Stanley SW premium no4

[Dangermouse]

Just taken delivery of a Stanley SweetHeart no4.

British standard for plane flatness is 3 thou.

First impressions out of the box were excellent, as with my new no62 sw, the finish was pretty faultless. Just a few marks on the handle, which cleaned off fine.

As usual I got out the straight edge and measured the flatness of the sole and sides, a feeler gauge of 1.5 thou fitted under the top edge of one side, other wise dead flat on all other surfaces.

One side had 1.6 thou out of square,so half the British standard, so very good. the other was dead on.

The adjuster had a very little play in the thread, nothing past acceptable. The back lash was a bit more than on the no62 at 1.25 turns. Still less than my old vintage Stanley and Record have, so happy with that. The lock thumb wheel works a treat, locking the adjuster so it cant move when planing.

The handles of American cherry are finished off nicely, the rear handle could do with a slight going over with a very fine paper, its slightly rough in two spots. But nothing to bother about, just being picky. The japanning is really excellent, better than my no 62 in fact and a match for any other plane.

The adjustable mouth works like a dream and is so much easier than having to fiddle with a frog. In literally 3 seconds you can adjust the mouth to what you want.

As with all the Stanley premium SW planes, Stanley say they should plane straight out of the box. This one did and took some really fine shavings. But I think to get the best out of it a honing is needed. The back of the blade tested dead flat. Made from A2 steel.

So conclusions, as with my no 62, I cant really fault this plane. A premium plane at a hobby plane price ( £76.00 inc postage ). Very well comparable to any other premium planes, just a few cosmetic little flaws below the likes of veritas and Clifton.

Purchase price £75.84 inc postage from here
http://www.toollineuk.com/product.php/s ... /STA112136

Now have video uploaded at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF5Q9ZcEdzY

 

[Jacob]

Your adjuster sounds better than mine, not that I'd send it back - it could be worse. The Veritas mouth adjustment is just slightly superior, but not a lot. Planing performance indistinguishable. I slightly prefer the feel of the Stanley.
So it looks like Stanley have cracked it!

PS you can get a free t shirt/fleece and join a forum if you go on the Stanley site. They are trying quite hard!

 

[marcros]

what does 3 thou mean for flatness, is it +/- 3 thou or +/-1.5thou giving 3 thou total?

 

[Dangermouse]

what does 3 thou mean for flatness, is it +/- 3 thou or +/-1.5thou giving 3 thou total?

For the technically minded, the proper description is 0.037mm or 0.0015" , one and a half thousandths of an inch either side of the mean.

 

[No skills]

Some interesting views coming up on these new stanleys, price point is something that I can save up for in a realistic time frame - hope the quality stays similar for the future.

 

[bugbear]

Just taken delivery of a Stanley SweetHeart no4.

What's the bedding angle? Is it good ol' 45°, or something higher, more suited to smoothing?

BugBear

 

[Dangermouse]

Hi BB
Yes its the usual Stanley 45 degrees

 

[Dangermouse]

Just for interest, some hardwoods are particularly prone to tearout. In the past, plane manufacturers solved this problem by building planes with steeper beds. The practice was common enough that these steeper pitches were given special names.


Pitch Angle
Common 45
York 50
Middle 55
Half 60

 

[bugbear]

Just for interest, some hardwoods are particularly prone to tearout. In the past, plane manufacturers solved this problem by building planes with steeper beds. The practice was common enough that these steeper pitches were given special names.


Pitch Angle
Common 45
York 50
Middle 55
Half 60

Helpful article here:

http://www.handplane.com/45/perfect-pit ... explained/

BugBear

 

[kmcleod]

OH FUDGE...

This leaves me with a real problem,,,i have an old Stanley 4 1/2, and having inherited it, was going to take the approach of fettling the sole etc, and replacing the blade and chipbreaker.

But the price of these now means I could buy new, and for less than replacing the blade\chipbreaker would cost.

grumble, grumble, grumble,,,,,,,

 

[243SS]

Good price...A2 steel cutter though

 

[Jacob]

Good price...A2 steel cutter though

What is Brent beech's opinion of A2 steel? Anybody know? I can't be bothered to trawl through his site!
Personally it seems fine. Sharpens OK freehand etc - I though this might be a problem but it isn't.

