I have that exact spokeshave. To fix the adjuster problem you have to loosen the top screw that pinches the blade or just use a pair of pliers. It also helps if you oil the threads. I use them every day with no issues. Sure they're not great but there cheap and that is what really matters when you are on a budget like I am.
I had ordered one of these before I saw the video. It is really cheaply made, however mine does work. The screws adjust the iron, nice long thin curls, and for my kids little hands it fits.
That’s what I was thinking. I won’t snuggle up on the couch nibbling a spokeshave. But put on a John Hughes movie and I’ll eat the stalest popcorn you’ve got.
Great optimism Rex. It's been probably 35 years ago when I was a young just outta high school kid building pole barns for a living that I have a 30+ dollar hammer a trip into the weeds, trees, and briars. I was running metal on the roof of a large pole barn that had a 4 sheet lap on the roof at every run of metal. After I had hit my thumb and index finger for the 10 thousandth time my young man temper got the best of me and a good 20oz Stanley framing hammer flew from the roof and deep into the hollow, next to the newly constructed building. It totally wasn't the hammers fault but still I felt better, briefly. A friend and I searched during lunch to no avail. Once I realized the hammer was gone and that I would to replace it with no money to do so, I no longer felt vindicated. I learned very early to not do that again. I had to use an old wooden handled 20oz framing hammer with the waffle pattern on it for a few weeks while I saved for a new hammer. Needless to say that thing was a REAL killer on the thumb and finger, prot made me more accurate though. 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
I've been on a bit of a traditional wood tool making kick lately, and I decided to tackle a wooden spokeshave. Turns out it was cheaper to buy one of these junkers for the blade than buying a blade by itself. So I did, in part to see if it really was as bad as all that, and if I could use it to avoid the "need a spokeshave to shape a spokeshave" scenario Rex ran into in his wooden spokeshave build. I have to concur with Rex. This thing is vile, and I went back to my rasps ten minutes into trying to use it.
Your intro almost made me spit out my coffee! I have been waiting for a true pos tool to get in your hands. You are my kind of guy and I love the honest review. I hope that iron was worth the $6!
Thanks so much! I had fun making the video. The iron was NOT worth $6, but I got a video out of it and the profit from this will more than make up for the cost.
I bought something similar off of Amazon recently, knowing full well I was going to toss most of it. But it came with 5 irons, so I figured that was worth the $12. Maybe. We'll see.
@@johnhemby8631 They're crap. Machine marks like you wouldn't believe, and the handle is just absolute garbage. I built a jig for my belt sander to take the deep grooves out of the iron, then spent about 5 minutes per iron honing and got them shaving really nice. They actually hold a decent edge...nothing to marvel at, but they can shave. If nothing else, they're a cheap learning tool to perfect your sharpening technique. If you can learn to hone these, you can hone anything, and you don't have to worry about messing up a nice iron.
This is funny. I literally just bought one of those to shave down a mallet handle. $7 on Amazon. Arrived today and I made quick work of the handle. I was kicking myself for not owning one sooner!!!! I loved it. That being said, I've never used another other spokeshave, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I was pretty pleased with how easy it was to use.
Well... I'm from Brazil and here we don't have options, only China. 😬 What I learned from buying stuff from there is: 1, don't believe in small prices; 2, carefully look through the comments and reviews; 3, don't decide fast. Doing that I had enough luck I would say... But it's not easy. 😕
You are correct my friend. Often with chinese stuff, don't buy the cheapest but look for the next one that looks slightly different, and look through pics/comments carefully.
I got basically the same one from Amazon for $9 except that the adjustment screws work. Still manage to make it uselful, though probably because I haven't used a good one before
You're right. The spokeshave from India is a piece of crap but believe it or not it does have its good points. I messed with mine for about an hour and couldn't get it to work worth a damn so, I looked at it, and have "catch all" draws in my shop and wondered if any of the parts could be used. I assumed the screws were metric, but not so. I removed them and found the brass ones were 8-32, and 12-24. American. I then found I could take out the long allen screws which were 5/64 all wrench American/8-32 threads. I put these in the screw box along with the brass knurled knobs which would come handy for other projects. I found the blade could be sharpened and so I mounted it in two slabs of oak 5"L X 1 1/2" W X 3/8" thick. I put two machine screws with locking bolts on each end, tightened them, and found I had the makings of a pretty fair scraper blade with a nice handle. All that was left was the black handle which went into the trash. For $6 plus shipping I feel I got my money's worth. I'm reminded of the John Hartford song: I Can't Stand To Throw Anything Away. When I go into my neighborhood hardware store of automotive store they ask, "What musical instrument parts do you need today"? Where I live here in the Ozark mountains, it's called, "Hillbilly Engineering". If you can't find it, make it if possible.
Hey Rex. I have the same POS spokeshave. I decided to keep spokeshave for the blade as well. DIdn't know what to do with it, but thanks to your video, now I know. Mine adjusts and works like a normal 151, but it is a nightmare to use. I need to buy some 5 minute epoxy and give making a scraper plane out of the blade a try.
Hey Rex, longtime viewer first time commenting on one of your vids. Big fan of your dry humour. Anyway on to the POS you bought lol. I got one of those a few years ago, I say "one of those" but actually mine looks the same at a distance but isn't anything like as crappy as the one you were saddled with! The adjustment wheels work, not well but they engage the slots in the iron at least, and while the mouth is a bit wide it's not completely unreasonable. I've knocked it to the floor numerous times and it hasn't broken yet so the cast iron can't be too bad (thank God, I'm a bit of a klutz). And the iron holds an edge pretty well, which may be the most surprising thing about it. I find the size quite handy for work at a smaller scale, but I must do something about the cap's skinny screw if I plan on doing more spokeshave work.
I love your shows. You tell it just the way it is and that's rare in this world. Like getting a product that looks too good to be true. And I like to reman scraps too.
I have two of these, and the screw threads on mine weren't even set parallel and straight! I am a beginner, so I thought I wasn't adjusting them right. I watched a ton of tutorials. Now I know those spokshaves are just crappy tools, thanks
When you kept the blade. The first thing that popped into my head was "Card Scraper". Then, after seeing your little palm plane. I realized that scraper idea was a bust. It's too narrow.
I was going to defend he spokeshave, as i have the same one. But then when you remved the cap, it was totally different from mine which was cast iron. Mine cost $4, but that thing you got makes mine look like a premium tool. I still had to tweak mine to get it to work perfectly. That thing you got truly belongs in the trash.
I bought one of those cheap smoke shaves a while ago. I haven't used them in a while but I had tried to change it into a round bottom spokeshave. In the first place I searched for a round bottom spokeshave and guess what? The webpage said round bottom spokeshave, so I ordered it and it wasn't. I used my stationary belt sander to make the bottom round, but had difficulty using it and after seeing your presentation tonight (yes that spokeshave had the same stamped Steel cap iron) I threw mine away too.
