Rider Planes

[DiscoStu]

I'm looking to get one or two planes. Mainly I'm after a block plane. I'm not going to spend £200 on a Veritas and think the Rider planes at around £55 is about the sort of budget I'm looking at so two questions:

1) Anyone got any of the Rider planes and able to give an opinion about them?

2) Is there anything else in that sort of price range I should consider? Stanley Sweetheart maybe?


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[Zeddedhed]

I have a bit of an obsession with block planes so i always take a keen interest in seeing what the various companies have to offer.
I was at Axi in Sittingbourne yesterday and had a go with the 69 1/2 standard low angle jobbie. To be honest I was a bit dissapointed. It felt distinctly 'unfinished' in the hand. I can't vouch for performance since it was as blunt as a nanny goats d*ck, but as I said it din't feel very nice to hold and the toe adjustment was very rough.

My personal fave is an old Stanley 9 1/2.
I have no idea what the new ones are like but the oldies are excellent.

 

[Peter Sefton]

Possibly still above your budget but since the price drop in Veritas last year a low angle Veritas with an 01 blade is £115.63 the only trouble is they are selling like hot cakes and most of us are out of stock.

Cheers Peter

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I have a Rider 311 shoulder plane and I think it's decent value for money - Axi is very good at taking things back if you need to return things of course.

I tried a (current model) Stanley Sweetheart LA Jack and it had two serious faults and went back for a refund - even without those faults it felt over-priced.

I have an inherited 1960's Stanley 60 1/2 LA block plane that I like very much.

I have splurged on a couple of Quanqsheng block planes - LA rebate and standard angle - (currently about £70 from Workshop Heaven) and I am completely bowled over by them - it's really hard to imagine paying any more money for anything else (they, to all intents and purposes, are just like Lie-Nielsens IMHO).

So, for me Quangsheng is at the sweet-spot of excellent quality and surviveable price. I suppose if money were no object I might be tempted by the top-end Veritas block planes.

Cheers, W2S

 

[user22161]

Bought a Faithfull and returned it immediately, load of rubbish. Replaced with Rider and it worked well straight out of the box, good finish and reasonably sharp.

 

[AndyT]

There's a handy sticky post at the top of the hand tools section listing various reviews:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/hand-tool-review-links-t69183.html

which leads to this review of a Rider block plane https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/axminster-60-5-rider-block-plane-review-t41698.html

and this one https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/axminsters-rider-60-1-2-block-plane-review-t47226.html - though both are from 2010 so may be a bit out of date.

 

[ED65]

I'm looking to get one or two planes. Mainly I'm after a block plane. ...around £55 is about the sort of budget I'm looking at

In that case an absolutely perfect option for you here:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/hand-tool-set ... 1152676646

Two planes, including a low-angle block with an adjustable mouth which IMO is the perfect one to get, for exactly what you were looking to spend on just the block plane, with three bits of marking gear thrown in for free

Stanley Sweetheart maybe?

I'd steer well clear given what Stanley are asking for it. Also Sweetheart stuff is known for needing fettling, not what you expect at this price point, but on top of it all they are about as subject to Monday-morning-itis as tools that cost much less (Silverline, Faithfull).

 

[ED65]

Bought a Faithfull and returned it immediately, load of rubbish.

Nothing fettling couldn't sort out?

Unfortunately at the cheap end of the market there is always the chance that you might get a lemon. With a bit of luck though a Faithfull plane will fettle into a very good user.

 

[Bm101]

Wouldn't pretend to be in a position to give advice but there's 10% off the QS low angle at WH if you can stretch to it. http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Qua ... html#SID=4
As a beginner I personally felt it made sense to invest a little more at the start rather than fretting about if mistakes I was making were down to me or the tool which was what was happening with an old smoothing plane I had. So I bought the QS one above.That might fly in the faces of some opinions but there you go. I do make mistakes all the time, but I know it's me so I can learn to rectify them and change my technique etc rather than wonder if it's the tool because I don't have the experience to always know the difference. As I've gone on a bit I've learnt to tune up the smoother and it's a great plane now. Still a massive learning curve ahead but I don't regret buying the QS. I have it for life and it's a lovely tool. Just the humble opinion of a beginner though! I'm sure there's ways to reach that performance with cheaper planes for the more experienced but for me it took away the doubt.
As Woody2Shoes says above I think you're getting a lot of tool for the extra £20 or so.