 

[Dangermouse]

Good price...A2 steel cutter though

What is Brent beech's opinion of A2 steel? Anybody know? I can't be bothered to trawl through his site!
Personally it seems fine. Sharpens OK freehand etc - I though this might be a problem but it isn't.

A2 steel is air cooled as against O1 steel which is oil quenched. A2 has chromium added in small amounts, which makes it harder than O1. A2 holds its edge longer, but is very slightly harder to hone. O1 is not as hard so the edge does not last as long, but its slightly easier to hone. So swings and roundabouts really.

 

[243SS]

A2 steel is air cooled as against O1 steel which is oil quenched. A2 has chromium added in small amounts, which makes it harder than O1. A2 holds its edge longer, but is very slightly harder to hone. O1 is not as hard so the edge does not last as long, but its slightly easier to hone. So swings and roundabouts really.

...and an A2 edge will also crumble if the honing angle isn't high enough. There are far better alternatives available, but you won't find one in a Stanley plane.

 

[Jacob]

A2 steel is air cooled as against O1 steel which is oil quenched. A2 has chromium added in small amounts, which makes it harder than O1. A2 holds its edge longer, but is very slightly harder to hone. O1 is not as hard so the edge does not last as long, but its slightly easier to hone. So swings and roundabouts really.

...and an A2 edge will also crumble if the honing angle isn't high enough. There are far better alternatives available, but you won't find one in a Stanley plane.

I think "far better" is stretching it a bit.
Fairer to say "perhaps very slightly better in some respects but bloody expensive".
A2 in turn is only slightly better than the tungsten vanadium of old Records (and Stanleys?)
AOTBE it won't make a lot of difference to anything , whichever you have. It's all about selling stuff!
Fight capitalism - don't buy anything!

 

[Dangermouse]

A2 steel is air cooled as against O1 steel which is oil quenched. A2 has chromium added in small amounts, which makes it harder than O1. A2 holds its edge longer, but is very slightly harder to hone. O1 is not as hard so the edge does not last as long, but its slightly easier to hone. So swings and roundabouts really.

...and an A2 edge will also crumble if the honing angle isn't high enough. There are far better alternatives available, but you won't find one in a Stanley plane.

I doubt very much if its FIFTY EIGHT QUID'S worth better . :shock:
So whats wrong with a slightly higher cutting angle?
Some people think, if you throw money at it you just must get better tools that make one a superb craftsman. Some people have a lot to learn.

 

[243SS]

Fairer to say "perhaps very slightly better in some respects but bloody expensive".
A2 in turn is only slightly better than the tungsten vanadium of old Records (and Stanleys?
AOTBE it won't make a lot of difference to anything , whichever you have.

You have extensive and on-going experience on which to make that statement?

I doubt very much if its FIFTY EIGHT QUID'S worth better . :shock:
Some people think, if you throw money at it you just must get better tools that make one a superb craftsman. Some people have a lot to learn.

Depends...but it is far, far better that A2.

 

[Jacob]

Fairer to say "perhaps very slightly better in some respects but bloody expensive".
A2 in turn is only slightly better than the tungsten vanadium of old Records (and Stanleys?
AOTBE it won't make a lot of difference to anything , whichever you have.

You have extensive and on-going experience on which to make that statement?

Yes. Some you have to sharpen more frequently than others, but that's not much of an issue, although I suppose it would be if you were committed to one of those mad time consuming regimes with lots of kit etc

......

Depends...but it is far, far better that A2.

You are not an agent for pm-v11 are you Brent? :lol: Personally I'm far, far from buying a new blade.

 

[bugbear]

So whats wrong with a slightly higher cutting angle?

To emphasize your point -

High bevel angle have almost no down side in a conventional bevel down plane - as long as the bevel
is far enough below the bedding angle to provide relief, you could go as high as 35°
(assuming the blade steel was otherwise of virtue).

In the case of blade used bevel up, where low angles can be of benefit on end grain, there
is a disadvantage to be taken into consideration.

It's all a (whisper it) compromise.

BugBear

 

[kmcleod]

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 ?