Thank god! I thought I was driving the short bus. I bought one of these months ago. My first spoke shave! I was stoked! It arrived. I sharpened the blade. I rewatched a P. Seller’s episode. I foraged a piece of scrap wood and got busy. It bounced. It gauged. It sunk. It ripped and shredded. WTF. I watched another episode. I made adjustments. WTF! It bounced higher, dug deeper. Was it me? Or the spoke? Thank god! I’ll be getting a proper tool. And watching another episode and getting back on that pony. Sincere thanks!
Same, after receiving the spokeshaver the first thing to do it's to make it flat the paint it's a problem for me when I draw the paint sticks to the wood so I sanded on a flat surface and it's working great I don't own a expensive spokeshaver to do a comparison but for what I used it's good stuf and it only cost 3.63 $ with no Vamal TAXES
I bought one of these and it does work. It took a little finagling to have it work properly, like smoothing out the grooves in the blade and shaping the sole to fit my needs because the casting is god awful. I might machine a better lever cap out of mild steel, but this far I haven't any problems.
I always tune in when you have a new video to maybe save some money. I have found many great buys by watching you. I, for one, would have left it in the garbage. Thanks for the heads up! I truly appreciate what you do. Many blessings to you and your Channel.
I just received that crappy spokeshave. I took it a part spent all of 2 minutes sharpen the blade cleaned up the base used the functioning adjustment screws. Cut like a champ.
I just ordered a couple of these because I need a couple spoke shaves for a project where I help scouts do a craft. the first one that came in was okay. So I ordered a few more. They'll need work to make them work at all.
Thanks for this- saved me wasting money on an Amazon twin spokeshave offer. I could see by the photos that the throat was way too wide- another version of what you got.
You can always tell you're in deep financial trouble when you walk into the hardware store, and set the new tool on the counter and the sales guy looks at it and immediately says, "I'm so sorry..." ;o)
Yeah, I'm good on spokeshaves. I've been fortunate to find many of them very cheaply. On the other hand, I've never used a wooden one and I'm very curious about them.
Taught English at Universities for 11 years. Does that count? Seriously, I love to teach and I do woodworking classes sometimes. I'd like to do more, but promoting the classes is really hard and I have so little time. Thanks for the compliment!
Ahhh... have you been watching his videos...?!? Rex *IS* Teaching...!!! *MANY People* ... While He Sleeps... Via *ONE* Lesson... (at a time, viewed whenever someone chances upon them or specifically seeks such a lesson...)
Hey Rex, I also have an ali express spoke shave. I did notice that mine seemed to be smaller than it should be but I didn't have an original to compare, so that's good to confirm my suspicions. I did however spend a whole $9 to get mine and it doesn't seem tho have the other issues that yours had with a cast cap and the blade adjustments do work. I guess these things can be real hit and miss.
Got that abomination too. Main flaw on mine is actually posts, that are at wrong angle. Blade is not resting on back but on posts. I bent posts, now blades is moving better and mouth is lot smaller. Still that tool is garbage, but at least become usable. I plan to curve sole on it, probably should make new chip breaker/cap too.
Yeah I agree, mine likes to come loose, & the adjusters work when they want to.($10 Amazon) So I am da-- if I do & da-- if I don't!!! Thank You Sir!!!! 👍😎
I cut a door hinge and epoxied it onto the bed where the blade sits. the mouth opening was reduced by more than half and then made the tool usable to my surprise.
wow Rex going through your old video's having issues with my spokeshave - I got one of these that you have too, the blade, I tried to re-use in a "made spokeshave " - I tried sharpening it but had no joy on my stones, it just didn't act like my other blades , it was quite sharp from the supplier though so I tried a cut in the new spokeshave I made - the blades cutting edge shattered, I tried sharpening it on a grinder but as soon as you come to a cutting edge it would break off. Do you know where these blades (spokeshave blades ) can be found economically.
I just bought the exact same one (before viewing your video). It came in a blister pack with a (spokeshave) form fitting clear plastic cover and a piece of cardboard that said "Needle Nose Pliers". ;-) My logic was 'my grandfather had a spokeshave that was nothing more than a stick with a piece of metal stuck in it. So, I had all the same complaints you had but sharpened the blade anyway. That wasn't easy as it was a little too small to put in my Vertas guide. After sharpening, it was difficult to adjust but it works ok for the price.
Ive got one from aliexpress believe it was equal to 5usd and it works great. Used on really hardwood floors and I'm really happy with the tiny little hand plane . You probably not got lucky
I ordered this just before watching your video!! It arrived today. I reckon mine is just about ok. I can adjust it and the blade as is. is sharp enough. It’s small and would be uncomfortable for prolonged use. I shall save up and buy a Qiangsheng. Buy cheap, buy twice. Interestingly, my 10 dollar block plane with an enormous throat I use more than my top of the range Stanley. It made me think about tools to buy if I were a poor newcomer. There could be nothing worse than something like this cheapo specimen. I reckon beginners need the best and sharpest tools and top quality wood to work on. So here goes. Maple or mahogany type timber, second hand older Stanley 4 or 5. plane. Aldi chisels. Hard point smallish panel saw, cheap diamond sharpening plate, cork sanding block, titebond glue, second hand rosewood square, pencils and sharpener, craft knife for marking out., tape measure, straight edge/ruler, plastic mitre block, marking gauge.I estimate less than 200$. The top end hand tools could come after buying the table saw, thicknesser ,lathe and edge sander, after they have become addicted.
I have never owned a real spokeshave. Unfortunately, I bought one of these things and I looked at the castings and thought I only needed to clean the thing up. I suppose there is something salvagable... I'm writing as I'm watching you dismantle and toss away all but the blade. I guess I'll be making a scraper as I don't have one of those either.
I think you should of mounted it on to a nice piece of board, hanged it on the wall to remind yourself of not every thing that is cheap is a bargain. This is what I would have done if I had brought it. To put this in to context, I brought a wood chipper $550 plus $300 shipping. A Michigan Raptor 900, it sits in the living room looking at me everyday, cheers
I salvaged one el cheapo spokeshave with a big irregular mouth by filling out the bed with Sugru then reassembling it. I greased the blade first so that the Sugru wouldn't stick to it. It works! And the bright yellow Sugru looks really cool against the blue (fashion statement).
@@RexKrueger BTW, the spokeshave was a supposedly a Record. Nowadays it's hard to know what's counterfeit and what is simply a good old name that's been bought up and slapped onto cheap Asian stuff.
I saw your diy spokeshave video so I went in to buy a set of 5 blades from aliexpress. Then I was freaking out when I saw you roasting the Crap out of this. But then you salvaged the blade... AT LEAST...
