Rutlands wood planes

[lurker]

After reading Big soft moose's thread about Mujingfang planes, I looked at rutlands site.

They have (Wizer look away!) a wide range of Dakota ones -Chinese Tiawanese, hong kong. Some are around £14 (on offer) are buyable just to play with.

Anyone got experiences?
Which of the three patterns are best?

I was thinking of getting one & reshaping to a (fit my hand) Block

 

[wizer]

oh come on Jim!! Why don't you just send the money to me? I'd be happy to treat you badly and then fail on you.

 

[studders]

After reading Big soft moose's thread about Mujingfang planes, I looked at rutlands site.

They have (Wizer look away!) a wide range of Dakota ones -Chinese Tiawanese, hong kong. Some are around £14 (on offer) are buyable just to play with.

Anyone got experiences?
Which of the three patterns are best?

I was thinking of getting one & reshaping to a (fit my hand) Block

I couldn't work out if they were Mujingfang or not? The labels look the same as the ones on the Mujingfang that i've seen elsewhere. At that price they've got to be worth a punt.

 

[Argus]

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I can’t comment on the Taiwanese or Japanese style planes at Rutland’s, as I’ve never used them, but I got three of the Mujingfangs the other day and I’m delighted with them.
They will work straight from the box but after a little bit of basic fettling they perform even better.
There are also some other very favourable and more objective reviews than my opinion on other forums.

The reason I got them in the first place was the high angled iron at 60 degrees – I have some well figured English Oak and it has given them a run for their money on the first outing with great results. You can increase the effective pitch with the addition of a back bevel, but with the sacrifice of increasing the mouth gap - I decided not to bother.

Minor things to be aware:

For some reason they come with a coating of what can only be described as ‘Burgundy boot polish’ presumably to enhance the red appearance of the wood but it does tend to come off on your hands and work. So, first things first, take them all apart and give them a good wash in white spirit.

Next, the iron is exceptionally hard and is ready to go out of the box, but on mine was hand finished, slightly round and a tad off centre. A little work on a diamond plate soon put that right and brought up a very good edge that has endured. The steel is hard work to hone, but keeps an edge for ages.

The soles are good, acceptably flat out of the box and the mouth is beautifully tight with a small brass wear strip on the front – nice touch of thought because these things will sail through a knot when sharp, but the mouth may get a bit of backlash wear without the brass.

The wood is exceptionally well seasoned; even so, I put them all in a plastic bag with a liberal coat of linseed oil for a few days and let them acclimatise to my workshop. There was a tiny amount of unevenness in the soles on all three, to be expected in a wood plane, but a few strokes on a flat plate with some abrasive brought them to a very good level of flatness that they have kept despite the changes in humidity and temperature over the last couple of weeks.

The final thing to master is setting the blades and this comes with practice. Set properly, they are capable of tissue thin shavings on very wayward grain. The finish is as good as any I have used. For the price, exceptional value - plus the 60 degree bed makes all the difference on cantankerous timber.



.

 

[lurker]

Studders

Well that was my thinking - was concerned that the photos were misleading

Argus,
Rutlands dont specify Mujingfang, but if I understand you correctly, you are saying the Dakota Hong Kong Style are Mujingfangs ??
AND you bought from Rutlands recently ???
The high angle iron is another feature I'm looking for

 

[Argus]

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The photos on Rutland's site can be a bit of a puzzle to say the least......

I got my planes form them about three weeks ago and it said Mujingfang on the box. I think that the Dakota description refers to something else.... They should still have them in stock and the blurb says there's a sale on at the present.

The Taiwanese and the Hong Kong (Mujingfang) planes look similar, but look at the photos carefully and you will see that there's a difference in the iron pitch - as I said, I got the Hong Kong panes because of the higher pitch. I have plenty of conventional planes, but I needed something higher to avoid tear out.

They are definitely not toys.....


.

 

[lurker]

Thanks mate

I'm off to order :lol: :lol:

 

[newt]

I have had one for 3years and I agree all that Argus says. I have been told that the blade is made from High speed steel, if that is correct, you should be able to use a dry grinder without fear of losing the temper of the blade.

 

[woodbloke]

I have one of the middle sized Hong Kong jobbies which is a good addition to the collection as it provides a decent high angle smoother (or block, as the case may be) for a very reasonable price...and even better with 10% off - Rob

 

[Argus]

.

I just had a look at the invoice and it does say Dakota, but they are Mujingfang on the box.


