Quangsheng V4 No.6 review

[bugbear]

It's difficult to NOT get a good saw.

But through care, diligence and stubbornness, you managed it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: =D>

BugBear

 

[Trizza]

It's difficult to NOT get a good saw.

18 months spent searching for one tells me otherwise! I ended up buying a job lot from an auction in the US. We're not all lucky enough to live in countries where people are practically throwing away good saws. The tradition here was to use frame saws, and most are so badly rusted to be useless these days. Metal bodied planes are a rarity here, too. Wooden bodied planes with nice laminated irons on the other hand, those I could bring back by the sackful from every boot sale I visit..

Besides, we were talking about newly manufactured items, not second hand.

 

[Jacob]

It's difficult to NOT get a good saw.

But through care, diligence and stubbornness, you managed it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: =D>

BugBear

Yebbut it was only £2 or something, as an experiment. Don't buy Wilco's DT saw anybody! Though they might have got their act together - there was no reason for it not to be sharp.
They replaced it eventually with 2 free hardpoint saws which are excellent and still in use.

Plenty of Footprint, Stanley, other good makes, available new and old.

 

[Jacob]

It's difficult to NOT get a good saw.

18 months spent searching for one tells me otherwise! I ended up buying a job lot from an auction in the US. We're not all lucky enough to live in countries where people are practically throwing away good saws. The tradition here was to use frame saws, and most are so badly rusted to be useless these days. Metal bodied planes are a rarity here, too. Wooden bodied planes with nice laminated irons on the other hand, those I could bring back by the sackful from every boot sale I visit..

Besides, we were talking about newly manufactured items, not second hand.

I just googled "Footprint saws"
Some nice ones here. Plenty more (and other brands) where they came from. They will need sharpening no doubt. It says "hand sharpened" on the handles but I wouldn't take that for granted.

 

[Trizza]

Jacob - They may be decent, but they're not even a patch on the stuff that was being manufactured in the golden age of saws. Just look at those uncomfortable, clublike handles. Matt commented that we're in the golden age of planes - and its true, the stuff these days that you can buy off the shelf is amazing quality, at least as good as anything thats ever been made - but you just can't say the same for saws. Where's the equivalent of Lie-Nielsen or Veritas making new D8s? There are a few custom builders making fantastic stuff, sure, but no-one seems to be making top notch stuff that you can buy off the shelf.

 

[bugbear]

Where's the equivalent of Lie-Nielsen or Veritas making new D8s?

Not going to happen, I suspect.

Most woodworkers are "mixed", doing the heavy work on power tools, and joint making and finishing with hand tools.

Thus there is a market for fancy planes, and back saws.

The number of people doing the heavy work by hand, who might want the larger saws is too small for economical manufacture of products, I think.

In any case, there's a HUGE over hang of saws from the pre-power era still around, little use in most cases...

20-30 quid (in the UK) will get you an excellent hand saw from a specialist s/h tool dealer, let alone cheaper sources.

BugBear

 

[Alf]

Jacob - They may be decent, but they're not even a patch on the stuff that was being manufactured in the golden age of saws. Just look at those uncomfortable, clublike handles. Matt commented that we're in the golden age of planes - and its true, the stuff these days that you can buy off the shelf is amazing quality, at least as good as anything thats ever been made - but you just can't say the same for saws.

Well, um, you could argue that many of the planes still suffer in the handle department too. I do, anyway. :lol:

Matt, while I appreciate that in some quarters there's some strange feeling of holiness in not proclaiming the virtues of your product, I don't think we'd think any the less of Clifton if they had actually mentioned some of that at some point. There's an area in there between "Nothing" and "Sales Pitch" that they could fill a little to everyone's advantage, I think.

 

[bugbear]

It's difficult to NOT get a good saw.

But through care, diligence and stubbornness, you managed it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: =D>

BugBear

Yebbut it was only £2 or something, as an experiment. Don't buy Wilco's DT saw anybody! Though they might have got their act together - there was no reason for it not to be sharp.
They replaced it eventually with 2 free hardpoint saws which are excellent and still in use.

IIRC it was Draper, and a little more than 2 quid.

You're right, of course. There's no reason for a saw to be blunt, apart from (a) good sharpening costs money than grotty sharpening, and (b) they don't care about their product, as long as it sells

BugBear

 

[Modernist]

Jim,

Make sure you try before you buy. The #4 tote was small for my hand and mine are not big.

