Cheapest Usable NEW Block Plane?

[MrDavidRoberts]

I'm looking for a cheapish block plane ( 60 1/2 or 90 1/2 style with adjustable mouth) for the very odd time I might need one ( I don't really know how often I will use it since I have never had one) .
I'm confused by all the reviews online.. basically If you read what's online than every block plane until a Quangsheng at £70 is unusable..
Some rate the planes badly because they need to sharpen them before using... which I find amusing as that stuff only shows what kind of users are ''reviewing'' them #-o

I have no time to waste to hunt ebay for the old stanley ones, they sell for crazy money anyway and are rare.
Is there anything usable for under or about £20 you can purchase which would be of OK quality once set-up and sharpened?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yaataicm5p.

 

[sunnybob]

If a £70 plane is the minimum price for an acceptable one, what are you expecting for £20?

At that price it would have left the factory gate valued at £3.50p, so would have to be made of chinesium.

 

[MattRoberts]

So "all the reviews online" tell you there's nothing decent until you got £70, and you come on here and ask if there's anything for £20?

Does not compute...

 

[ED65]

We've been down this road before! Apologies but do you genuinely think anything has changed since then?

Your choices are either buy new at the lower end of the market and take a chance on getting a lemon, but hold out hope that you get a good one (not actually too unrealistic as I laid out previously) or you buy secondhand and take the same chance.

What you want doesn't change the reality of this.

 

[ED65]

At that price it would have left the factory gate valued at £3.50p, so would have to be made of chinesium.

I bet it would be less.

Interesting question this. Frustrated that I couldn't find any all-aluminium craft knives for a decent price to build up a larger collection I once looked into the possibility of ordering boxed sets from Alibaba (not AliExpress) and the unit price per set was $0.10 :shock: :shock: :shock:

As for being made from Chinesium, virtually all tools sold now over here are made in China... including the much-loved CrV chisels Aldi bring in every year which are hardly junk steel.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I'm looking for a cheapish block plane ( 60 1/2 or 90 1/2 style with adjustable mouth) for the very odd time I might need one ( I don't really know how often I will use it since I have never had one) .
I'm confused by all the reviews online.. basically If you read what's online than every block plane until a Quangsheng at £70 is unusable..
Some rate the planes badly because they need to sharpen them before using... which I find amusing as that stuff only shows what kind of users are ''reviewing'' them #-o

I have no time to waste to hunt ebay for the old stanley ones, they sell for crazy money anyway and are rare.
Is there anything usable for under or about £20 you can purchase which would be of OK quality once set-up and sharpened?

In a word - no.

Is there anything for under £20 which would be OK once stripped, rebuilt to the point of re-machining castings, replacing components, and treated to all the plane tune-up tricks such as sole lapping once re-assembled? Yes - but as you haven't time to waste looking for something on Ebay, you won't have time for that.

You never get summat for nowt.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Rutlands have a low angle Quangsheng for £60 and a standard Quangsheng for £42. Save yourself some time and effort and get the standard - it's only the price of finding 2 of the cheap £20 ones are junk.

 

[Rorschach]

I have a £3 chinese wooden block plane that is quite lovely and required very little fettling.
I also have a £15ish Amazon metal bodied block plane (might even have been silverline actually) that took about an hour or so of fettling and it also works great.

 

[skeetstar]

I was going to suggest that you look at the axi rider range. I got my first block plane from them in a sale for £8, maybe three or four years ago. I looked at the web site just now and found that the equivalent is £65! Either your budget or your expectations will have to change, I guess. I know you say you don't know how much you will use it, as you've not got one in the toolbox atm, but I use mine all the time, they are really useful, so getting something worthwhile will pay off in the long run. Buy something decent , you won't regret it.

 

[ED65]

...stripped, rebuilt to the point of re-machining castings, replacing components, and treated to all the plane tune-up tricks such as sole lapping once re-assembled...

No, just no. Plenty of lower-end planes don't need major overhaul work to be solid users (or better) although it is doing the lottery any time you buy one naturally.

But even paying a bit of a premium doesn't in any way guarantee you won't get a Friday-afternoon jobbie, as some purchasers of current-production Sweethearts have been rather disappointed to discover. And this is a $90 plane!

