA. We had the same issue with a handful of scraper planes recently so they have been quarantined, treated with restore and will end up on schtickle next time we list it.

I'm not sure why some are oily and some gunky, we get a mixture of the two, but as you say it comes off easily enough and it's very much better to have it on there than not.