Quangsheng No.6 Acceptable Finish Condition On A New Plane

[pollys13]

The Faithfulls went back I did have a moan at head office about their advertising claims " A precision ground base and sides for flatness and squareness " I didn't fare much better with an Axminster Rider and its replacement.

..............I recently bought a Quangsheng No.6 Looking at the photos I'm wondering, if the finish condition is acceptable for a plane costing £175 and described as being top quality?

Other Quangsheng bench plane owners what is finish quality on yours?
.......... I've been looking at Dictums version, even contacted them regarding quality assurances. Or I might be incredible extravagant and go for a WoodRiver No.6 from Peter Sefton, as I know the quality will be there and super guaranteed.
Such are the joys of woodworking

 

[lurker]

Why not ask the retailer?

Personally I would never buy new as the older much cheaper ones do the job very well.
(Also I am tight fisted)
25 quid is the most I have ever spent on a plane.
30 minutes fettle time is about average.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Dreadful. You'll never plane anything flat with a plane in that awful condition.

 

[pollys13]

Dreadful. You'll never plane anything flat with a plane in that awful condition.

Is the finish I'm focusing on, came sealed in an opaque polythene bag, so seller would not have seen it. I'm wondering if just mine has these flaws, or if they all have a finish like that? I haven't checked the sole for flat and cheeks square as it will probably be going back. If I do send it back then I won't check, in case I dropped it, even though unlikely.

 

[SammyQ]

Show me - and everybody else here - the important bits.

The sole, preferably with a good quality ruler agin it.

The sole/side-you-will-use-for-shooting, with a good square tight against both.

What you are depicting so far is cosmetic and in no way contributes to making shavings.

All my planes have worn paint, stained bare ironwork, crummy handles, and they each cut slick and smooth.
Several are older than I am.
Accumulated cost for Bedrock605, Record T5, No5, No5.5, 4, and two block planes, one low angle, under £100 over the last 10 years.

"Ain't what ya got, it's how ya uses it" (the late, great, Lennie Callen).

Sam

 

[pollys13]

Why not ask the retailer?

Personally I would never buy new as the older much cheaper ones do the job very well.
(Also I am tight fisted)
25 quid is the most I have ever spent on a plane.
30 minutes fettle time is about average.

I'm sort of in the middle of returning it not 100% decided yet.
Buying an older Stanley?
did look at this very interesting YouTube
What to look for when buying second hand woodwork planes. By the very knowledgeable Chris Tribe, furniture maker, teacher. Very sound guy impressed me, did voluntary work in Africa teaching woodworking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu7QLP3ru7c
He goes through the developmental changes over time with the Stanley, Record planes,the years the best models were manufactured, cost cutting steps taken, like a cast yoke or a two piece yoke.
Seems if the two piece pressed yoke were to fail, can get replacements, easy to fit or have brazed back together.
Seems a lot to consider buying a second hand Stanley, Ebay sellers don't have photos of them dismantled and some tart them up, so could be very difficult to tell if buying a good plane or not.
Some might think me imprudent splashing out £175+ on a new plane but personally I would be happier having a nice shiny new plane, that I will have the rest of my life.

 

[Osvaldd]

Do I sense a little bit of buyer's remorse ?
The name alone would put me off, and the price ??
This is not a trophy , 5 minutes after using it it will look much worse.
Respect your heritage, dont buy chinese stuff.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The parts that matter will be fine. If you expect to buy something with an absolutely perfect casting and finish you'll probably pay twice the money.

 

[lurker]

I note you are in Swindon.
A bit further west in Bristol is the best 2nd hand woodworking tool shop in the universe.
You will get "a ready to go" plane there for a good price.

Damned if I can remember what the shop is called :roll:
Someone will pop up with the name soon enough.

 

[memzey]

Bristol Design.

 

[Mr_Pea]

Its called Bristol Design

post1205284.html?hilit=bristol%20bristol%20design#p1205284

The Bristol post article that AndyT links to stills work

https://www.bristol247.com/lifestyle/sh ... ol-design/

Never been, bit far sadly, one day maybe.