Jim

I wonder if the Chinese base the dimensions for the tote on Oriental rather than Western anthropometric data? If they do, it might explain why the tote sizes seem to be a bit small for our use - Rob

So the average Chinese No 6 user has hands like a 12 year old but 8" long fingers to reach the adjuster - I don't think so

AH = light bulb moment - maybe it's intended to be used with chopsticks.

 

[Jacob]

But through care, diligence and stubbornness, you managed it!

:lol: :lol: :lol: =D>

BugBear

Yebbut it was only £2 or something, as an experiment. Don't buy Wilco's DT saw anybody! Though they might have got their act together - there was no reason for it not to be sharp.
They replaced it eventually with 2 free hardpoint saws which are excellent and still in use.

IIRC it was Draper, and a little more than 2 quid.

You're right, of course. There's no reason for a saw to be blunt, apart from (a) good sharpening costs money than grotty sharpening, and (b) they don't care about their product, as long as it sells

BugBear

It was one of these bought from Wilco a few years ago. Might have been £3. I was surprised that as a hard-point saw it wasn't sharp. Most saws are OK but there is some rubbish about at the bottom end!

 

[Paul Chapman]

There are a few custom builders making fantastic stuff, sure, but no-one seems to be making top notch stuff that you can buy off the shelf.

Mike Wenzloff makes quite a few which are available off the shelf from Lee Valley http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... at=1,42884 or The Best Things http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/wenzloff_saws.htm

And if they don't suit your needs, he'll make one to your specification http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

[
I've got several Japanese saws and they are amazing at the sorts of cuts they are made for, but I find Western style saws far superior for stock prep.
But you can prise my Dozuki and my Ryoba from my cold, dead hands!

...but then if I'm preparing stock I'd use a bandsaw or table saw. I'd very rarely use a handsaw of any denomination to rough cut timber - Rob

 

[Trizza]

I'd very rarely use a handsaw of any denomination to rough cut timber - Rob

Yeah fair enough. I wish I could do rough stock prep with a bandsaw too, although having a good quality big rip saw (I lucked out with a nice one in the job lot I bought) makes it far, far less painful than it was before!

 

[Fromey]

...but then if I'm preparing stock I'd use a bandsaw or table saw. I'd very rarely use a handsaw of any denomination to rough cut timber - Rob

Then pity us poor people without access to electrickery devices.

 

[woodbloke]

It's been very interesting to read David Savage's review of the No6 in the latest issue of BW...it's not liked at all (mainly 'cos of the handle) - Rob

 

[Modernist]

Nice to know David Savage agrees with my view of a year ago
Also good to see the mag publishing some informed and realistic reviews

 

[matthewwh]

It's been very interesting to read David Savage's review of the No6 in the latest issue of BW...it's not liked at all (mainly 'cos of the handle) - Rob

Really! I thought it was a hugely positive review of the Quangsheng considering that David is probably the most outspoken tool critic in the world. The Stanley got the full broadside and came off much worse, vis: "Honey, this is no sweetheart, this is a dog!" compared with the Quangsheng's "The machining is exceptional, as it should be. The sole is flat, as it should be. The blade is made from high carbon T10 steel hardened to RC63 and is very impressive and I don't do 'impressed' very often."

The handles were the only aspect he found wanting, and putting a handle designed by a metalworker into the hands of one of the most gifted wood/human interface specialists on the planet, I kind of expected some constructive criticism there. As he says though, it's not a hard thing to put right. The position of the handle relative to the frog on the No. 6 is a known issue and another one that we hope to get sorted out, thankfully it doesn't affect the other sizes in the range.

I agree with Brian's point about informed and realistic reviews - well done Nick Gibbs!

 

[Modernist]

Well given that the handle problem is now a "known" issue and has been confirmed by a wide range of experienced users and re-documented in the latest BWW I suggest it would be appropriate for Matthew to demonstrate his much noted excellence as a high end supplier by recalling all No 6 dispatched to date and replacing them with an amended alternative or full refund. Having pointed out this fault shortly after receipt and not found it's annoyance diminished over the intervening year I am not a happy customer.

 

[mtr1]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Can't see it myself . Anyone know where there's a badly designed plane for sale?

 

[LuptonM]

One good idea Veritas came up with is having 2 threads through the handle, maybe that could be incorporated into the new generation of planes if its not too costly. I am not sure if ppl have trouble with their handles moving occasionally though