 

[user22161]

Bought a Faithfull and returned it immediately, load of rubbish.

Nothing fettling couldn't sort out?

Unfortunately at the cheap end of the market there is always the chance that you might get a lemon. With a bit of luck though a Faithfull plane will fettle into a very good user.

Needed a bit more than fettling, thread about it here - faithfull-planes-t93113.html

 

[DiscoStu]

The QS looks interesting and I can go to that. I think to put it in car terms the Veritas is the Ferrari, the Draper is the Dacia and I'm probably looking for a Volvo. I want something that is solid and reliable but it doesn't need to be flashy. I don't want to have to fettle it, I just want to buy it and use and for it to do a decent job. I'm fortunate that I could buy the Veritas but just like a Ferrari I'm never going to get the full potential out of it. I'm not a Pro and will only use the plane from time to time and it would be wasted on me. So £50 to £100 is fine, I probably don't want to go above £100 though as I'm sure the QS would do all I need, but I still wonder if the Rider ones will also do all I need? Or any others?

I think the Rider planes are new(ish) and the reviews are probably out of date - anyone confirm?


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[MBcarpentry]

The only rider plane I have is a small chisel plane I bought to do a specific job and it was nice enough to use just the usual sharpening required. As far as block planes I have the stanley 91/2 block plane and it's nice enough once you flatten it and sharpen the iron up, but I also own the low angle lie Nielsen block plane which is a beautiful plane ready to go out of the box with the iron just needing a quick hone, but there is a massive difference in price. As the saying goes you get what you pay for, but if your on a budget you can carry out any of the tasks you require with a cheaper plane just as said they require a bit of work. I always suggest to people buy the best that you can afford as generally you do get better quality at the money you want to pay.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I think that the Rider designs and specs have been updated since the reviews on this site were done (I think Axi effectively relaunched the range last year). To be fair, the QS planes have been regularly updated/improved too - I think they're on V3 or V4 now. Cheers, W2S

 

[DiscoStu]

I was told that if you're going to use a tool once then buy the cheapest, if you use it once in a while pay an average amount and if you use it daily then buy the best. I'm in the middle group so looking for a middle option.

So far I've got Rider and QS any others I should lol at?


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[RogerS]

I was told that if you're going to use a tool once then buy the cheapest, if you use it once in a while pay an average amount and if you use it daily then buy the best. I'm in the middle group so looking for a middle option.

So far I've got Rider and QS any others I should lol at?


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Wood River from Peter Sefton ?

Very good review here http://gshaydon.co.uk/blog/woodriver-plane-review

 

[Ali]

The stanley premium planes seemed quit nice when I had a look at them. Have you checked them out?

 

[Doingupthehouse]

+1 for the Quangsheng from WH. Have the block plane and the smoother, both lovely to use, straight and just needed a quick hone.

Simon

 

[BenCviolin]

ahah !
' blunt as a nanny goats d*ck '


I think the Rider stuff can't compete with the Chinese planes, for price.
Dictum do a nice block plane for around 60 Euro, but the one they sent me was not flat.

Design is another issue, do you need to adjust the blade with a Norris knob every 10 secs
or can you just tap the blade edge with a small hammer instead..
Do you need a sliding mouth or is a smaller apron plane actually better ?
Things to ponder.

If you pick up an old flatty in a boot sale for £5 your'e doing ok,
but the blade will be thin.
Depends what you want from a plane really.

 

[memzey]

What's wrong with an old Stanley from eBay or some other similar source? I got this virtually perfect pre-1909 No. 19 for orders of magnitude less than you are prepared to spend and all it needed before being put to use was a quick hone:


It works a treat and I wouldn't swap it for a more expensive new Chinese derivative in a million years.

 

[DiscoStu]

Just found this Woodriver and wondered if it was any good:

http://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/epages ... /WR_BLKLOW