Stanley SW premium no4

[RogerBoyle]

So - for those of us who struggle to justify spending out hard earned on Lie Neilsen and the like, I guess the $64,000 question is this;

Is this a good plane to buy for the average woodworker who has aspirations and desire to produce good work over time ?

Or,,,,,

You would be better saving up for the Lie Nielsen / Veritas / etc / etc, as they are a better choice ?

With all that i have read about them then yes it is a good plane to buy and I will be getting one myself amoungst other tools LOL in the near future when I get My tax back

Roger

 

[Jacob]

So - for those of us who struggle to justify spending out hard earned on Lie Neilsen and the like, I guess the $64,000 question is this;

Is this a good plane to buy for the average woodworker who has aspirations and desire to produce good work over time ?

Or,,,,,

You would be better saving up for the Lie Nielsen / Veritas / etc / etc, as they are a better choice ?

I'd go as far as poss with an old 4 or 5 1/2 before spending anything more. Perhaps add a stayset cap iron. The advantages of the new offerings are very marginal.
The new Stanleys seem to perform just as well as LV, Veritas, but aren't as sexy.
All the time I've been fiddling with new planes I've also noticed that my old ones are also performing better - it's all down to practice, mostly getting sharpening well sorted.

 

[JakeS]

Perhaps add a stayset cap iron.

Other than "add £10 or so to the final price on eBay", what does that actually do?

(I'm curious as much because modern planes don't seem to advertise having them, so either they've become de rigeur and not noteworthy and I'm failing to notice the difference, or they've fallen out of fashion...?)

 

[carlb40]

Perhaps add a stayset cap iron.

Other than "add £10 or so to the final price on eBay", what does that actually do?

(I'm curious as much because modern planes don't seem to advertise having them, so either they've become de rigeur and not noteworthy and I'm failing to notice the difference, or they've fallen out of fashion...?)

Stay set cap irons allow you to remove the iron from the plane, remove the lower part of the cap iron. Sharpen the blade, then refit the lower part of the cap iron. Then refit the complete set up back into the plane with your original blade setting. Thus keeping the mouth opening size the same

 

[Jacob]

Perhaps add a stayset cap iron.

Other than "add £10 or so to the final price on eBay", what does that actually do?

(I'm curious as much because modern planes don't seem to advertise having them, so either they've become de rigeur and not noteworthy and I'm failing to notice the difference, or they've fallen out of fashion...?)

Stay set cap irons allow you to remove the iron from the plane, remove the lower part of the cap iron. Sharpen the blade, then refit the lower part of the cap iron. Then refit the complete set up back into the plane with your original blade setting. Thus keeping the mouth opening size the same

Yes that's it. It makes honing really fast - clunk it's out, click it's back in. Also is a bit more solid than the norm.
I'm cynical about most 'improvements' but this is one I rate, for the time being at least.