Interestingly, enough, I have been using two of these Chinese planes for a few years now. I’m SURE they’re not the same maker as yours though. The quality is better. There are going to be many makers for this same design of spokeshave from China but they don’t tell you where the tools came from. A tool of the dice. I converted one into a concave profile and it works awesome. Think I paid $10 for the pair. If these are serviceable, the Kunz versions must be great. I have a $50 kunz plane that WONT CUT. Have never used it. I bought a lie Nielsen Boggs spokeshave. It is like a cheat code for woodworking. A literal joy to use. Happy I started out cheap and then got good enough to justify a nice tool. If I started with that Kunz I don’t know where I’d be
me too. Mine works okay... not great, but okay. then again, when I buy a good one one day (hard to get them here in europe) I'll probably just hang it on the wall and not ever touch it again. The screws are poorly machined and don't fit very well and the blade gets dull relatively fast. But oh well... for quick shaping it works okay. :) Thx though for an idea what do make of some other junk tools I got... blades tend to be decent. :) thx. Keep up the good work up here :) Blessings from Slovenia
I own two of them and both of them work extremely well, no tear out, easy to adjust, just simply a fairly decent little spokeshave is it fabulous nope, does it work yep,
@@dstblj5222 they are imperial instead of metric on this particular one, so it would be more trouble than it's worth to buy imperial set of threading tools just to make it work perfectly. Though as I said, it works, just not great. Furthermore I don't use it a ton anyways, so no big deal. Besides, mere shipping here would cost more than the entire item would if bougt and shipped here in Europe...
Well done, I really enjoyed the scraper plane. I was kind of expecting a "let's punish this thing with an angle grinder" ending at that point, which would have been pretty wasteful indeed.
I'm totally willing to destroy a tool, but it has to be for a greater goal like making another tool. Go ahead and make you own scraper plane. It's easy.
I wholeheartedly share your opinion of junk tools, and shamefully admit that I also ordered this piece of junk from Aliexpress. The screw cap was a disaster so I devised a new one from a piece of sheet metal, properly sharpened the iron, smoothed the adjusting screws a bit and came up with a working tool. am still feeling bad about buying it in the first place.
Whaaaaat...? That magical appearing spokeshave shot is cool as shhh..spokeshaves!! I had a little quick thought,... could you cut out a small notch just in front of or behind the iron in the Krenov shaving plane and use the handle from the turdshave, kind of like the dowel that makes little handles that stick out the sides of the Chinese plane that you show earlier in the video...?
@@RexKrueger for six bucks, it's worth a shot! Might get the side walls chamfer'd down enough at the bottom to get double duty out of it. As a plane and spoke... smoothingshave... thing...lol
why are the adjustment knobs good on the spokeshave but in your video about a cheep smoothing plane you said they suck and you should hammer adjust it. please explain
No problem: on a spokeshave, it's common to have the blade sticking out more at one corner. That way, you can get a heavy cut at one side of the mouth and a light cut at the other. This is never the case with a plane, where you pretty much always want the blade DEAD EVEN; never sticking out more on one side. By combining the depth with the lateral adjustment, the stock 12-404 makes it VERY difficult to keep the blade even while adjusting the depth of cut. Make sense?
Lol I had been looking at that thing for months on amazon. Glad i never pulled the trigger. I did get a $2.50 wooden plane off eBay though. I’m sure it will be shit but for less than $3, I’m like you, I just want to see it HA!
Of course. Probably show it on my channel. Come swing by. I’m mainly Tool Reviews but a touch of tool restorations and a tiny bit of rookie woodworking
Just ordered one of those piece of .... - knew it was crap when I ordered it but thought it would make a good intro to a spoke shave and some fun trying to clean it up and make it work. Maybe it will just hold some rope ;)
Rex, Rex, Rex.... lmfao! You don’t know how many times I almost bought that very spoke shave! Thanks for saving me a few dollars...and thanks for the laugh!
Sigh.. I bought that too. At least now I can stop telling myself it's not the tool's fault. It's the guy holding the tool. There was of course a learning curve for my other hand planners! At least now I can move on.
Well my only spokeshave is one I bought on the street. And it was the same one. I thought i did not like spokeshaves because how terrible it worked. And boy I spent time polishing that turd. Well seems i'll soon have a scraper plane. I also got a strange feeling about those "brass" knobs Well mine is a little different, it does adjust, but the adjustment is as delicate as a sledgehammer
😂 I had a spoke shave that looked just like yours. But it didn't work. But after watching you just now! I tried to do what you did. Thanks my spoke shave works. Id send you a picture if I could but I'm a grandmother and a technophobe. P.S. also dyslexic. 🤓I've learned so much from you. You can teach an old dog new tricks. If the teacher is good.👏👍
How about old plans that are used to make shapes on smal pieces of wood, wood their are to be used as a dekorativ finish on cabinets ore as a list to be used in a window frame, i have some old ones and i Wood like to know more about them and how to restore them, is this something you can do a video about ?
I bought one of those on amazon for about $8. It was pretty cheaply made, but the adjustment wheels did actually work. Probably a different producer, but you can still find a decent one for cheap.
Yes I recently bought some Chinese F clamps. Total rubbish! Only place they hold is fully extended. They grip nowhere on the shank at all. I use blocks to take up the slack.
Interesting. I have the same one and it adjusts fine. You must have gotten a bad one. The screws turn and adjust the blade. I agree, the mouth is huge on it. I may end up harvesting the blade for something else in the future.
@@RexKrueger I wouldn't know the differences between this and a high quality one. I've been able to get some shavings using it. I'm quite sure that one that costs twice or three times as much would be easier to use and adjust. But, I'm not a professional that relies on a spoke shave on a daily basis. For me as a hobbyist, I usually give some of these cheaper tools at least a small chance at having a place on my tool wall.
Thank you!! Since you started "ITM" I've been eyeing those spokeshaves on AliExpress. That would've been my first AE purchase and I would have been super demoralized taking an L on my first try
I went out and bought a spokeshave because of one of your other videos, it looked like an awesome tool. I bought a imported spokeshave for £8 which was also a Stanley copy and I've had some trouble with it (came totally blunt being the main issue) but it looks waaaaay nicer than that Chinese one you have there, it's a total disaster 😅
Btw, the one I have is made by silverline, it's cast iron (or maybe cast mild steel) and the bottom is milled flat. It's very hefty and solid feeling in the hand. The blade is advertised as being high carbon steel, but I'd doesn't say what kind. I've sharpened it a bit and now it kinda works, but I'll need to get it much sharper for it to work properly. Out of the box, it didn't even cut. While it's certainly not the finest quality tool, it's definitely not total junk, just isn't supplied sharpened - which is uncommon but I've definitely came across tools supplied blunt before, especially garden/agricultural tools.
I kind of want to buy one just for the blade now. In other news... Rex, I love your videos. I look forward to them. And I typically watch, thumbs up, and move along without comment. But bro, can I send you a microfiber cloth to clean your lens?
Man you are very cool to offer. I've tried and tried to clean that lens. God knows what brew of chemicals I got on that thing. They ain't coming off. In other news, what I really need is a new camera.