+1 for old planes, nothing new here, well except a rider block plane

 

[pollys13]

Show me - and everybody else here - the important bits.

The sole, preferably with a good quality ruler agin it.

The sole/side-you-will-use-for-shooting, with a good square tight against both.

What you are depicting so far is cosmetic and in no way contributes to making shavings.

Retailer says," Made to British Standards, Quangsheng planes are precision ground to better than +/-1.5 thou tolerance "Goes on to say, " Every Quangsheng plane we sell is warranted against material and manufacturing defects for the rest of the customer's life. "

As it might be going back haven't checked for flat and square in the very unlikely event I might drop it, damage it. That said my curiosity is getting to me, so later on sometime, will put blanket down whatever and check for flat and square.
The flaws as you say are cosmetic that aside I do expect the plane to be top quality and produce top results.
If the finish flaws are just individual to mine and the others he stocks have a perfect finish. Then I'm not happy and back the plane goes for a refund including my return costs or a replacement in perfect condition. Contacted retailer several days ago but so far no response.

 

[Bodgers]

The Faithfulls went back I did have a moan at head office about their advertising claims " A precision ground base and sides for flatness and squareness " I didn't fare much better with an Axminster Rider and its replacement.

..............I recently bought a Quangsheng No.6 Looking at the photos I'm wondering, if the finish condition is acceptable for a plane costing £175 and described as being top quality?

Other Quangsheng bench plane owners what is finish quality on yours?
.......... I've been looking at Dictums version, even contacted them regarding quality assurances. Or I might be incredible extravagant and go for a WoodRiver No.6 from Peter Sefton, as I know the quality will be there and super guaranteed.
Such are the joys of woodworking

I have a Vertias Shooting plane, brand new, not a second, straight from Canada.

I would say there were more bumps and perfections in the main body casting then this

I think it is the nature of a cast part. Unless you are actually milling/machining every surface (which is not needed) you end up with this, and I would say it is totally acceptable.

Interestingly, the best finished casting on a new plane I have had is from a Stanley Sweetheart Low Angle Jack...

The other thing about the plane brands you mention...

Faithful Vs Axminster Rider - to my knowledge they are both made by Soba in India.

Also, you have similar thing going on with WoodRiver. Your Quengsheng and the WoodRiver are both made by Luban in China, with some slight differences with branding and cap iron etc. so you would be swapping it out for a very similar thing.

 

[Bodgers]

Respect your heritage, dont buy chinese stuff.

What if the OP's heritage is Chinese?

Or what if it is African? Are there any African plane makers?

If it is British, that would leave planes now made in Britain to Clifton, which are not cheap. Or an O1 blade out of the new Stanley Sweetheart plane....which are still made in England.

 

[pollys13]

Uuuum

 

[Osvaldd]

What if the OP's heritage is Chinese?.

This is a UK forum, so naturally one assumes most people reading/contributing are of European heritage.

 

[Droogs]

as long as the toe, heal, sole edges and mouth are on the same level plane , sides are square to the sole and the adjustment mechanism works everything else is just prima donna posing. No casting is perfect, if they were, all planes would cost 5 x more as 95% would be rejected in the making and remelted. I dread to think what's gonna happen the first time you smack the plane with chisel or hammer as you forgot you "put it there" as you move around the bench. I guess much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

[colinc]

Hi,

I recently bought a Quangsheng 5-1/2 from Workshop heaven which, when unwrapped, was seen to have a couple of tiny voids in the casting. Knowing their interest in quality I called them and queried it. Their view was that it wasn't acceptable, even though we knew it would work just fine, and a replacement arrived the next morning.

I would say discuss it with the supplier like I did.

regards

Colin

 

[Bodgers]

What if the OP's heritage is Chinese?.

This is a UK forum, so naturally one assumes most people reading/contributing are of European heritage.

That would be a poor assumption.

And why should it matter anyway?

 

[Osvaldd]

Poor assumption? It’s a UK forum, the clue is in the title. Why do you think this forum is populated with Chinese people? Makes no sense. Are you insane?

Why should it matter? Well it didn’t matter until you took offence, no one else seems to be triggered.