Reply To: Why do we accept poor quality planes
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I think there is a certain pride to be taken in fettling a tool to make it right. I think it’s also possible to get way too obsessed over some of these things – a plane does not need to be perfectly flat over the entire surface (to say nothing of the issue of how to define perfectly flat). Finally, the issue of a plane costing a weeks wages back in the day is important as well. If you spent an hour working to flatten it to your liking it was probably well worth the cost that would have been added for it to be flat enough right out of the box. Of course with modern manufacturing methods it would probably be possible to market a plane with a flat enough sole without adding a huge increase in cost, but then again the market for people who really care about such things – we hand tool enthusiasts – is pretty small. Personally I don’t mind or even enjoy spending an hour to get my planes to where I’m happy with them.