Thank you for sharing this warning with us. You could cut the handles in two and mount them to something where you need a handle. I have *very* bad experience with purchasing on Alibaba. Cheated *every* *single* *time*. People selling cameras for $1000 and when you get the thing, it's a shoe with a hole in it or a plastic card in a large box. In addition to that, your email address used for registering at Alibaba just gets spam and it never stops. Over the years, I kept getting more and more. Fortunately I registered an "alias" email (that's a fake-email forwarding to my real email address), so I can see which place the spam is originating from - even if they're sent from another email address. That was back in 2011. I have never made any purchase from there since and I never will again. Apart from my mentioned cases, I later found out that people on Alibaba sell ... * Stolen goods (robbing trucks containing electronics and selling the goods cheap) * Refurbished goods as new (eg. three broken items becomes two new-looking items) * Fake items Many of the Alibaba "factories" that "manufacture" the sold items suddenly disappear (they never existed in the first place, they just took someone else's pictures and used as their factory pictures). Another trick they use is that they have a MOQ (minimum order quantity) of - say 1000 items - buy they will allow you to purcase one or two items, just to see if the quality lives up to your expectations. You receive what you ordered, it's in pristine condition. Now you place your 1000 pcs order and go to the harbour every day to look for the container. It simply never arrives. Another thing about this is that you start hating the chinese sellers behind the scams. -Just one thing; many (maybe most) of those are not chinese scammers; they're from other countries like Nigeria, India, Russia, etc. I was able to trace two sellers to Nigeria myself; at that time, I already knew how to get cheated. Also, the fake-sellers love to talk about their family. They usually use a picture of a woman or girl, while actually being males. Rex, I'm relieved that you only lost $6 (actually less, because you could use the iron) - it could have been much, much worse! All that being said, there are legit sellers on Alibaba; but make sure that several other people actually got what they paid for, by visiting fora, etc. before placing your order. After that, I only used ebay for my China-purchases (although I find it pretty annoying); if I happen to be cheated, I can recall the payment (this almost never happen on ebay). -If it was cheap to buy from Amazon in Europe, I'd use Amazon as well, but the shipping and customs really add to the price, so I still have to make my first purchase from Amazon.
I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but I only order from AliExpress, which is separate from Alibaba. About a dozen transactions and no trouble. Go figure.
For me personally, I'll probably not shop from Alibaba or AliExpress (perhaps if PayPal is supported, so I have some kind of security that I can get a refund). -If they only offer TT, bank transfers an Western Union, I'll stay away. ;) Anyway, I hope you'll never have any such problems. What you're doing for others is of such a great value! I know how demanding it is to make videos and I very much appreciate you giving us so many valuable tips and teachings. One more thing about used tools; when you buy a new tool, the steel that comes with it usually is softer than the steel on a 100 year old plane of the exact same type (you won't find any of that, though). -I'm talking about time-hardened steel here. A plane with a Sorba iron will be a very good purchase. Unfortunately for me, I can't get any Sorba irons here, but we have similar >100 year old planes, which have good irons. As I might have indicated in one of my other comments, I've started to look into japanese planes (the irons are very special; each one is forged and laminated by hand).
I'm sure this _is_ a terrible tool, but I don't see why the blade adjustment didn't work on it? I mean, the knobs did turn when you removed them. Was there something else stopping the blade from moving? Or did you just really want to make a scraper plane from the blade? I think I would also have held on to those "brass" knobs if it was me, but then I'm a bit of a _"this might come in handy someday"_ type of person. I think half my brain is clogged up with the locations around my house where all these random bits and bobs are, so that I can find them when I need to..
Rex I have to agree with you I fell into the same trap but one of those spokeshaves from China got my money back from eBay and through the damn thing in the garbage!
I would like to know why you reamed Stanley a big one for the "lousy" adjuster on their Amazon plane, but the spokeshave with the identical adjustment system is your favorite?
Easy, you want different things from a plane and a spokeshave. A spokeshave often has the blade skewed with one side sticking out more. This mechanism is perfect for that. A plane should always have the iron straight. This mechanism is TERRIBLE for that.
I have that exact spokeshave. To fix the adjuster problem you have to loosen the top screw that pinches the blade or just use a pair of pliers. It also helps if you oil the threads. I use them every day with no issues. Sure they're not great but there cheap and that is what really matters when you are on a budget like I am.
I had ordered one of these before I saw the video. It is really cheaply made, however mine does work. The screws adjust the iron, nice long thin curls, and for my kids little hands it fits.
You just threw out a potentially great boat cleat....😂😂😂😂😂😂😩.... just sayin. Another great video!
exactly my thought
Door prop... ;o)
He always makes great videos
If it were made of popcorn at least you could eat it.
Ha!
:D ever tried chinese popcorn ?
@@BloodyClash Nope! And I don't plan to.
@@RexKrueger:D i once did...and even metall would taste better
That’s what I was thinking. I won’t snuggle up on the couch nibbling a spokeshave. But put on a John Hughes movie and I’ll eat the stalest popcorn you’ve got.
I'm kind of surprised you didn't make a spokeshave with the blade, I hadn't anticipated a small plane build. As always, enjoyed the video.
Great optimism Rex. It's been probably 35 years ago when I was a young just outta high school kid building pole barns for a living that I have a 30+ dollar hammer a trip into the weeds, trees, and briars. I was running metal on the roof of a large pole barn that had a 4 sheet lap on the roof at every run of metal. After I had hit my thumb and index finger for the 10 thousandth time my young man temper got the best of me and a good 20oz Stanley framing hammer flew from the roof and deep into the hollow, next to the newly constructed building. It totally wasn't the hammers fault but still I felt better, briefly. A friend and I searched during lunch to no avail. Once I realized the hammer was gone and that I would to replace it with no money to do so, I no longer felt vindicated. I learned very early to not do that again. I had to use an old wooden handled 20oz framing hammer with the waffle pattern on it for a few weeks while I saved for a new hammer. Needless to say that thing was a REAL killer on the thumb and finger, prot made me more accurate though. 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
I put all metal junk in a bin, once a year it gets sorted and sent to the scrap yard. $180/ton, coffee money.
this is just the 3 am video I´ve been looking for all day.
Nice!
That's me right now!!!
I've been on a bit of a traditional wood tool making kick lately, and I decided to tackle a wooden spokeshave. Turns out it was cheaper to buy one of these junkers for the blade than buying a blade by itself. So I did, in part to see if it really was as bad as all that, and if I could use it to avoid the "need a spokeshave to shape a spokeshave" scenario Rex ran into in his wooden spokeshave build.
I have to concur with Rex. This thing is vile, and I went back to my rasps ten minutes into trying to use it.
Your intro almost made me spit out my coffee! I have been waiting for a true pos tool to get in your hands. You are my kind of guy and I love the honest review. I hope that iron was worth the $6!
