Stanley #4 Plane
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Hi to all)
Today I was in my local Lowe’s center. Just curious about new Stanley#4 Plane. I have old one and I don’t need another#4, just wanted to see “improvements”. Just observation…Were I have to start price was 54.98CAD+13% Tax’s=62.12CAD. Take it from the box… nothing special plastic handles, steel casting very rough finish-not big deal(you can polished), check it the sole-reasonable flat(big surprise). Now fun begin I disassembled plane)))Points where frog suppose to touch the sole(8 shiny humps on the picture) totally not fun for flattening,frog …well very rough and uneven, check the iron(Made in England..?) you can see nice blue and yellow colors on each side of the blade( I can assumed overheating)cap iron need tune up too. OK let’s put all together. Here we g,o the biggest fun.. check the pictures I made them from both sides.One one side blade sit good on the frog but other side 1/16″ gap….hm. Let’s put all together. Price 62CAD plane still need a lot of work + sand paper expenses. If you have flattening surface it’s good if not + that expense too. My conclusion… by old one spent some money on sand paper, by Paul’s book tune up the plane and you are in win-win situation) Just my 2cet’s. Guys may be we start doing review on some tool’s what we already have? And also price comparing. I know Paul already post his recommendation but quality of some products have tendency to change and not in the good way(. Good example saw files. May be in this way we can help new members to spend money more wisely. Thanks for reading))
Cheers SerhiyToronto, Canada
More pictures
Toronto, Canada
I have this plane Serhiy, I bought it several years ago on sale. I tried it out, was not very pleased and put it back in the box and on the shelf. About a year ago I pulled it back out, I needed it to flatten a table top I was making. I spend about half a day tuning it up, and still was not happy, and put it back in the box. About a week went by and I pulled it out again. I had to do some filing on the mouth opening and adjusted the frog a bit and finally got it cutting good.
I still use it quite a bit, but it was a lot of work to get it working properly.
I can certainly understand how someone would buy one with great expectations only to be disappointed, and walking away with the feeling that the tool is good, and it is just the operator at fault. I was that guy for a while.
Memphis, Tennessee
It does state on the box that it is a contractor grade plane. I would tend to assume it is a plane intended for rough carpentry. I can be certain that it does have its place. For some jobs I would hesitate to use my premium/ or restored antique bench planes on. I would hope that most of us would agree that the premium /restored antique bench planes are too costly and precision based to be kicked around on a job site. This is where I might consider buying one of these. Although there are millions of older used #4’s readily available and would be money better spent.
Hi Serhiy
Interesting post , did you do all this stripping down and photography in the shop, what did the staff think , I admire your nerveWigan, Lancs. England :
Yes David I did disassembling in the store I even borrow screwdriver and combination square from them) They don’t they even don’t pay attention for what I did it. I really would like to this try test to Kobalt plane but they don’t have this one. The all idea of this one is give help for new woodworker to save some money on the start and don’t do overspending.
Toronto, Canada
HaHa great job Serhiy. 😉
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