 

[hodsdonr]

If you don't know how often you will use a block plane , then build your own. Buy a blade for the Stanley Block planes and build a krenov style block plane, shouldn't take more than a couple of hours including the research. Use it and you will find out .
It won't cost you 70 pounds and will suit your hands. Also it will be a ' h' of a lot more satisfying using something you made

 

[hodsdonr]

David this is the route i followed when i saw the price of Block planes here in S Africa. And I use the one I made often, and have made another couple since then. Very satisfying. Richard

 

[Sideways]

Keep your eye open for Axminster rider factory seconds and there's a good chance of you getting a very decent new block plane for under £40.
Bargains don't grow on trees. If you want that excellent deal, you'll have to a) wait and b) work for it in time spent looking and / or time spent fettling it.

 

[Yojevol]

My philosophy has always been to buy the best that you can afford. If you can afford £20 then find something in that price range. You may find it meets your requirements. You may learn of its shortcomings and be in a wiser position later on when you may be able to afford a bit more. The important thing is to get experience in using it. This maybe worth a punt within your price range:-
https://www.quality-woodworking-tools.com/tools/Soba-Precision-Woodworking-Planes.html
Good Luck
Brian

 

[heimlaga]

I bought a new Stanley some 20 years ago. It is barely good enough for carpentry. Newer specimen that I have come across were even worse.
A friend bought a new Record a few years ago. We had to file and scrape quite a bit to make the mechanism work. Then he had to harden and temper the blade to make it hold an edge for more than a few cuts. Then it was good enough for carpentry. If we had been determined to make it into a good plane we would have been forced to melt and recast it.

If yoy want a good new block plane for less than 70 pounds your only option will be to come up with a way to make it from scratch using scrap yard materials. To do that you need either a milling machine or a metal shaper and neither of them can be had for less than 300 pounds plus rebuild costs plus tooling costs.

Therefore secondhand is the best way to go if money is short.

 

[MikeG.]

I'm looking for a cheapish block plane ( 60 1/2 or 90 1/2 style with adjustable mouth) for the very odd time I might need one ( I don't really know how often I will use it since I have never had one) ........

You almost certainly don't need one. My view is that they are essentially a building site tool. Everything you can do with one in a workshop you can do with a bench plane. On site, however, you often need to hold something in one hand and plane it using your free hand, hence the block plane. That circumstance doesn't crop up in a workshop, so rather than buy a cheap crappy tool you don't need, save your money until you can buy a decent one, or until you have the time and inclination to sort out a second hand one. Mine was a skip find.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Keep your eye open for Axminster rider factory seconds and there's a good chance of you getting a very decent new block plane for under £40.
Bargains don't grow on trees. If you want that excellent deal, you'll have to a) wait and b) work for it in time spent looking and / or time spent fettling it.

2weeks ago I bought from them a Rider No 62 Low angle in their factory seconds.. It arrived with a broken mouth adjuster (no way to fix it) , the castings were terrible ( would need A LOT of re-griding) , and it started to rust after a week taken out of the packaging!
Went straight back.. Never getting another rider plane from them..

 

[richarddownunder]

Other option is to make one. Adjustable mouth isn't that necessary IMHO - just needs to be fine - and making a wooden block plane is pretty straightforward e.g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Nfsv74YFw although a metal dovetailed one would be better if you have the time and inclination.

Cheers
Richard

 

[Andy Kev.]

I'm looking for a cheapish block plane ( 60 1/2 or 90 1/2 style with adjustable mouth) for the very odd time I might need one ( I don't really know how often I will use it since I have never had one) ........

You almost certainly don't need one. My view is that they are essentially a building site tool. Everything you can do with one in a workshop you can do with a bench plane. On site, however, you often need to hold something in one hand and plane it using your free hand, hence the block plane. That circumstance doesn't crop up in a workshop, so rather than buy a cheap crappy tool you don't need, save your money until you can buy a decent one, or until you have the time and inclination to sort out a second hand one. Mine was a skip find.

I beg to differ on this. A normal bench plane (4 or 5 or so) is in my experience less suitable than a block plane when it comes to taking a bit off a very narrow edge simply because the larger planes can be hard to balance on something which is nowhere near as wide as they are. My block plane is probably the third most often used - way behind the LA Jack and the #8 - and in absolute terms it doesn't get used that often but when I find tasks for which it is ideal there really is no substitute.

In answer to the OP, I'd say start saving and keep saving for as long as it takes and get the Veritas low angle block plane. I don't think you'd regret it.