Thanks so much! I had fun making the video. The iron was NOT worth $6, but I got a video out of it and the profit from this will more than make up for the cost.
I bought something similar off of Amazon recently, knowing full well I was going to toss most of it. But it came with 5 irons, so I figured that was worth the $12. Maybe. We'll see.
How did it turn out?
@@johnhemby8631 They're crap. Machine marks like you wouldn't believe, and the handle is just absolute garbage. I built a jig for my belt sander to take the deep grooves out of the iron, then spent about 5 minutes per iron honing and got them shaving really nice. They actually hold a decent edge...nothing to marvel at, but they can shave. If nothing else, they're a cheap learning tool to perfect your sharpening technique. If you can learn to hone these, you can hone anything, and you don't have to worry about messing up a nice iron.
Thanks for taking the time to share your pain and entertain us along the way.
This is funny. I literally just bought one of those to shave down a mallet handle. $7 on Amazon. Arrived today and I made quick work of the handle. I was kicking myself for not owning one sooner!!!! I loved it. That being said, I've never used another other spokeshave, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I was pretty pleased with how easy it was to use.
I think I got a bad one. Some people say these work fine.
I believe Aliexpress and wish are kinda like eBay, multiple sellers and multiple sources so it's really a crap shoot.
Yup. I took a shot and I got crap.
He took a crap and got shot
Well... I'm from Brazil and here we don't have options, only China. 😬
What I learned from buying stuff from there is: 1, don't believe in small prices; 2, carefully look through the comments and reviews; 3, don't decide fast.
Doing that I had enough luck I would say... But it's not easy. 😕
You are correct my friend. Often with chinese stuff, don't buy the cheapest but look for the next one that looks slightly different, and look through pics/comments carefully.
I got basically the same one from Amazon for $9 except that the adjustment screws work. Still manage to make it uselful, though probably because I haven't used a good one before
I bought a cheap spokeshave, though not this bad as it does work, but every time I try to use the adjustment screws the iron cap pops off. .
Well, time to buy a better spokeshave!
Spokeshave be like Igt imma head out 😂
I purchased one similar to this on eBay. The model worked very well. Glad I didn't get that one. It looks like you got a good blade.
You're right. The spokeshave from India is a piece of crap but believe it or not it does have its good points. I messed with mine for about an hour and couldn't get it to work worth a damn so, I looked at it, and have "catch all" draws in my shop and wondered if any of the parts could be used. I assumed the screws were metric, but not so. I removed them and found the brass ones were 8-32, and 12-24. American. I then found I could take out the long allen screws which were 5/64 all wrench American/8-32 threads. I put these in the screw box along with the brass knurled knobs which would come handy for other projects. I found the blade could be sharpened and so I mounted it in two slabs of oak 5"L X 1 1/2" W X 3/8" thick. I put two machine screws with locking bolts on each end, tightened them, and found I had the makings of a pretty fair scraper blade with a nice handle. All that was left was the black handle which went into the trash. For $6 plus shipping I feel I got my money's worth. I'm reminded of the John Hartford song: I Can't Stand To Throw Anything Away. When I go into my neighborhood hardware store of automotive store they ask, "What musical instrument parts do you need today"? Where I live here in the Ozark mountains, it's called, "Hillbilly Engineering". If you can't find it, make it if possible.
Hey Rex. I have the same POS spokeshave. I decided to keep spokeshave for the blade as well. DIdn't know what to do with it, but thanks to your video, now I know. Mine adjusts and works like a normal 151, but it is a nightmare to use. I need to buy some 5 minute epoxy and give making a scraper plane out of the blade a try.
You can even just do it with wood glue. I only had one day to get this video knocked out, so I had to improvise!
Hey Rex, longtime viewer first time commenting on one of your vids. Big fan of your dry humour.
Anyway on to the POS you bought lol. I got one of those a few years ago, I say "one of those" but actually mine looks the same at a distance but isn't anything like as crappy as the one you were saddled with! The adjustment wheels work, not well but they engage the slots in the iron at least, and while the mouth is a bit wide it's not completely unreasonable. I've knocked it to the floor numerous times and it hasn't broken yet so the cast iron can't be too bad (thank God, I'm a bit of a klutz). And the iron holds an edge pretty well, which may be the most surprising thing about it.
I find the size quite handy for work at a smaller scale, but I must do something about the cap's skinny screw if I plan on doing more spokeshave work.
Glad you like my videos! Please share your thoughts more often! I'm glad your shave is better than mine...couldn't be worse.
I love your shows. You tell it just the way it is and that's rare in this world. Like getting a product that looks too good to be true. And I like to reman scraps too.
I have two of these, and the screw threads on mine weren't even set parallel and straight! I am a beginner, so I thought I wasn't adjusting them right. I watched a ton of tutorials. Now I know those spokshaves are just crappy tools, thanks
Thanks for the heads up Rex 👍
When you kept the blade. The first thing that popped into my head was "Card Scraper". Then, after seeing your little palm plane. I realized that scraper idea was a bust. It's too narrow.
Still a good idea!
I was going to defend he spokeshave, as i have the same one. But then when you remved the cap, it was totally different from mine which was cast iron. Mine cost $4, but that thing you got makes mine look like a premium tool. I still had to tweak mine to get it to work perfectly. That thing you got truly belongs in the trash.
Yeah, mine was not savable.
I bought one of those cheap smoke shaves a while ago. I haven't used them in a while but I had tried to change it into a round bottom spokeshave. In the first place I searched for a round bottom spokeshave and guess what? The webpage said round bottom spokeshave, so I ordered it and it wasn't. I used my stationary belt sander to make the bottom round, but had difficulty using it and after seeing your presentation tonight (yes that spokeshave had the same stamped Steel cap iron) I threw mine away too.
Thank god! I thought I was driving the short bus. I bought one of these months ago. My first spoke shave! I was stoked! It arrived. I sharpened the blade. I rewatched a P. Seller’s episode. I foraged a piece of scrap wood and got busy. It bounced. It gauged. It sunk. It ripped and shredded. WTF. I watched another episode. I made adjustments. WTF! It bounced higher, dug deeper. Was it me? Or the spoke?
Thank god!
I’ll be getting a proper tool. And watching another episode and getting back on that pony.
Sincere thanks!
Yeah, it's not you. That tool is an embarrassment. Get a good one and you'll never put it down.
I have the same spokeshaver and I used it a lot for raw curving stuff . And I love it . It's not such a piece of junk in my opinion.
Same, after receiving the spokeshaver the first thing to do it's to make it flat the paint it's a problem for me when I draw the paint sticks to the wood so I sanded on a flat surface and it's working great I don't own a expensive spokeshaver to do a comparison but for what I used it's good stuf and it only cost 3.63 $ with no Vamal TAXES
I bought one of these and it does work. It took a little finagling to have it work properly, like smoothing out the grooves in the blade and shaping the sole to fit my needs because the casting is god awful. I might machine a better lever cap out of mild steel, but this far I haven't any problems.
