Rider Planes

[DiscoStu]

With regards to 2nd hand, I don't know enough about fettling etc. so I want to make sure I buy something good that doesn't need me to do anything to it - except hone the blade.

 

[DiscoStu]

"Wood River from Peter Sefton ?

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

Sorry I missed that earlier and then saw the plane on the site! Do you have any experience of using it?

 

[BenCviolin]

That old Stanley design is great, but the blade may be pitted and the sole not flat.
Plus it will have a thinner blade and old world steel, which is fine of course.

The wood river one looks very tasty.

 

[memzey]

I understand the concerns but in all honesty if a cack handed amateur like me can fettle an old plane into working I'm sure anybody can! Especially small planes like we are discussing here. Flattening the sole or getting past some pitting on the iron on a block plane is a matter of minutes worth of work and the result is a very satisfying and extremely well engineered tool. Still there is more than one way to skin a cat as the saying goes so if new and shiny is your thing then I'm sure you can get the right result that way too. FWIW I never seriously considered new block planes but when I did do some reading on them the Quangsheng "Luban" blocks always seemed to get rave reviews for the outlay. Good luck!

 

[memzey]

Oh and the iron and sole on that ~115 year old Stanley were spot on - all it needed was a quick hone of the iron and a squiggle with a candlestick on the sole. Job done and good for another ~115 years!

 

[DiscoStu]

I was looking at the Stanley Sweetheart block planes are guaranteed flat (well to some thing like 0.003 mm). Does anyone have a newish one and any thoughts on it.

I seem to have 4 options (feel free to add more)

Woodriver
Quangsheng
Rider
Stanley Sweet Heart

No idea which to go for if I'm honest.

Woodriver - because it comes from the wood workers workshop gives me confidence.

The QS seems to get good votes here

The Rider I can go and look at and see before I buy and I trust Axminster to sort any issues.

I think the Stanley looks well made and I do trust the brand, especially on their more expensive models in a range.

So not really sure what to do. After a block plane I'm likely to want a low angle jack plane and then a shoulder plane, ideally I'd like to keep my brand the same, so need to keep that in mind as well (and I don't think rider do a low angle Jack?)



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[DiscoStu]

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

Thanks Peter, I missed your post initially and have just seen it. That possibly makes my decision. I just need to consider the fact that it could be like Festool and be a slippery slope buying into Veritas!


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[Dan j]

Dictum tools in Germany do a qiangsheng plane version.
They also offer a 15 day no questions asked trial period, so should be fairly risk free.
https://www.dictum.com/en/services

Have tried their planes and been pretty impressed. A low angle block plane with shipping/vat is about 69 euros.
They also produce a very readable catalog.

 

[BenCviolin]

I have the Dictum block plane, it's heavy and well made but it's not flat.
Likely most are flat though, just my luck.

The Stanley SW has an aluminium cap as all the SW planes do.
Not a major disaster but to me a heavy cap feels and works better.

Rider, I'd avoid it just coz it's half way to being something else and it's not that cheap either.

Wood river Stanley pattern block plane looks superb, I'd like one.

Vertias also do an apron plane which is smaller than the block planes
but it's very useful. The Veritas planes have option of new blade steel type.

 

[AJB Temple]

The Veritas Low Angle at £115.63 is a no brainer. This is a very good tool, far better than the cheap stuff, will require no fettling work and if you decide to sell you will lose very little. Low risk option.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I have both QS (LA Jack and #3) and WoodRiver (#5 1/2) bench planes and they are almost indistinguishable in materials, detailed design and quality - it is almost certain that they originate from the same (Chinese) makers. I have been delighted with them.

The basic Veritas LA block looks a bit physically larger than some, but is bound to be good value.

 

[Zeddedhed]

I've just gone and bought a veteran Stanley 9 1/2 from the 'bay to add to my collection. It's a bit embarrassing since I only went there and searched for it due to the OP.

 

[Bm101]

lol! I nearly looked and stopped myself.

 

[DiscoStu]

I think I'm heading towards the Veritas - typical! Although it's a lot cheaper than I thought it was. Must have had a big price drop.


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[BenCviolin]

This is cheaper, and simpler :
https://www.dictum.com/en/tools/woodwor ... -plane-120

 

[DiscoStu]

I think I'm going for the Veritas. The overwhelming opinion is that I can't go wrong if I do, although I might be paying for more than I need, it should see me out so why not. The difference in cost is only £50 compared to the Wood river etc.


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[ED65]

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

Thanks for the link. Have to be honest, I don't see anything there that couldn't be sorted out easily by the user.

Not all of it every user would consider normal fettling, but it does look to be within the range of what you might expect to do with cheaper tools these days (which would include both Record's and Stanley's modern offerings, despite their much higher cost).

 

[ED65]

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.

Have you seen the video Graham Haydon posted to YouTube where he tuned a Silverline? Well worth watching if you haven't as what it shows is a bit of an eye-opener in light of the many opinions posted about planes at the cheaper end of the market. What it could eventually do was a surprise to Graham himself

I have a Faithfull no. 4 which I think would be in the "average amount" category and given how it performs I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one as I did above, and I don't see any reason they couldn't be daily users.

 

[DiscoStu]

It does seem fundamentally wrong to me that you buy something and then have to set about making it fit for purpose. When I buy a car I don't expect to have to start by servicing the engine. The other thing that gets me is that you need a reasonable amount of knowledge in order to "fettle" these things yet the cheaper end of the market requires the most getting and that's the end where the least knowledge is likely to be for most people. I've never fettled a plane and I don't want to buy something and then start to try and make it work when I'm not sure what end result I'm expecting.


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[Beau]

It does seem fundamentally wrong to me that you buy something and then have to set about making it fit for purpose. When I buy a car I don't expect to have to start by servicing the engine. The other thing that gets me is that you need a reasonable amount of knowledge in order to "fettle" these things yet the cheaper end of the market requires the most getting and that's the end where the least knowledge is likely to be for most people. I've never fettled a plane and I don't want to buy something and then start to try and make it work when I'm not sure what end result I'm expecting.


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I take is part of the job as a cabinet maker having to fettle almost every tool. Even had to tinker with a brand new Felder to get it working as it should. Maybe not right but it's how it is.