Should it be Sharp Out of the Box?

[Blister]

My opinion is no , Sharpen it to your profile when it arrives

 

[D_W]

Secondly I bought a new Stanley plane because I wanted to see the difference between old and new, and the new ones are a massive pile of absolute trash.

Separately from the sharpening topic, I bought a new unused sheffield made stanley (NOS, I guess) 4 years ago. It had a funny number like 922 or some kind of modern part number I just wanted to see if they could be made to work in 20 minutes like most vintage planes. I figured the plane would be OK but the iron would be soft. It was the opposite. The iron was actually pretty good (better than they were in the 70s), but the plane was made so that the adjuster pawl or dog or whatever you'd refer to the part that goes through the cap iron as...at any rate, that part was rough cast and thicker than the slot in the cap iron. I didn't notice it right away, but the cap iron teetered on the adjuster at the top of the frog. Would a beginner notice that? I doubt it.

I corrected that and then it was fine (but still had plastic handles, etc, it's never going to be a desirable tool. removing material from the tip of the adjuster or filing the slot of the cap iron is a bit over the top for a new plane - well beyond the normal coarse grind makers and gritty adjustment. Kept the blade, eventually parted the plane out not because it didn't work well after addressing those things, but because it didn't have enough value to sell as new and I'll eventually find a need for the screws, lever cap, etc.

The amount that the iron was teetering above the frog wasn't minimal, either! Maybe it was a missed opportunity to use a really thick iron on a stock stanley plane.

Just not worth the trouble.

 

[johnnyb]

sharpening bench planes is one of easier items to sharpen. what about sharpening hollows and rounds. or carving vee tools .