I always tune in when you have a new video to maybe save some money. I have found many great buys by watching you. I, for one, would have left it in the garbage. Thanks for the heads up! I truly appreciate what you do. Many blessings to you and your Channel.
What a nice thing to say! Thanks so much!
I just received that crappy spokeshave. I took it a part spent all of 2 minutes sharpen the blade cleaned up the base used the functioning adjustment screws. Cut like a champ.
I just ordered a couple of these because I need a couple spoke shaves for a project where I help scouts do a craft. the first one that came in was okay. So I ordered a few more. They'll need work to make them work at all.
Thanks for this- saved me wasting money on an Amazon twin spokeshave offer. I could see by the photos that the throat was way too wide- another version of what you got.
You can always tell you're in deep financial trouble when you walk into the hardware store, and set the new tool on the counter and the sales guy looks at it and immediately says, "I'm so sorry..." ;o)
I'm a little surprised you didn't make a new spokeshave using that blade, but I guess you have plenty.
Yeah, I'm good on spokeshaves. I've been fortunate to find many of them very cheaply. On the other hand, I've never used a wooden one and I'm very curious about them.
Rex Krueger lee valley tools has a kit so you could make your own.they supply the plans and the parts you supply the wood and effort
Great video! At least you got a scraper out of it.
I'm honestly not disappointed in the whole thing.
Love your presentation. Curious if you’ve ever taught at a school or thought about it? I think many could learn so much from your delivery.
Taught English at Universities for 11 years. Does that count? Seriously, I love to teach and I do woodworking classes sometimes. I'd like to do more, but promoting the classes is really hard and I have so little time. Thanks for the compliment!
Ahhh... have you been watching his videos...?!?
Rex *IS* Teaching...!!!
*MANY People* ...
While He Sleeps...
Via *ONE* Lesson...
(at a time, viewed whenever someone chances upon them or specifically seeks such a lesson...)
Hey Rex, I also have an ali express spoke shave. I did notice that mine seemed to be smaller than it should be but I didn't have an original to compare, so that's good to confirm my suspicions. I did however spend a whole $9 to get mine and it doesn't seem tho have the other issues that yours had with a cast cap and the blade adjustments do work. I guess these things can be real hit and miss.
VERY hit and miss. With all the moving parts, I guess that shouldn't surprise us.
Got that abomination too. Main flaw on mine is actually posts, that are at wrong angle. Blade is not resting on back but on posts. I bent posts, now blades is moving better and mouth is lot smaller. Still that tool is garbage, but at least become usable. I plan to curve sole on it, probably should make new chip breaker/cap too.
Good luck to you!
Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water........ Great video.....kept me from even looking at that POS.
My work is done!
Yeah I agree, mine likes to come loose, & the adjusters work when they want to.($10 Amazon) So I am da-- if I do & da-- if I don't!!! Thank You Sir!!!! 👍😎
I cut a door hinge and epoxied it onto the bed where the blade sits. the mouth opening was reduced by more than half and then made the tool usable to my surprise.
wow Rex going through your old video's having issues with my spokeshave - I got one of these that you have too, the blade, I tried to re-use in a "made spokeshave " - I tried sharpening it but had no joy on my stones, it just didn't act like my other blades , it was quite sharp from the supplier though so I tried a cut in the new spokeshave I made - the blades cutting edge shattered, I tried sharpening it on a grinder but as soon as you come to a cutting edge it would break off. Do you know where these blades (spokeshave blades ) can be found economically.
I just bought the exact same one (before viewing your video). It came in a blister pack with a (spokeshave) form fitting clear plastic cover and a piece of cardboard that said "Needle Nose Pliers". ;-)
My logic was 'my grandfather had a spokeshave that was nothing more than a stick with a piece of metal stuck in it. So, I had all the same complaints you had but sharpened the blade anyway. That wasn't easy as it was a little too small to put in my Vertas guide. After sharpening, it was difficult to adjust but it works ok for the price.
Ive got one from aliexpress believe it was equal to 5usd and it works great. Used on really hardwood floors and I'm really happy with the tiny little hand plane . You probably not got lucky
I ordered this just before watching your video!! It arrived today. I reckon mine is just about ok. I can adjust it and the blade as is. is sharp enough. It’s small and would be uncomfortable for prolonged use. I shall save up and buy a Qiangsheng. Buy cheap, buy twice. Interestingly, my 10 dollar block plane with an enormous throat I use more than my top of the range Stanley. It made me think about tools to buy if I were a poor newcomer. There could be nothing worse than something like this cheapo specimen. I reckon beginners need the best and sharpest tools and top quality wood to work on. So here goes. Maple or mahogany type timber, second hand older Stanley 4 or 5. plane. Aldi chisels. Hard point smallish panel saw, cheap diamond sharpening plate, cork sanding block, titebond glue, second hand rosewood square, pencils and sharpener, craft knife for marking out., tape measure, straight edge/ruler, plastic mitre block, marking gauge.I estimate less than 200$. The top end hand tools could come after buying the table saw, thicknesser ,lathe and edge sander, after they have become addicted.
That's a good list! I might borrow that.
I have never owned a real spokeshave. Unfortunately, I bought one of these things and I looked at the castings and thought I only needed to clean the thing up. I suppose there is something salvagable... I'm writing as I'm watching you dismantle and toss away all but the blade. I guess I'll be making a scraper as I don't have one of those either.
The scraper works, so that's a good idea. I'll keep my eye open for a cheap spokeshave that ISN'T total crap and try to review it.
I think you should of mounted it on to a nice piece of board, hanged it on the wall to remind yourself of not every thing that is cheap is a bargain. This is what I would have done if I had brought it. To put this in to context, I brought a wood chipper $550 plus $300 shipping. A Michigan Raptor 900, it sits in the living room looking at me everyday, cheers
I salvaged one el cheapo spokeshave with a big irregular mouth by filling out the bed with Sugru then reassembling it. I greased the blade first so that the Sugru wouldn't stick to it. It works! And the bright yellow Sugru looks really cool against the blue (fashion statement).
Never would have occurred to me!
@@RexKrueger I hope you never need it! ;)
@@RexKrueger BTW, the spokeshave was a supposedly a Record. Nowadays it's hard to know what's counterfeit and what is simply a good old name that's been bought up and slapped onto cheap Asian stuff.
I saw your diy spokeshave video so I went in to buy a set of 5 blades from aliexpress. Then I was freaking out when I saw you roasting the Crap out of this. But then you salvaged the blade... AT LEAST...
Interestingly, enough, I have been using two of these Chinese planes for a few years now. I’m SURE they’re not the same maker as yours though. The quality is better. There are going to be many makers for this same design of spokeshave from China but they don’t tell you where the tools came from. A tool of the dice.
I converted one into a concave profile and it works awesome. Think I paid $10 for the pair.