If it helps, there are three in the set of 60 degree pitch planes in three sizes.

Here’s the Rutland product codes on my invoice

AH 1051156 - 127 mm plane
AH 1071156 - 165 mm plane
AH 1072155 - 230 mm plane

The little 127 mm plane is a real beauty - I'm not exaggerating....shavings that float in the air.




.

 

[lurker]

Well I've just bought the 230mm

£12.71 delivered \/

Argus thanks for your advice - i think I would have given it a miss had you not said they were OK
Was anxious about the Dakota description

 

[woodbloke]

Was anxious about the Dakota description

I wonder if Tom's got one?..or even a set :lol: - Rob

 

[lurker]

Was anxious about the Dakota description

I wonder if Tom's got one?..or even a set :lol: - Rob

He ordered them but sent them back when he realised they might not dissapoint him.

 

[big soft moose]

Was anxious about the Dakota description

I wonder if Tom's got one?..or even a set :lol: - Rob

He ordered them but sent them back when he realised they might not dissapoint him.

nah he bought a set and then sold them at a loss when he got bored with them

I ordered my mujingfang from Workshop heaven , where they are definitely mujingfang and not that much more than rutlands

that said they havent shown up yet - though it did say on the site that they were on holiday when i ordered

I'll be happy to do a review (although that presuposes that i know what i'm talking about) when they finally arive.

 

[Argus]

After reading Big soft moose's thread about Mujingfang planes, I looked at rutlands site.

They have (Wizer look away!) a wide range of Dakota ones -Chinese Tiawanese, hong kong. Some are around £14 (on offer) are buyable just to play with.

Anyone got experiences?
Which of the three patterns are best?

I was thinking of getting one & reshaping to a (fit my hand) Block

As an after thought,

Have a look at the section on Wooden planes in Lee-Valleys site.....

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... at=1,41182
It's plane 'B' you need to look at - the one with a handle through the middle. This comes loose and I admit to leaving it on the shelf as I do use it 'western fashion' i.e. on the push.... not as a pull-plane as they do in the far east.

There is a bit more info here than Rutland's provide, but they are the same animals.

Again, I'll emphasise that they feature a high pitch iron, which is why I bought them in the first place. Compare the picture with the angle on the Taiwanese version.


.

 

[Dave S]

This comes loose and I admit to leaving it on the shelf as I do use it 'western fashion' i.e. on the push.... not as a pull-plane as they do in the far east.

.

I find this thing about pulling rather than pushing rather interesting. My wife is quite certain that her Father used to plane with a push, rather than pull. And having watched a few woodworkers in Taiwan, I've noticed that both methods are used.

Dave

 

[wizer]

I think this is a good demo of push / pull (pushes at the end)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbfVAWSeUuQ

and this is what you can do with a jap plane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGlEIcot ... re=channel

:shock:

 

[ste_5150]

Just bought the 230mm - bargain! As already mentioned, worth a punt for that price.

 

[ste_5150]

Just bought the 230mm

Well, I thought I had just bought it. 6 days after placing the order (today), I thought "oh yeah, that plane should've arrived by now". Phoned Rutlands and got an un-apologetic sounding person saying the plane is out of stock, discontinued, and if I want the new model, it'll be at normal price, not sale price.

First annoying thing was that I got no call or email or anything to tell me they won't be sending it. But even more annoying is the fact that they don't even care enough to say "ok, sorry, we didn't have your order and we didn't bother telling you, but we'll do the new version at the sale deal you ordered the old one under".

I cancelled the order and, given the negative feedback I've heard from others in the past, I don't think I'll bother with them again.

:evil:

 

[studders]

Just bought the 230mm

Well, I thought I had just bought it. 6 days after placing the order (today), I thought "oh yeah, that plane should've arrived by now". Phoned Rutlands and got an un-apologetic sounding person saying the plane is out of stock, discontinued, and if I want the new model, it'll be at normal price, not sale price.

First annoying thing was that I got no call or email or anything to tell me they won't be sending it. But even more annoying is the fact that they don't even care enough to say "ok, sorry, we didn't have your order and we didn't bother telling you, but we'll do the new version at the sale deal you ordered the old one under".

I cancelled the order and, given the negative feedback I've heard from others in the past, I don't think I'll bother with them again.

:evil:

Same here. Not happy seeing as an 'apparently' identical plane is being sold and shown as in stock.