If these are serviceable, the Kunz versions must be great. I have a $50 kunz plane that WONT CUT. Have never used it.
I bought a lie Nielsen Boggs spokeshave. It is like a cheat code for woodworking. A literal joy to use.
Happy I started out cheap and then got good enough to justify a nice tool. If I started with that Kunz I don’t know where I’d be
I baught one just like that on wish, its adjustable, works good, made with good metal, only 3$!
Crazy. I guess I just go one of the bod ones. Thanks for sharing!
me too. Mine works okay... not great, but okay. then again, when I buy a good one one day (hard to get them here in europe) I'll probably just hang it on the wall and not ever touch it again. The screws are poorly machined and don't fit very well and the blade gets dull relatively fast. But oh well... for quick shaping it works okay. :) Thx though for an idea what do make of some other junk tools I got... blades tend to be decent. :) thx. Keep up the good work up here :) Blessings from Slovenia
I own two of them and both of them work extremely well, no tear out, easy to adjust, just simply a fairly decent little spokeshave is it fabulous nope, does it work yep,
@@maticjelovcan Could you not replace the screws??
@@dstblj5222 they are imperial instead of metric on this particular one, so it would be more trouble than it's worth to buy imperial set of threading tools just to make it work perfectly. Though as I said, it works, just not great. Furthermore I don't use it a ton anyways, so no big deal. Besides, mere shipping here would cost more than the entire item would if bougt and shipped here in Europe...
Personally, I'd just give it to my brother-in-law for Christmas. At least I'd get something out of it. If only a chuckle....
Gifting tools the suck, classic!
I'm also in Ottawa. Ont.
If you hate him, this is a perfect gift
Well done, I really enjoyed the scraper plane. I was kind of expecting a "let's punish this thing with an angle grinder" ending at that point, which would have been pretty wasteful indeed.
I'm totally willing to destroy a tool, but it has to be for a greater goal like making another tool. Go ahead and make you own scraper plane. It's easy.
That is NOT a waste basket! It's called the round file cabinet.
I wholeheartedly share your opinion of junk tools, and shamefully admit that I also ordered this piece of junk from Aliexpress. The screw cap was a disaster so I devised a new one from a piece of sheet metal, properly sharpened the iron, smoothed the adjusting screws a bit and came up with a working tool. am still feeling bad about buying it in the first place.
Whaaaaat...? That magical appearing spokeshave shot is cool as shhh..spokeshaves!!
I had a little quick thought,... could you cut out a small notch just in front of or behind the iron in the Krenov shaving plane and use the handle from the turdshave, kind of like the dowel that makes little handles that stick out the sides of the Chinese plane that you show earlier in the video...?
I have no idea, but you could certainly give it a try.
@@RexKrueger for six bucks, it's worth a shot! Might get the side walls chamfer'd down enough at the bottom to get double duty out of it. As a plane and spoke... smoothingshave... thing...lol
why are the adjustment knobs good on the spokeshave but in your video about a cheep smoothing plane you said they suck and you should hammer adjust it. please explain
No problem: on a spokeshave, it's common to have the blade sticking out more at one corner. That way, you can get a heavy cut at one side of the mouth and a light cut at the other. This is never the case with a plane, where you pretty much always want the blade DEAD EVEN; never sticking out more on one side. By combining the depth with the lateral adjustment, the stock 12-404 makes it VERY difficult to keep the blade even while adjusting the depth of cut. Make sense?
@@RexKrueger thank you for your explanation and quick reply!
What might be a good source to find a Stanley 151? Thanks
Lol I had been looking at that thing for months on amazon. Glad i never pulled the trigger. I did get a $2.50 wooden plane off eBay though. I’m sure it will be shit but for less than $3, I’m like you, I just want to see it HA!
Get back to me on that plane. You know I'm curious!
Of course. Probably show it on my channel. Come swing by. I’m mainly Tool Reviews but a touch of tool restorations and a tiny bit of rookie woodworking
I was saying the two up …looks like I’m getting the Stanley!
Just ordered one of those piece of .... - knew it was crap when I ordered it but thought it would make a good intro to a spoke shave and some fun trying to clean it up and make it work. Maybe it will just hold some rope ;)
Save the blade!
I am absolutely going to steal that last insult :-D And it certainly seemed a fitting one... Clyde
What is a decent mouth opening for a spokeshave? Is 1.9mm ok?
Rex, Rex, Rex.... lmfao! You don’t know how many times I almost bought that very spoke shave! Thanks for saving me a few dollars...and thanks for the laugh!
Pure decoration, good save though turning it into a scrapper plane.
You're very kind!
Where'd you get those other ridiculously cheap tools?
Ali-Express.
Is the veritas a proper replacement for the 151 stanley?? (they look similar)
Sigh.. I bought that too. At least now I can stop telling myself it's not the tool's fault. It's the guy holding the tool.
There was of course a learning curve for my other hand planners! At least now I can move on.
Well my only spokeshave is one I bought on the street. And it was the same one. I thought i did not like spokeshaves because how terrible it worked. And boy I spent time polishing that turd. Well seems i'll soon have a scraper plane.
I also got a strange feeling about those "brass" knobs
Well mine is a little different, it does adjust, but the adjustment is as delicate as a sledgehammer
I guess we do what we can with what we have. Glad yours works at all!
Nice touch at the end. :)
Very Cool Rex and l never by tools at Ollies.
Maybe I should stop.
That's weird. I have this same one and the adjustment knobs work fine
😂 I had a spoke shave that looked just like yours. But it didn't work. But after watching you just now! I tried to do what you did. Thanks my spoke shave works. Id send you a picture if I could but I'm a grandmother and a technophobe. P.S. also dyslexic. 🤓I've learned so much from you. You can teach an old dog new tricks. If the teacher is good.👏👍
Very curious about the screwdriver shaft technique at 6:41 ?
Rex I have to disagree on the adjustment Wheels those are silly! By the Stanley with the adjustable throat
Hi Rex
Have you ever restored a spocshaves ?
Yup, but I haven't make a video about it. It's a good idea.
How about old plans that are used to make shapes on smal pieces of wood, wood their are to be used as a dekorativ finish on cabinets ore as a list to be used in a window frame, i have some old ones and i Wood like to know more about them and how to restore them, is this something you can do a video about ?
I love how so many woodworking youtubers reference to Sellars...he is the Gandalf of woodworking 🤣 such a nice community:)
I bought one of those on amazon for about $8. It was pretty cheaply made, but the adjustment wheels did actually work. Probably a different producer, but you can still find a decent one for cheap.
I guess I just got unlucky on this one.
Yes I recently bought some Chinese F clamps. Total rubbish! Only place they hold is fully extended. They grip nowhere on the shank at all. I use blocks to take up the slack.
Interesting. I have the same one and it adjusts fine. You must have gotten a bad one. The screws turn and adjust the blade. I agree, the mouth is huge on it. I may end up harvesting the blade for something else in the future.
Joshua Luther So, even though yours adjusts, it's still not a good tool?
@@RexKrueger I wouldn't know the differences between this and a high quality one. I've been able to get some shavings using it. I'm quite sure that one that costs twice or three times as much would be easier to use and adjust. But, I'm not a professional that relies on a spoke shave on a daily basis. For me as a hobbyist, I usually give some of these cheaper tools at least a small chance at having a place on my tool wall.
Thank you!! Since you started "ITM" I've been eyeing those spokeshaves on AliExpress. That would've been my first AE purchase and I would have been super demoralized taking an L on my first try
Grab a wooden plane instead. Many of the ones on there look good.
looks like it would be a good paper weight / gag gift.
Yeah, that's a good one!
I went out and bought a spokeshave because of one of your other videos, it looked like an awesome tool.
I bought a imported spokeshave for £8 which was also a Stanley copy and I've had some trouble with it (came totally blunt being the main issue) but it looks waaaaay nicer than that Chinese one you have there, it's a total disaster 😅
Btw, the one I have is made by silverline, it's cast iron (or maybe cast mild steel) and the bottom is milled flat.
It's very hefty and solid feeling in the hand. The blade is advertised as being high carbon steel, but I'd doesn't say what kind.
I've sharpened it a bit and now it kinda works, but I'll need to get it much sharper for it to work properly.
Out of the box, it didn't even cut. While it's certainly not the finest quality tool, it's definitely not total junk, just isn't supplied sharpened - which is uncommon but I've definitely came across tools supplied blunt before, especially garden/agricultural tools.
There is a market for such things as decorations. Did the advertisement actually say it was a practical working device?
I have two of those pieces of crap. They don't even look good hanging on a floor joist in the basement.
Maybe I'll make something from the irons.
I own one of those! How do I fix it?
I kind of want to buy one just for the blade now. In other news... Rex, I love your videos. I look forward to them. And I typically watch, thumbs up, and move along without comment. But bro, can I send you a microfiber cloth to clean your lens?
Man you are very cool to offer. I've tried and tried to clean that lens. God knows what brew of chemicals I got on that thing. They ain't coming off. In other news, what I really need is a new camera.
Rex Krueger right on. If you like a bargain buy used! check KEH.com.
+Daniel Dunlap
There are far better sources of cheap blades than that!
Funny stuff. How long did it hold an edge?
Edge holding seems fine, although this is clearly not top-quality steel.
Thank you for sharing this warning with us.
You could cut the handles in two and mount them to something where you need a handle.
I have *very* bad experience with purchasing on Alibaba. Cheated *every* *single* *time*.
People selling cameras for $1000 and when you get the thing, it's a shoe with a hole in it or a plastic card in a large box.
In addition to that, your email address used for registering at Alibaba just gets spam and it never stops. Over the years, I kept getting more and more. Fortunately I registered an "alias" email (that's a fake-email forwarding to my real email address), so I can see which place the spam is originating from - even if they're sent from another email address.
That was back in 2011. I have never made any purchase from there since and I never will again.
Apart from my mentioned cases, I later found out that people on Alibaba sell ...
* Stolen goods (robbing trucks containing electronics and selling the goods cheap)
* Refurbished goods as new (eg. three broken items becomes two new-looking items)
* Fake items
Many of the Alibaba "factories" that "manufacture" the sold items suddenly disappear (they never existed in the first place, they just took someone else's pictures and used as their factory pictures).
Another trick they use is that they have a MOQ (minimum order quantity) of - say 1000 items - buy they will allow you to purcase one or two items, just to see if the quality lives up to your expectations. You receive what you ordered, it's in pristine condition. Now you place your 1000 pcs order and go to the harbour every day to look for the container. It simply never arrives.
Another thing about this is that you start hating the chinese sellers behind the scams. -Just one thing; many (maybe most) of those are not chinese scammers; they're from other countries like Nigeria, India, Russia, etc.
I was able to trace two sellers to Nigeria myself; at that time, I already knew how to get cheated.
Also, the fake-sellers love to talk about their family. They usually use a picture of a woman or girl, while actually being males.
Rex, I'm relieved that you only lost $6 (actually less, because you could use the iron) - it could have been much, much worse!
All that being said, there are legit sellers on Alibaba; but make sure that several other people actually got what they paid for, by visiting fora, etc. before placing your order.
After that, I only used ebay for my China-purchases (although I find it pretty annoying); if I happen to be cheated, I can recall the payment (this almost never happen on ebay).
-If it was cheap to buy from Amazon in Europe, I'd use Amazon as well, but the shipping and customs really add to the price, so I still have to make my first purchase from Amazon.
I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but I only order from AliExpress, which is separate from Alibaba. About a dozen transactions and no trouble. Go figure.
For me personally, I'll probably not shop from Alibaba or AliExpress (perhaps if PayPal is supported, so I have some kind of security that I can get a refund).
-If they only offer TT, bank transfers an Western Union, I'll stay away. ;)
Anyway, I hope you'll never have any such problems. What you're doing for others is of such a great value!
I know how demanding it is to make videos and I very much appreciate you giving us so many valuable tips and teachings.
One more thing about used tools; when you buy a new tool, the steel that comes with it usually is softer than the steel on a 100 year old plane of the exact same type (you won't find any of that, though).
-I'm talking about time-hardened steel here. A plane with a Sorba iron will be a very good purchase.
Unfortunately for me, I can't get any Sorba irons here, but we have similar >100 year old planes, which have good irons. As I might have indicated in one of my other comments, I've started to look into japanese planes (the irons are very special; each one is forged and laminated by hand).
@@68HC060 AliExpress does take PayPall, so it's no trouble. Glad you liked the video!
Best surprise "how to make plane" vid ever.
I'm sure this _is_ a terrible tool, but I don't see why the blade adjustment didn't work on it? I mean, the knobs did turn when you removed them. Was there something else stopping the blade from moving?
Or did you just really want to make a scraper plane from the blade?
I think I would also have held on to those "brass" knobs if it was me, but then I'm a bit of a _"this might come in handy someday"_ type of person. I think half my brain is clogged up with the locations around my house where all these random bits and bobs are, so that I can find them when I need to..
So what's the use of a scraper plane?
you're an eternal optimist and i like it :-)
Thanks!
I guess 6 bucks is were you draw your line for a chuckle
Rex I have to agree with you I fell into the same trap but one of those spokeshaves from China got my money back from eBay and through the damn thing in the garbage!
I would like to know why you reamed Stanley a big one for the "lousy" adjuster on their Amazon plane, but the spokeshave with the identical adjustment system is your favorite?
Easy, you want different things from a plane and a spokeshave. A spokeshave often has the blade skewed with one side sticking out more. This mechanism is perfect for that. A plane should always have the iron straight. This mechanism is TERRIBLE for that.
Thumbs up just for the opening!!!! Lol
I have same one...ugh! I'm thinking of turning mine into a draw knife.